PROFITS of Travellers International Hotel Group Inc., operator of Resorts World Manila (RWM), eroded last year as the company’s operations were affected by the attack of a lone gunman that wiped out the entire second floor of RWM’s gambling area.
In its report, the gambling arm of businessman Andrew Tan said its net profit for the entire 2017 was a mere P241.7 million, 93-percent down from the previous year’s P3.39 billion.
This is the second straight year the company reported a drop in income coming from the P4.01 billion in profits it made in 2015.
Revenues slid to P19.26 billion, down by 23 percent, from P25.09 billion, which the company attributed to the 27-day closure of its gaming facility, which the gunman set on fire after killing several people.
Gaming revenues slipped by 27 percent to P17.11 billion from the previous year, while revenues from hotel, food and beverages and other revenue sources rose 8 percent to P2.85 billion, from P2.62 billion in the previous year.
“Net revenues for the fourth quarter of 2017 increased by 22.9 percent compared to the third quarter of 2017 as operations began to ramp up,” the company said.
Gross gaming revenues for the fourth quarter of 2017 increased by 21 percent to P4.3 billion, compared to P3.55 billion for the third quarter of 2017. Overall drop volume last year amounted to P304.53 billion, from P453.41 billion for 2016.
“Drop volume for the fourth quarter of 2017 increased by 20 percent compared to the third quarter of 2017,” it said.
Property visitation averaged at 27,000 in the fourth quarter, up from 23,000 in the third quarter. Average occupancy rate for the three hotels stayed high, hovering around 80 percent, led by Remington Hotel, now known as Holiday Inn Express, at almost 90 percent.
“We are pleased to see continuous improvements in our quarterly results and expect to sustain this upward trend, especially with the partial opening of Phase 3 development’s gaming area in the near future. This new facility will be called Grand Wing, while the original facility will be called Garden Wing,” Kingson Sian, the company’s president and CEO, said in an earlier statement.