GGRAsia – Higher costs keep Bloomberry in the red for 2Q

Higher costs keep Bloomberry in the red for 2Q

Aug 13, 2015 Newsdesk Latest News, Philippines, Top of the deck

Bloomberry Resorts Corp, developer and operator of Solaire Resort and Casino (pictured) in the Philippine capital Manila, reported on Thursday a net loss for the second quarter of 2015. The company had already reported a net loss for the first three months of the year.

The group’s unaudited results for the three months to June 30 show a net loss of approximately PHP773.54 million (US$16.75 million) compared to a net gain of about PHP846.60 million in the prior-year period.

The firm said revenues for the three-month period increased by 9.4 percent year-on-year to PHP5.99 billion. Operating costs however jumped 47.2 percent from a year earlier to PHP5.61 billion in the second quarter of 2015. Including other items, total costs topped PHP6.27 billion, up 58.7 percent from a year ago.

The firm said the increase in costs was mainly due to the opening in November of Solaire’s Sky Tower and the acquisition of Jeju Sun Hotel and Casino in South Korea. Since May, Bloomberry Resorts – via its subsidiary Solaire Korea Co Ltd – owns a 96.23 percent stake in Golden and Luxury Co Ltd, which operates the Jeju Sun on South Korea’s southern holiday island Jeju. The casino operation of Jeju Sun is currently suspended pending renovation, the company said.

Bloomberry Resorts also has plans to invest more than US$1 billion in a new casino resort complex in South Korea.

In Thursday’s filing, the company reported gross gaming revenue of PHP7.49 billion for the three months to June 30, up from PHP6.90 billion in the prior-year period. Rebates for junket operators and VIP guests however increased by 15.5 year-on-year to PHP2.01 billion, the firm said.

The casino operator said that, as of June 30, it had signed agreements with 88 junket operators to bring in foreign VIP players to Solaire. That was an increase from the 56 junkets Bloomberry Resorts had recruited up to June 30, 2014.

“The increase in gaming revenue for the quarter was achieved despite the opening of City of Dreams Manila in December 2014, which management believes had a dilutive effect on other operators,” Bloomberry Resorts said. City of Dreams Manila, operated by market rival Melco Crown (Philippines) Resorts Corp, had a soft opening on December 14 and an official one on February 2.