Hong Kong-listed Galaxy Entertainment Group Limited has reportedly revealed that it wants to spend up to $500 million in order to build a new integrated casino resort in the Philippines. According to a report from the Reuters news service, the disclosure came yesterday via an announcement from Alfredo Lim, President for the nation’s Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation regulator, after company officials including billionaire Deputy Chairman Francis Lui had earlier held a meeting with Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte.
Galaxy Entertainment Group Limited operates the Galaxy Macau, Star World Macau and Broadway Casino in Macau and recorded gross gaming revenues for the three months to the end of September of $6.88 billion. The firm is additionally responsible for the former Portuguese enclave’s President Casino, Rio Casino and Waldo Casino and saw its third-quarter profit hit a two-year high of $348.13 million as visitor numbers increased by 0.1% year-on-year to 8.1 million. Lim reportedly explained that Galaxy Entertainment Group Limited wants to site its new gambling complex, which could open as soon as 2021, on the small island of Boracay some 196 miles south of Manila and was joining with local partner Leisure and Resorts World Corporation in order to apply for the appropriate license.
Reuters reported that Boracay is already world famous for its white sand beach and nightlife with Lim purportedly declaring that having an integrated casino resort on the 2,550-acre island would help the nation to ‘further improve’ its tourism industry. “The project is intended for foreigners, junket operators and high-rollers,” Lim reportedly told Reuters. Reuters moreover reported that visits from high-rolling Chinese and South Korean casino players helped first-half aggregated gross gaming revenues in the Philippines swell by 12% year-on-year to reach approximately $1.7 billion with the nation now purportedly targeting a figure closer to $3.2 billion for the entirety of 2017.
Galaxy previously said it was exploring opportunities outside of Macau. The Philippines’ gross gaming revenue from casinos and electronic gaming sites rose 12 percent to 88 billion pesos ($1.7 billion) in the first half versus a year ago, Pagcor data showed, driven by high-rollers from China and South Korea. The Philippines, which has one of Asia’s most freewheeling gaming industries, targets gross gaming revenue of 155 billion pesos to 160 billion pesos this year. The growth relies on warmer ties with China. Duterte last year set aside territorial hostility with China, pivoting away from traditional ally the United States.
“As you know, China’s relationship with the Philippines has been improving,” Lui reportedly told Reuters. “We strongly believe the Philippines has great potential and offers attractive opportunities.”
