Belle net profit falls 11% amid competition from small-town lotteries
BELLE Corp. said net profit fell 11% in the first half, with one unit’s performance weighed down by competition from small-town lotteries.
In a statement Friday, the listed tourism and leisure property developer said net profit was P1.73 billion in the first six months, down from P1.95 billion a year earlier.
Consolidated revenue was down 7% at P4.20 billion.
The company noted the strong revenue growth of integrated resort City of Dreams Manila was offset by the performance of Pacific Online Systems Corp., whose revenue dropped 49% to P558.8 million.
Pacific Online is 50.1% owned by Belle’s gaming subsidiary, Premium Leisure Corp. (PLC). It leases online betting equipment to the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office for the latter’s lottery and keno operations. Belle said competition from small-town lotteries mainly weighed down on the top line.
“Pacific Online is working closely with the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and its network of agents to boost the attractiveness of the pari-mutuel games it offers, and is working to implement cost efficiency measures across its operations,” the company said.
Meanwhile, PLC grew its share of earnings from the City of Dreams by 9% to P1.88 billion for the period.
Real estate operations generated P1.75 billion in revenue, up 4% year-on-year. About P1.33 billion of this came from the lease of land to Melco Resorts and Entertainment (Philippines) Corp. where the City of Dreams stands, up 16% from a year earlier.
Real estate sales and property management activities at the company’s Tagaytay Highlands complex accounted for the remaining revenue of P420 million.
Belle fell 0.86% or two centavos, closing at P2.30 Friday. — Arra B. Francia
