Belle Corporation is announcing a significant rise in earnings for the recent quarter, driven by the Philippines’ loosening of Covid-19 protocols.
In its Q2 2022 fiscal report, the corporation disclosed a substantial growth in income from its investment in City of Dreams Manila, a well-known integrated resort located in the nation’s capital. Belle Corporation maintains this investment through a partnership between its subsidiary, Premium Leisure Corporation, and Melco Resorts & Entertainment. This income is directly related to their portion of the resort’s financial performance. They declared a total income of PHP1.51 billion (US$27.3 million), a considerable increase from the PHP848.8 million generated during the corresponding period last year. For the initial six months of 2022, total income reached PHP2.82 billion, in contrast to PHP1.75 billion in the first half of 2021. Profit after tax for Q2 2022 was PHP661.2 million, a sharp turnaround from the net deficit of PHP181.6 million in Q2 2021. For the first two quarters of the year, profit after tax amounted to PHP1.13 billion, compared to PHP265.4 million during the same timeframe last year.
These favorable outcomes follow the Philippines’ choice to ease business and travel limitations that were implemented to address a spike in Covid-19 infections earlier this year. The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) reflected this upward trajectory, announcing similarly robust figures for the first half of 2022, with income soaring by 68%. The regulatory body earned PHP26.7 billion in the initial six months of 2022, up from PHP15.88 billion in the corresponding period in 2021. Gaming activities generated PHP24.7 billion in the first half of 2022, a 67% increase from PHP14.77 billion in the first half of 2021.
During the ASEAN Gaming Summit in July of 2022, IDX Games’ Chief Creative Officer, Peter Johns, met with prominent industry figures. Among them were Angel Sueiro, the COO of Resorts World Philippines, and David Lawrence, the General Manager of Thunderbird Resorts and Casino. Their conversation, part of a roundtable event, focused on the promising future and present state of the rapidly expanding gaming sector in the Philippines.