In a filing with the Philippine Stock Exchange, Bloomberry Resorts Corporation reported a net profit of approximately PHP3.91 billion ($77.2 million) for the third quarter of 2019. That marked a record 245% increase in comparison to the same quarter in 2018.
The large increase in the third quarter profits was due in large part to the success at the Solaire. According to the filing, the operations of the Philippine-based resort reported a net income of PHP4.2 billion. That was an increase of 283.9% over the same period in 2018.
According to the company, the increase was due to higher earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). This was “partially offset” by higher losses due to foreign-exchange and an increase in interest and depreciation expenses.
In addition, the Solaire reported a 46% increase in gross gaming revenue for the three months that ended on September 30. This was due to a record mass-market volume and improved VIP hold. The GGR reached Php17.11 billion ($338 million) for the three-month timeframe with an adjusted EBITDA reaching 100% to Php6.36 billion ($125 million).
In a statement by Enrique Razon, the chairman and chief executive of Bloomberry, he stated, “I am pleased to report a third-quarter net profit of PHP3.91 billion … despite incurring higher interest expenses and foreign exchange losses.” The losses came from the South Korean operations which lost PHP277.6 million ($5.48 million). He added, “We are now in the last stretch of 2019 and we look forward to delivering a strong set of full-year results.”
In speaking about the increased profits, the company stated that “Despite the recent strength of the VIP business which was fueled by a higher than normal VIP win rate, the mass gaming segments continue to be the greatest source of near-term and long-term growth for Solaire.”
This is exceptional news for Bloomberry Resorts which reported an increase in revenues in the first quarter of this year, but reported a 40% decrease in total profit from the same period in 2018. The profit in the first quarter of this year was $42.5 million, which was a more than $28 million decrease in comparison to the first three months of 2018.
With the success at the Solaire, Bloomberry is ready to move forward with the construction and preopening of their Solaire North facility in Quezon City. They explained in their filing that they had a PHP40-billion ($790 million) loan to apply to the new project.
