Belle income nearly doubles in H1

MANILA, Philippines -  Belle Corp. reported a consolidated net income of P1.77 billion in the first half,  93 percent higher than the P917 million reported a year ago.

 Recurring income amounted to P1.66 billion, up 82 percent from the previous year. This excludes capital gains on sales of non-core investments of P139 million in 2017.

Growth was fueled by strong revenues from City of Dreams Manila, an integrated casino resort in Entertainment City in Parañaque, which is operated by the Melco group.

 Its share in the gaming income of City of Dreams Manila, through its 78.7 percent-owned subsidiary, Premium Leisure Corp. (PLC), more than doubled to P1.46 billion.

“This was attributable to the continued growth of gaming operations at City of Dreams Manila. PLC has an operating agreement with the Philippine affiliate of Melco Resorts and Entertainment Ltd. (Melco) that accords PLC a share of gaming revenues or earnings at City of Dreams Manila,” Belle said in a disclosure to the local bourse yesterday.

Total real estate-related revenues increased by 10 percent to P1.60 billion, of which P1.12 billion came from Belle’s lease of land and buildings comprising City of Dreams Manila to Melco.