PH Resorts Group Holdings Inc has said that its provisional gaming licence for the stalled Emerald Bay Resort and Casino project in Mactan, Cebu, in the Philippines has been revoked by the country’s regulator, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor).
Philippine-listed PH Resorts is a unit of Udenna Corp, controlled by Philippine entrepreneur Dennis Uy.
In a Thursday filing to the Philippine Stock Exchange, PH Resorts said two of its subsidiaries – Lapulapu Leisure Inc (LLI) and Lapulapu Land Corp (LLC) – had received notice of the Pagcor board’s “approval of the revocation” of the provisional gaming licence originally issued to the group for the now-stalled Emerald Bay project (pictured in a file photo).
“The company notes that the Pagcor board’s aforementioned approval is not expected to have a material effect on the company’s current financials,” considering that the group had “not commenced commercial operations of the project,” stated PH Resorts.
It added: “The revocation of the provisional licence is not expected to materially impact the company’s existing financial position.”
In August, PH Resorts flagged it had derecognised a PHP8.75-billion (US$149.3-million currently) financial liability linked to the Cebu site.
PH Resorts said at the time that its option to repurchase its parcels of land and “construction in progress” at Emerald Bay, under an agreement with local lender China Banking Corp (Chinabank), had expired on March 31, 2025.
PH Resorts stated in the August announcement: “In connection with this, the corresponding property plus improvements totalling PHP13.65 billion – the ‘Mactan properties’ – as well as the financial liabilities of PHP8.75 billion originating from the … repurchase option were derecognised from LLI and LLC’s books.”
In Thursday’s filing, PH Resorts said it would “continue to explore other business opportunities”.
The company also announced that a partnership with construction company EEI Corp, concerning the project in Cebu, was “no longer feasible”, given the revocation of the provisional gaming licence.
