GGRAsia – Bloomberry reports net loss in 1Q on higher costs

Bloomberry reports net loss in 1Q on higher costs

May 14, 2015 Newsdesk Philippines, Top of the deck

Bloomberry Resorts Corp, developer and operator of Solaire Resort and Casino (pictured) in the Philippine capital Manila, reported a loss in net income attributable to equity holders of the parent company in the first quarter.

The group’s unaudited results for the three months to March 31 show a loss of approximately PHP533.05 million (US$11.96 million) compared to a net gain of approximately PHP1.46 billion on shareholder net income in the prior year period. The firm’s loss per basic and per diluted share in the first quarter 2015 amounted to PHP0.48, compared to a gain of PHP0.138 in the year-prior quarter.

But gross gaming revenue in the first quarter of 2015 increased by 14.6 percent or PHP1.03 billion as compared to the same period last year.

Bloomberry said one factor in the loss for the period was a 42 percent rise in costs and expenses, to approximately PHP6.21 billion.

“This significant increase was mainly due to the opening of Solaire’s Sky Tower. Management will continue to promote and ramp up the business of Sky Tower,” said the firm in a commentary on the results, referring to a new on-site facility with 66 VIP tables and 312 suites that first launched in November last year.

“We are happy with the steady growth of Solaria with operations remaining robust. The Sky Tower is a big success and we expect that investment to generate profits very soon,” Bloomberry chairman and chief executive Enrique Razon said in a statement accompanying the results.

Management added that the group had stopped capitalising interest and other financing costs, resulting in interest expense “increasing by almost seven times”.

The company said that as of March 31, 2015, Solaire – which first opened in March 2013 – had signed-up with 84 junket operators, of which 35 were active in the first quarter of 2015. Mass gaming continued to achieve what the firm called “sustainable growth” registering a 17.0 percent increase from the prior-year period.

“This was the product of persistent marketing efforts, new promotions and experienced marketing representatives hired in the relevant period,” it added.

A total of 434,000 mass-market players had been signed as members by the end of first quarter of 2015. Management added that the property had registered 7.9 million visits since the first phase launch of the property.

“We have marketing offices and presence in Macau, Taiwan, Japan, [South] Korea, Malaysia and Singapore. In addition, we have hired additional VIP player development executives for deployment in our overseas offices,” said Bloomberry in its earnings statement.

The firm also reported a 100 percent increase during the reporting period in allowance for “doubtful accounts”. The aggregate of such receivables – mostly from casino operations – rose to approximately PHP1.59 billion from approximately PHP789.08 million from the prior-year period.