Bloomberry Resorts understood the stakes involved. If it wanted to see completion of its $1.3 billion integrated resort and casino, Solaire Manila, it had to tap into its considerable financial well to ensure that it met its goals.
And so it did, and the company’s latest regulatory filing showed as such. For the year 2012, Bloomberry incurred a net loss of Php 687.9 million ($16.9 million), a dramatic turnaround from the Php 2.7 million ($66,322) in income it earned in 2011. Normally, such a significant and precipitous drop in performance would be cause for some kind of investigation, but in this case, Bloomberry made it pretty clear where all the money went.
“The turnaround was due to increased level of pre-operating activities mainly from recruitment and training, direct and general marketing as well as higher number of employees by the end of 2012,” the company said.
That figure would’ve actually bee bigger – expenses for Solaire Manila was estimated at around Php 951.97 million ($23.3842) – but that number was significantly cut through numerous other transactions Bloomberry made for the year, including the sale of Monte Oro Resources & Energy Inc. to associate Prime Metroline Holdings Inc. that reportedly cost Php 72.3 million. Likewise, revenues from interest income and gain on sale of investment in an associate improved from Php 145.68 million to Php 195.6 million.
But ultimately, Bloomberry’s financial books will point to the enormous expenses the company incurred throughout the year as the biggest reason that its financial statement for 2012 is in the red. All told, Bloomberry spent Php 951.97 million last year, a significant increase from the Php 159.52 million in spent in 2011. Pre-opening expenses alone, according to the company, amounted to P318.8 million, which was used on “recruitment and training expenses of new employees, payment for direct advertising and marketing expenses, salaries and benefits of employees directly associated with the opening, Global Gaming Philippines LLC fees and other pre-opening consultants, and rentals of temporary offices”.
Despite the huge expenditures it incurred, Bloomberry is hopeful that the money and investments spent will return themselves in due time with the opening of Solaire Manila. Considering that it has at least a year to fully establish itself before the earliest of the other three mega gaming complexes in Entertainment City opens, Bloomberry Resorts can accommodate a significant piece of the market, which, in turn, could expedite the return of its apparently massive investment.
