Gaming profit, lower costs push Belle Corp. Q1 profit up 5% to P462M

LISTED gaming and integrated resort developer Belle Corp. reported a 5% year-on-year increase in first-quarter net income to P462.39 million from P439.73 million, driven by lower operating costs and higher gaming revenue.

Consolidated revenue declined by 1% to P1.31 billion from P1.32 billion due to a 6% drop in real estate revenue to P739.7 million, Belle said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday.

Leasing income from the City of Dreams Manila integrated resort in Parañaque rose by 1% to P588 million, while revenue from real estate sales and property management at the Tagaytay Highlands complex fell by 28% to P151.7 million.

Belle leases the land occupied by City of Dreams Manila to Melco Resorts and Entertainment (Philippines) Corp.

Gaming revenue from subsidiary Premium Leisure Corp. (PLC) rose by 31.4% to P432.6 million. Lottery system provider Pacific Online System Corp., 50.1%-owned by PLC, generated P129.5 million in revenue from leasing online betting equipment to the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

Cost of lease income declined by 3% to P158.8 million on lower repair and maintenance expenses. Cost of real estate sold dropped by 13% to P52.7 million due to fewer units sold.

Cost of lottery services fell by 3% to P87.4 million, while cost of gaming operations edged up by 0.8% to P34.3 million. Property management service costs declined by 13% to P34.2 million on lower consumption.

Belle shares dropped by 1.36% or two centavos to P1.45 on Tuesday. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave