Posted on
December 02, 2012 09:57:27 PM [ BusinessWorld Online ]
LEISURE &
RESORTS World Corp. (LRWC) is open to expanding its latest acquisition, Midas
Hotel and Casino, as soon as the company is able to grow the hotel’s casino
business, a company official said over the weekend.
“Yes, we could possibly expand,” Alfredo B.
Reyes, LRWC investor relations head, said in a phone interview last Saturday
when asked if expansion of Midas Hotel and Casino was an option after the
company acquired last month a 51% controlling stake in Hotel Enterprises of the
Philippines, Inc., the hotel’s operator.
“The whole
property is close to one hectare in size and there is still some space in the
back for either another hotel wing, or additional parking space, or some other
expansion,” Mr. Reyes noted.
Midas Hotel
and Casino is a 227-room hotel located along Roxas Boulevard in Pasay City. It
is co-owned by Puregold Price Club, Inc. Chairman Lucio L. Co.
LRWC’s
buy-in, valued at P750 million, was finalized on Nov. 9 and is seen to
strengthen the company’s hotel portfolio which already includes a 30% minority
stake in Binondo Leisure Resources, Inc., operator of Binondo Suites hotel in
downtown Chinatown, Manila.
MAIN FOCUS
FOR NOW
“For now, our
main focus is to have more marketing activities to be able to drive more
traffic to the casino, and then aside from that, also increase or improve the
revenues of the hotel side,” Mr. Reyes said.
A casino
dubbed Midas Casino, operated by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.,
occupies a portion of the hotel, and currently has around 40 to 50 gaming
tables, he noted.
“In terms of
the revenues that it is generating, we feel there is still room for
improvement,” Mr. Reyes said.
“Because of
our experience in gaming, this is something we’re bringing to the table.”
LRWC was
originally incorporated in 1957 as Atlas Fertilizer Corp., a company engaged in
fertilizer and industrial chemicals production before it shifted in 1999 into
real estate development, with a focus on leisure.
GROWING
The company
more than doubled its net income to P154.61 million as of September from P46.74
million in the same nine months last year due to the higher revenues generated
by most of its bingo-oriented operating subsidiaries, according to its latest
financial report. In the same comparative nine-month periods, revenues rose
14.33% to P3.35 billion from P2.93 billion, while costs and operating expenses
increased by 1.02% to P1.98 billion versus P1.96 billion.
Shares of
LRWC gained 11 centavos or 1.28% to P8.68 apiece when trading closed on
Thursday last week from P8.54 on Wednesday. Philippine financial markets were
closed on Friday in observance of Bonifacio Day. -- F. J. G. de la Fuente
