GGRAsia – Okada Manila 1Q GGR down 41pct amid casino restrictions

Okada Manila 1Q GGR down 41pct amid casino restrictions

Apr 19, 2021 Newsdesk Latest News, Philippines, Top of the deck

Japanese gaming conglomerate Universal Entertainment Corp says gross gaming revenue (GGR) at the group’s Okada Manila casino resort in the Philippine capital fell 41.0 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2021. Such GGR was nearly PHP5.10 billion (US$1.05 billion), compared with PHP8.64 billion in the first three months of 2020.

Universal Entertainment’s subsidiary Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc operates the Okada Manila casino resort (pictured).

The group noted that its performance in most of the first quarter of 2020 had not been affected by restrictions linked to measures to stem the spread of Covid-19.

Okada Manila had been enjoying “normal operations until March 14, 2020, but suspended operations from March 15 to 31, 2020,” said the parent company in a filing on Friday. “In the current fiscal year, some operations have continued under certain restrictions,” it added.

Casinos in Manila had to suspend temporarily their operations in mid-March last year. They later reopened but were limited to a maximum of 30 percent capacity.

In Friday’s filing, Universal Entertainment said GGR from VIP table games fell by 49.0 percent year-on-year, to PHP2.33 billion in the three months to March 31. Revenue from mass table games stood at PHP861 million, down 49.3 percent from a year earlier, while revenue from gaming machines declined by 19.4 percent, to PHP1.90 billion.

Okada Manila’s aggregate revenue in the first three months of 2021 was PHP5.29 billion, 42.0-percent lower compared to the prior-year period.

The resort’s adjusted segmental earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were PHP692 million in the opening quarter of 2021, down 35.3 percent from a year ago.

A number of major commercial casino operators in the Philippine capital, including Okada Manila, suspended their operations from late March this year, due to countermeasures against the pandemic.