CHAIRMAN AND CEO
Bloomberry Resorts Corp
POWER SCORE: 1,511
POSITION LAST YEAR: 10
CLAIMS TO FAME
- Heads only Philippine company that solely controls an Entertainment City integrated resort
- Building new casino resorts in Quezon City and Cavite
WITH the Philippines emerging from the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bloomberry Resorts Corp and its visionary owner Enrique Razon Jr have wasted no time in planning for a much brighter future ahead.
Already entering final preparations for the launch of its second Philippines integrated resort, Solaire North, in Quezon City next year – the property was topped off in June – Bloomberry announced in May that it had reached an agreement to purchase almost 3 million square meters of land in Cavite, south of Manila, to develop a third Solaire-branded IR.
The company is also in discussions to acquire a (possibly controling) stake in troubled PH Resorts Group – the gaming and hospitality arm of Dennis Uy’s Udenna Group currently developing The Emerald Bay in Cebu and The Base Resort Hotel and Casino in Clark.
While Entertainment City’s Solaire Resort & Casino is already recognized as the gold standard in Philippines gaming, the potential expansion of Bloomberry’s interests to as many as five integrated resorts around the country by the end of the decade would undoubtedly cement the company’s status as the local leader and one of the most prominent operators in all of Asia.
Meanwhile, Solaire’s COVID comeback is already well underway. Bloomberry reported a 131% year-on-year and 47% sequential increase in gross gaming revenues in the June 2022 quarter to Php13.1 billion (US$235 million) – enough to return to net profit following two years of significant losses throughout the pandemic. And word on the street has it that the property, like many in the Philippines, is already on track to surpass 2019 levels by early 2023, if not earlier.
Meanwhile, Razon – who played a leading role in the Philippines’ COVID-19 fight by establishing a number of vaccination and quarantine centers – continues to wield enormous power in his home country thanks to his many business interests, most notably via port-handling giant International Container Terminal Services from which he first made his billions.
He also has interests in power, mining, oil and gas, and in 2020 he purchased a 25% stake in utilities firm Manila Water, injecting much-needed funding into an operation whose financial struggles had long earned the ire of former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte.
For the full list of 2022 Asian Gaming Power 50 winners, click here.
