Bloomberry Resorts’ Solaire North Open Date Pushed Back
Philippine-based hospitality and casino operator Bloomberry Resorts Corporation held its annual shareholder meeting Thursday, offering insight into the investment plans of the company. The second integrated casino resort for the operator, Solaire North which is currently under development in Quezon City, is now expected to open doors by the end of 2022 or early 2023, pushing back the initial open date due to construction delays.
“We strongly believe that the timing of Solaire North could well-coincide with a full economic recovery.”
Enrique Razon, Chairman and CEO, Bloomberry Resorts Corporation
Construction Delayed Due to Quarantine
Solaire North is the operator’s second integrated casino and resort in the Philippines after the Solaire Resort & Casino in Parañaque City, and during the annual shareholder meeting which took place virtually, Bloomberry Resorts Chairman and CEO Enrique Razon pointed out the construction works had already resumed as quarantine measures were eased in the country.
“With Metro Manila under GCQ (general community quarantine) now, we have restarted the construction to the extent allowed under the quarantine, but we could expect a delay in the completion of Solaire North by that period covered by the lockdown.”
Enrique Razon, Chairman and CEO, Bloomberry Resorts Corporation
Solaire North will occupy a 1.5 hectare site inside the Vertis North complex and will feature a 40- story tower, hotels, dining outlets, bars and lounges, entertainment areas and of course, a casino. The resort will aim at attracting mass market players from the nearby Pampanga and Bulacan provinces, on top of the ones from the city.
Early to Say How the Business Will Perform
The construction of the resort was delayed due to the imposed by the government in Manila enhanced community quarantine in mid-March, and the measure aimed at halting the transmission of the virus infection remained effective throughout April. The lockdown also impacted the financial result from Bloomberry’s other casino resort, where first quarter net income fell 38%, compared to the same period in 2019.
Enrique Razon, who also featured at 565th place in 2020 Forbes Billionaire List, informed shareholders the casino had recently opened with limited capacity and initial signs were not enough to make a firm conclusion how the business would perform.
Performance remains secondary for the time being as the well-being of guests and employees remains number one priority for the casino and hospitality operator, Mr. Razon pointed out, informing shareholders the casino made heavy investments to ensure sanitization and safety.
Besides the ambitions in its domestic market, Bloomberry Resorts is still looking out for opportunities which would make sense in the current environment, Enrique Razon outlined, probably envisaging the ongoing pursuit for an integrated casino resort in Japan which still remains within the scope of the company.
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