Bloomberry Resorts Corp. said it will proceed with a planned hotel and casino development in Quezon City despite opposition from residents.
Bloomberry chairman Enrique Razon Jr. said in an interview at the sidelines of the 43rd Philippine Business Conference the company would start constructing its second casino project by next year.
“It will push through. We will start construction sometime next year and for completion after two years,” Razon said.
The planned mixed-use development with hotel and casino will sit on a 1.5-hectare property on Vertis North that Bloomberry acquired from the National Housing Authority in 2014.
Concerned residents of Quezon City in an open letter published in some newspapers appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte to stop casino developments in the city, citing the risk posed by gambling on local youths.
Meanwhile, Razon said he had no plans to sell more Bloomberry shares after the company recently raised P3.8 billion from the overnight placement of 350 million shares priced at P10.85 apiece.
Prime Metroline Holdings Inc., the holding company and controlling shareholder of Bloombery, sold 350 million shares representing 3.18 percent of the gaming company that owns and operates Solaire Resort & Casino. The shares were placed sold international institutional investors
Prime Metroline remains as the largest shareholder with a 65.58 percent stake after the transaction.
Bloomberry’s net income in the first six months of 2017 surged 24-fold to a record P4.1 billion from just P174 million year-on-year on all-time high gaming revenues.
Bloomberry’s net net income in the second quarter jumped 47 percent to P1.95 billion from P1.33 billion in the same quarter last year due to a 34 percent increase in profitability in its Philippine operations and lower losses from Korean gaming operations under Jeju Hotel & Casino.
Gross gaming revenues rose 16 percent year-on-year and 14 percent quarter-on-quarter to P12.22 billion—the highest since opening Solaire in March 2013—on better relations between the Philippines and China.
Bloomberry achieved a strong first-half performance despite increased competition following the December opening of Okada Manila, the third integrated resort and casino that operates within government-sponsored Pagcor Entertainment City.