Belle sees revenue growth from City of Dreams Manila

MANILA, Philippines - Leisure estate and gaming firm Belle Corp. expects revenues to grow bigger in the near to medium term especially  due to the lease and operating agreements with Macau casino giant Melco Crowne Ltd.

Belle CFO Manuel Gana said in the nine months ending September last year, the  company booked P1.2 billion in revenue from the lease to Melco of the 6.2 hectare property where the City of Dreams Manila stands.     In 2013, Belle realized revenues of P1.3 billion from the lease.

These figures, Gana said, are seen to rise further as City of Dreams is beginning to attract high-rollers and consumers and generate foot traffic.

 For this year, lease revenues from the City of Dreams property is expected to hit P1.4 billion.

 Apart from the lease revenues, Belle will also be realizing a share in earnings from City of Dreams’ gaming operations through its 78.7 percent subsidiary Premium Leisure Corp., which has an operating agreement with Melco.

City of Dreams Manila soft-opened on Dec. 14, 2014 and had a grand launch last Feb. 2. It covers about two hectares of  gaming space, more than 900 hotel rooms operated under three hotel brands (namely Crown, Hyatt and Nobu), the DreamPlay indoor amusement park, and approximately two hectares of restaurant and retail space.

 Belle also owns significant real estate assets in and around Tagaytay City, encompassing about 800 hectares of land available  for future development.

The Sy family consolidated its gaming assets including its stake in City of Dreams Manila under PLC, formerly Sinophil Corp.

City of Dreams Manila is one of the four integrated resort and casinos licensed to operate in Entertainment City, which is expected to become a prime new leisure destination in the country.

 Solaire Resorts & Casino of port mogul Enrique Razon is the first to open among the four licensees.  The two others are Travellers International Hotel Group Inc, a venture between Genting Hong Kong Ltd and Philippine conglomerate Alliance Global Group Inc , and Universal Entertainment Corp of Japanese billionaire Kazuo Okada.