Hong Kong-listed International Entertainment Corp is buying a total of 382 slot machines of various models from RGB International Bhd, in a deal worth just over US$5.7 million.
International Entertainment announced the agreement in a filing on Friday to the Hong Kong bourse.
The machines to be acquired from RGB are to be deployed at New Coast Hotel Manila in the Philippine capital. A unit of International Entertainment, Marina Square Properties Inc, runs the property, which was formerly known as New World Manila Bay Hotel.
The venue features a casino operated by the country’s casino regulator-cum-operator, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor).
A first batch of 200 slots is to be delivered between four to eight weeks from receipt by RGB of the order confirmation. A second batch of 182 slots is to be delivered between 12 and 18 weeks, said International Entertainment.
The firm stated it would finance the purchase with “internal resources”.
The casino at New Coast Hotel Manila operates in premises leased out by International Entertainment to Pagcor. International Entertainment furbishes the casino with gaming equipment, including slot machines.
“Some of them [the existing slots] have been installed for many years,” the firm said in its Friday announcement. “In order to enhance the attraction of the entertainment equipment in the hotel premises, some of the games in the slot machines may require upgrades while some of the slot machines may have to be replaced,” it added.
International Entertainment further stated: “Due to the global relaxation on the Covid-19 travel restrictions, the tourism industry in the Philippines has started to rebound and the group is prepared to expand its slot machines in the hotel premises to attract and cater for a greater number of patrons as well as to improve the income of the group from the gaming business.”
Malaysia-based casino electronic games and services supplier RGB posted a net profit of just over MYR9.3 million (US$2.1 million) for the three months to December 31, compared to a loss of MYR549,000 in the prior-year quarter, it said in a filing to Bursa Malaysia in late February.
