Listed Suntrust Resorts Holdings, controlled by Hong Kong-based LET Group, indicated in its latest quarterly filing that the $1 billion integrated gaming project’s completion is being pushed back.
LET Group also operates the Tigre de Cristal integrated resort in Vladivostok, Russia.
Opening date ‘revised’
“The parent company’s management revised its previous estimate as to the commencement of operation of its main hotel casino,” Suntrust stated in the filing on Wednesday without detailing the new opening date.
This comes after the company said last April that the casino was on track to start operations by the fourth quarter of 2025.
Suntrust shares shed 4.5 percent to P0.64 each on Wednesday, valuing the company at P4.64 billion.
The delay also triggered a change in how the company records the lease in its books, since the rent officially begins only when the casino opens.
In its report, Suntrust said the remeasurement in the related lease liability and right-of-use asset amounted to P339.1 million.
It made similar accounting adjustments over the past two years to reflect changes in the estimated timing of the casino’s start of operations.
Fourth integrated casino along Manila Bay
The Westside City casino is the fourth integrated gaming site in Entertainment City, which has three other casinos: Solaire Resort Entertainment City, City of Dreams Manila, and Okada Manila.
This comes amid a softer period for physical gaming venues, with a slowdown in revenue from foreign-driven high-roller activity.
According to Suntrust, the Westside City casino project will open with 281 gaming tables, 1,126 slot machines, and 134 electronic table games for both the mass and VIP markets.
Complementing the gaming project are 475 luxury hotel rooms and suites, a grand opera house, a 3,000-seat performing arts theater, a shopping mall, cinemas, and various restaurant and retail facilities.
Miguel R. Camus has been a reporter covering various domestic business topics since 2009.
