Bloomberry Resorts, owner and operator of the Solaire Resort & Casino and Jeju Sun Hotel & Casino, plunged to a P1.16 billion (US$24.86 million) net loss in the first quarter of 2016 due to higher foreign exchange losses and interest expenses from its Philippine operations.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Bloomberry said the net loss that the gaming firm incurred in first three months of 2016 was more than double compared to the P533 million ($11.42 million) loss it reported in the same period a year ago.
Bloomberry’s total revenues for the quarter fell by 10 percent year-on-year, from P6.34 billion ($135.85 million) to P5.73 billion ($122.78 million) while gross gaming revenues fell by 5 percent to P7.65 billion ($163.93 million).
The gaming firm attributed its losses to the lower Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), which declined 31 percent year-on-year to PHP1.21 billion, owing to the low VIP hold as well as the P198 million drag from the company’s Korean operations.
“Excluding expenses from its Korea operations, Bloomberry’s total expenses would have risen by only 2 percent on a year-on-year basis,” Bloomberry pointed out.
Solaire, meanwhile, continues to be the silver lining for casino magnate Enrique Razon as the Philippine resort casino accounts for a little over 99 percent of Bloomberry’s total revenues. The gaming firm noted that Solaire generated the highest VIP quarterly volume since it opened in March 2013 at 22 percent year-on-year VIP growth.
Solaire’s VIP gross gaming revenues, however, declined by 21 percent YOY following a drop in the VIP hold rate from 3 percent during the same time last year to 1.94 percent in 2016.
Also providing a ray of hope for Bloomberry profitability for the whole year is “robust.” Solaire’s mass gaming segment, whose mass table drop and electronic gaming machine (EGM) coin-in for the quarter grew by as much as 0.4 percent and 9 percent YOY, respectively.
The first quarter 2016 EGM coin-in is the highest ever generated by Solaire since it opened in 2013. GGR for mass tables and EGM increased year-on-year by 12 percent and 7 percent, respectively, as a result of a better hold rate for mass tables.
Non-gaming revenues rose 50 percent year-on-year to P557 million ($11.94 million) due to a significant 26 percent increase in Solaire’s revenue per hotel room, along with hotel occupancy which also rose to 85 percent from 76 percent in the first quarter of 2015.
