GGRAsia – PH Resorts flags new date for Emerald Bay resort in Cebu

PH Resorts flags new date for Emerald Bay resort in Cebu

May 17, 2021 Newsdesk Latest News, Philippines, Top of the deck

PH Resorts Group Holdings Ltd has flagged a new completion date for the first phase of Emerald Bay, an under-construction casino resort in Cebu, in the Philippines.

In a Friday filing, PH Resorts said Emerald Bay would be constructed in two phases, with the first phase “expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2022.” The company had previously mentioned a second-quarter 2022 completion for the initial phase of the complex (pictured in an artist’s rendering).

When phase one is finished, the venue will house 122 gaming tables and 600 electronic gaming machines. It will also have five-star hotel with 270 rooms.

PH Resorts’ management said previously it was striving to have a soft opening of the resort by the end of 2021. In December, the company said it had completed all the storeys of towers A and B at the property. PH Resorts is a Philippine-listed firm controlled by local entrepreneur Dennis Uy.

The company said in Friday’s filing it was working closely with its design, project management and construction teams, “to ensure that phase one of Emerald Bay is completed” and commences “full operations … for the targeted opening in the third quarter of 2022”.

The second phase of Emerald Bay – to be developed up to 2026 – is to feature more than 700 electronic gaming machines and 146 additional gaming tables, as well as space for meetings and exhibitions. It will also add a second five-star hotel, with approximately 780 rooms, stated the promoter.

The first phase of the project has an estimated cost of US$238.5 million, according to Friday’s filing; the second phase has a US$465.4-million budget.

The firm said a “maximum of 70 percent of total capitalisation for the project” would be funded by the proceeds from the company’s existing debt facility, currently amounting in aggregate to PHP5.2 billion (US$108.9 million) and US$15 million, “and through the expected availment of additional debt”.

PH Resorts also said it had “ongoing negotiations” with its lenders for the “conversion of a bridge loan to a long-term project loan, availment of an additional long-term loan, deferral of principal and interest payments and testing of a subsidiary’s debt to equity ratio.” It said additionally that it had “plans for other suitable financing and capital raising options.”

PH Resorts Group is a Philippine-listed firm controlled by local entrepreneur Dennis Uy. The company said shortly prior to the Friday filing that it had signed a letter of intent with an entity called ASKI Japan Ltd, regarding provision of junket-player services to Emerald Bay.