On Thursday, Filipino billionaire, and chairman of Bloomberry Resorts Corp, Enrique Razon Jr., warned that the opening of two additional gaming complexes within the next two years would produce an “oversupply” of casinos in the Manila Bay area, as reported by the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
While attending the Manila-listed company, International Container Terminal Services, Inc., (ICTSI) (PSE: ICT) annual general meeting on Thursday, which Razon resides as the Chairman and CEO of, he said, “It’s too many, too fast.” Razon said, “The market is not growing as fast as the industry wants it to,” adding, “Supply is growing faster than the market.”
In 2013, Razon’s Solaire Resort and Casino ,opened its doors in Manila’s Entertainment City gaming complex, with City of Dreams Manila following in late 2014. By the end of this year, it’s expected that Japanese businessman Kazuo Okada will open Manila Bay Resorts, and Resorts World Bayshore is scheduled to open in 2018.
The Philippines may be facing oversupply but the regional gaming hubs are up against more difficult times. Casinos in the world’s largest gambling market, Macau, are struggling with a decrease in earnings growth following Chinese president Xi Jinping’s anti-graft campaign launch.
Compared to a net profit of P4.1 billion in 2014, in 2015, an audited consolidated net loss of P3.4 billion (US$73.2 million) was reported by Bloomberry. However, Razon remained optimistic regarding the year ahead. In an interview with Bloomberg, he said that the company’s prospects seem brighter as investments begin to grow. Razon said Bloomberry still looked favorably on expanding its overseas presence. The Jeju Sun Hotel and Casino in South Korea are already owned by Bloomberry, and it has been short-listed for a bid in July on a Cyprus casino. Earlier the company also proposed the building of an integrated resort in Argentina.
Razon said, “The outlook is far better this year,” and that, “We have much lower costs. No more bad accounts, bad debt.”