RAZON-LED gaming firm Bloomberry Resorts Corp. on Thursday said it posted a record-high income last year, mainly on the strong operational performance of its Solaire Resort and Casino operations, while reducing the net losses of its South Korean unit.
The company said its income last year reached P6.07 billion, or more than double than the previous year’s P2.35 billion in profits.
It said there was an 82-percent reduction in net losses from its South Korean operations to P207 million from P1.13 billion the previous year.
“Going into our fifth year of operation has become even more exciting with our 2017 results in sync with the growth trajectories we have aimed for,” said Enrique K. Razon Jr., Bloomberry chairman and CEO.
Solaire’s gross gaming revenues grew 16 percent to P44.52 billion, the highest on record since its opening. Inclusive of the P407-million contribution from Jeju Sun, the company’s gross gaming revenues grew 17 percent to P44.92 billion this year.
Nongaming revenues grew 40 percent to a new annual record of P3.33 billion due to the continued improvements in Solaire’s hotel, food and beverage and retail and others segments, which increased by 32 percent and 80 percent, respectively. It said there was more spending for its strip mall inside the property, while there were more international shows in its theater.
Total expenses grew slower than revenues at 15 percent year-on-year to P30.42 billion, helped by a 58-percent reduction from South Korea which accounted for 2 percent of the total, down from 5 percent the previous year.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, Solaire’s gross gaming revenues were down 11 percent in the fourth quarter and only 2-percent growth year-on-year to P10.27 billion mainly due to the low 1.95-percent VIP hold rate during the quarter, a contrast to the 2.83 percent and 2.85 percent for the third quarter and fourth quarter of 2016, respectively.
A hold rate is the amount a casino gains from a game being played by players. It can be used to determine the average earnings from a table over a long period of time, or to describe how much money the table made for the house in one session or night. For the fourth quarter alone, Bloomberry generated P98 million in net profits, down from P732 million in the previous year, an 86-percent plunge dragged down by a low 1.95-percent VIP hold rate, some one-off noncash expenses relating to the depreciation of a transportation asset and unrealized foreign-exchange losses, as well as a P267-million net loss from its Korea operations.
It said the Philippine operations would have generated P1.65 billion in net profits for the quarter, assuming the VIP hold at the normal 2.85-percent rate and would have increased by another P451 million to P2.1 billion without the one-time depreciation write-off of P150 million and unrealized foreign-exchange losses of P301 million.