Belle’s gaming business pushes earnings to P2.4B

MANILA, Philippines - Belle Corp., the gaming arm and upscale leisure developer of the SM Group, has started reaping the benefits of an integrated casino project in the gaming complex in Parañaque City.

In a regulatory filing, Belle said its consolidated net income surged to P2.39 billion in the first half, around 26 times higher than the P90.5-million income a year ago.

Gross revenues jumped to P1.62 billion from P247 million a year ago “due to the receipt of revenues arising from the lease and operating agreements with Philippine subsidiaries of Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. totaling P1.47 billion,” Belle said.

Belle put up the $1.3-billion Belle Grande Manila Bay casino and hotel complex in the Manila Bay reclamation area. Macau-based casino giant Melco Crown, for its part, will lease the property and will operate the integrated casino.

In March, the local units of Melco Crown formally inked its partnership with Belle for Belle Grande, whose construction started early in 2010.

The casino complex will offer 20,000 square meters of gaming space and 900 hotel rooms. It is located at Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.’s Entertainment City that is the Philippines’ answer to gaming hubs Las Vegas, Macau and Singapore.

Melco co-chairman and CEO Lawrence Ho earlier said that the company is banking on its vast gaming network of Asians particularly Hong Kong and Chinese visitors that can be diverted to the Philippines.

It will be Melco Crown’s first casino outside Macau where it operates the City of Dreams and Altira Macau casinos.

The project is the first gaming venture of the Sy family, whose flagship company SM Investments Corp. is involved in five core businesses – retail merchandising, mall operations, property, banking and hotel and leisure.

Belle Grande will be the second complex to open in the area groomed to become the Philippines’ version of the Las Vegas strip, next to port mogul Enrique Razon’s $1.2-billion Solaire Casino & Resort that started operations in March.