Belle Corporation’s earnings fell due to the pandemic

Excluding extraordinary and non-recurring items, Belle Corporation’s consolidated recurring net income of P680 million for the 2020 period was 75 percent lower than the comparable figure of P2,670 million for the 2019 period.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the firm said it had consolidated revenue of P2.91 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2020, down 50 percent compared to revenue of P5.77 billion for the same period last year.

“The declines in revenue and earnings were primarily due to developments related to Covid-19,” said Belle.

He noted that, “The effects of the pandemic began with the decline in tourist arrivals prior to the implementation of community quarantines across the country and were exacerbated by the temporary suspension of gambling operations at City of Dreams Manila on 16 March 2020 in compliance with government initiatives to contain the virus. “

Belle’s main growth driver, its share of gaming revenue at City of Dreams Manila, decreased by 86 percent, from P2.38 billion in the first nine months of 2019 to P325 million in the same period this year. year, as gaming operations were suspended or substantially limited from mid-March to September 2020.

The Covid-19 pandemic also caused weak results at Pacific Online Systems Corporation, which leases online gambling equipment to the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office for its lottery and keno operations.

Pacific Online, which is 50.1 percent owned by Belle’s subsidiary, Premium Leisure Corp. (PLC), posted a 71 percent decline in revenue, from P766 million for the first nine months of 2019 to P221 million for the same period in 2020.

Belle’s real estate operations posted a 10 percent decline in revenue to P2.37 billion in the first nine months of 2020 from P2.63 billion in the same period last year.

Of the real estate revenue in 2020, P2.0 billion came from Belle’s lease of the land and buildings comprising City of Dreams Manila to Melco Resorts and Entertainment (Philippines) Corporation, which was unchanged from 2019. However, the Belle’s real estate sales and property management Activities at its Tagaytay Highlands complex, which were impacted by community quarantines throughout the second and third quarters of 2020 and the Taal volcano eruption in January 2020, contributed revenue of P363 million in 2020, which was 42 percent lower than the P624 million in 2019..