Net income at Belle Corp, which has an interest in the gaming operations of the City of Dreams Manila casino resort (pictured) in the Philippine capital, fell 96.4 percent year-on-year in the first nine months this year.
Such income was PHP92.62 million (US$1.9 million), versus nearly PHP2.56 billion in the prior-year period.
The group’s revenue from its share of gaming operations slipped 86.4 percent year-on-year, to just under PHP324.81 million, from nearly PHP2.38 billion.
Belle Corp said the decline was due in both cases to “Covid-19 -related developments”, which had hurt gaming at City of Dreams Manila, a property operated by a unit of Melco Resorts and Entertainment Ltd.
Belle Corp described its income from that property as its “primary growth driver”.
The firm stated: “The effects of the pandemic began with declining tourist arrivals prior to the implementation of the community quarantines nationwide and was compounded by the temporary suspension of gaming operations at City of Dreams Manila on March 16, 2020 in compliance with government initiatives to contain the virus.”
So-called “dry runs” of casino operations at Metro Manila casinos – at a maximum 30 percent of normal operational capacity – have been permitted intermittently by the country’s gaming regulator since early June, depending on the local situation regarding the pandemic.
Belle Corp noted in its Thursday announcement to the Philippine Stock Exchange that disruption from the pandemic had also caused “weak results” in the first nine months at Pacific Online Systems Corp, a Belle Corp unit that leases online betting equipment to the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office for its lottery and keno operations.
