Bingo gaming firm Leisure and Resorts ups income by 131%

Leisure and Resorts World Corp. (LRWC) posted a net profit of P58.28 million in the first half this year, up 131 percent from the previous level on higher sales from its bingo operations and additional earnings contribution from 70-percent owned subsidiary First Cagayan Leisure and Resort Corp.

In a financial report filed with securities regulators, LRWC said total sales grew 19 percent to P1.59 billion for the first six months from P1.33 billion in the same period a year earlier.

"We’re satisfied with how the public has taken to the new forms of bingo games that we introduced only last year. But we’re more excited about how our international gaming host subsidiary has started to contribute significantly to our bottomline," said LRWC president Alfredo B. Benitez.

Benitez said Rapid Bingo, since its introduction in Aug 2005, has seen a significant jump in sales, rising to P133.97 million from only P107,000.

As of end-June this year, the company had a total of 44 Rapid Bingo terminals deployed in 28 branches of LRWC’s Bingo Bonanza and 791 E-Bingo machines in 33 branches.

Further augmenting LRWC’s income is First Cagayan, an international host for Internet gaming providers that cater to online players overseas. During the period under review, First Cagayan contributed P69.84 million to LRWC’s pro-forma revenues.

As of June 2006, First Cagayan had a total of 22 registered licensees, of which 12 were already in operation. It had eight pending applications.

To ensure long-term growth, LRWC will continue to expand its non-traditional bingo operations within existing sites and set up more hosting facilities to accommodate the growing number of online gaming locators in the country.

LRWC is the pioneer and market leader in professional bingo gaming. It launched electronic bingo in May 2002 and rapid bingo in August last year.