Philippines gaming operator Travellers International Hotel Group Inc continues to suffer the effects of the fatal Resorts World Manila (RWM) attack last year, with gaming revenue for the three months to 31 March 2018 down 14.8% to Php4.5 billion (US$85.9 million) as a result of lower mass market gaming capacity.
RWM, of which Travellers holds a 45% stake, had its gaming license suspended for three weeks after 38 people were killed during the lone wolf attack on 2 June 2017. Its license was restored on 29 June but the company quickly announced it would no longer run gaming operations on the second floor where the attack took place.
As a result, RWM’s mass market table count fell from 169 tables to 96 and VIP table count from 145 to 113. Slot machine numbers also fell from 1,871 to 1,395.
In a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Travellers International’s joint venture partner Genting HK said it had been informed that Travellers had experienced a significant decrease in revenue in 1Q18 “as a result of lesser gaming capacity” than during the same period in 2017. The fall comes “despite a reported 22.3% growth from the VIP segment.”
The average number of casino tables and slot machines were 242 and 1,361 respectively compared to 311 and 1,771 for the same period last year.Gross revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2018 amounted to P5,461.5 million compared to P6,331.7 million for the same period in 2017.
Gross revenue in 1Q18 fell 13.8% to Php5.5 billion (US$104.2 million) with EBITDA declining 40.9% to Php839.7 million compared to P1,420.3 million for the same period in 2017.
Net profit came in at Php444 million.
