Operator News
Philippines – Gaming levels up in Q4 as Resorts World Manila recovers from arson attack
By Phil - 27 March 2018
Philippines casino operator Travellers International staged something of a recovery in its fourth quarter although its full year revenue was down 27.6 per cent due to the arson attack on its Resorts World Manila that killed 28 people in June.
For the fourth quarter, Travellers reported a five per cent increase in revenues from its non-gaming segment to PHP 4bn during the year driven by hotel and MICE operations.
Property visitation continued to improve averaging 27,000 in the fourth quarter, up from 23,000 in the third quarter. Average occupancy rate for the three hotels stayed high, hovering around the 80 per cent mark, led by Remington Hotel (now Holiday Inn Express) at almost 90 per cent.
TIHGI also reported unaudited consolidated financial results with gross revenues ending at PHP21.1bn and EBITDA amounting to PHP3.5bn for the year ended December 31, 2017. Gross gaming revenues continued to recover after the loss of the 2nd floor gaming in June 2017, increasing by 22 per cent in the fourth quarter compared to the previous quarter and ending at PHP17.1bn.
“We are pleased to see continuous improvements in our quarterly results and expect to sustain this upward trend, especially with the partial opening of Phase 3 development’s gaming area in the near future. This new facility will be called Grand Wing while the original facility will be called Garden Wing.” said Kingson Sian, President & CEO of TIHGI. “The Grand Wing’s three hotel brands will open in phases beginning mid this year, with all three open by year end.”
Grand Wing will have three international luxury hotels – Hilton Manila, Sheraton Manila Hotel, and Hotel Okura Manila, adding approximately 940 rooms. It will also include new gaming and retail spaces, as well as six basement parking decks.
For the year as a whole though, GGR fell to Php17.115bn (US$327.9m) due to the venue being shut down for 27 days. Since then Resorts World manila has kept its entire Level 2 closed meaning that it has been operating with 53 fewer mass gaming tables and 14 fewer VIP tables in operation, resulting in as fall in table GGR of 32.8 per cent.
