On September 11, Universal Entertainment Corporation (UEC) announced that gross gaming revenue for August of this year saw a 72% increase over the same period in 2018 for Okada Manila. This resulted in a gross amount of Php3.86 billion ($75 million).
While the overall numbers were positive across the board, it appears that it is the integrated resort Okada Manila that is leading the way. The resort saw a 254% increase in revenue over August 2018. UEC gives credit to the mass-market volumes as well as the high VIP numbers as the primary factors that led to the increases.
The numbers at the Okada Manila are not surprising. In March, they reported a 67.9% increase over the prior year, reporting a total revenue of about PHP3.30 billion ($63.7 million.) This put them on pace for a first-quarter total of PHP9.52 billion ($180 million), an increase of 91% over the first quarter of last year.
The numbers climbed in July as well. Okada Manilla saw a total revenue of $62 million. The company had already reported a 44.7% increase in total revenue in the first six months of 2019 in comparison to the same period in 2018.
The news should continue to remain positive. The VIP revenue alone is far exceeding original projections. In the first eight months of this year, the VIP rolling chip volume stood at PHP350.6 billion ($6.77 billion), which was a 30.8% increase over the first eight months of last year. VIP revenue grew 55.8% as well, taking in approximately PHP11.9 billion ($230 million.)
The VIP facilities were not the only source of the increased revenue. The mass table drop also grew by 14.8%, reaching Php1.76 billion ($34 million) with a total revenue of Php917 million ($17.7 million), an increase of Php200 million ($3.86 million) over the same period last year.
All of this appears to be good news for the company. Through the first six months of the year, UEC had reported an $85.71 million loss, but the company now looks to be in line to take in more revenue than losses. They have already reported a 12.9% increase in overall sales at the Tiger Resort through the first six months of the year, and it is expected that those numbers will see an even sharper increase once the final six months of 2019 are reported.
Okada Manilla recently acquired the Asiabest Group International Inc, acquiring a majority of the shares in the Philippine-based company.
