In a regulatory filing, Japanese gaming giant Universal Entertainment downgraded its full-year outlook to a loss of 18.3 billion yen (P7.2 billion) after initially forecasting a 19.6-billion yen profit.
Big picture
Large integrated gaming resorts such as Okada Manila and Bloomberry Resorts, operator of Solaire casinos, are seeing sluggish revenues amid declining high-roller earnings, while digital gaming revenues surge.
According to Universal Entertainment, sales during the first nine months of 2024 fell 18.9 percent to 60.95 billion yen (P23.8 billion), while operating profit plummeted almost 84 percent to 1.99 billion yen (P778.8 million).
“In the gaming category, the number of VIP guests at Okada Manila continued to decline as the slowdown of the junket business negatively affected the overall market conditions for the casino business in the Philippines,” Universal Entertainment stated.
Mass market outperforms pre-COVID
“Additionally, the lower win rate of VIP rolling chip and mass table games compared to other quarters contributed to the decline of gross gaming revenue,” the filing noted.
“Although the performance of the mass market and gaming machine sectors was down from the previous year, when demand significantly rebounded following the pandemic, sales are increasing steadily compared to the pre-pandemic peak sales of this business in 2019,” it added.
Next steps
The group said Okada Manila is ramping up headcount and training to boost marketing of its gaming segment.
“One goal is to attract more people living in areas of the Philippines other than Luzon Island, where Manila is located, to serve a broader range of guests who live in the Philippines,” it said.
This includes luring tourists from Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asian countries.
“In operations other than gaming, there are hotel and food and beverage events on a regular basis and numerous major events using the hotel’s facilities to increase the number of guests,” the group added.
Miguel R. Camus has been a reporter covering various domestic business topics since 2009.