Posted on August
19, 2013 10:18:17 PM [ BusinessWorld Online ]
KIDZANIA
Manila, the P1-billion education-oriented theme park of ABS-CBN Corp., should
hit break-even point within three years from start of operations, a senior
company official said in a recent briefing.
ABS-CBN’s
Chief Finance Officer Aldrin M. Cerrado said Play Innovations, Inc. -- the unit
the network formed to hold the local franchise of this Mexico-based venture --
should start earning profit after the third year from its scheduled opening in
November 2014.
“We will hit
break-even before the end of year three,” Mr. Cerrado said during his
presentation of ABS-CBN’s second-quarter and first-half financial results to
analysts and media at the broadcaster’s headquarters in Quezon City.
Groundbreaking
for KidZania on a 6,000-square-kilometer property at 11th corner 32nd streets
in Bonifacio Global City was held last March.
KidZania’s
facilities are designed as child-sized replicas of the real world where kids
can take on adult roles and earn money -- via branded activities -- that can be
used to purchase KidZania goods and services.
Brands will
include McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Dunkin’ Donuts and Coca-Cola, among others.
In Tokyo and
Osaka, Japan, for instance, KidZania facilities enable children to take on
roles such as policemen, firemen, paramedics, doctors, nurses, besides
businessmen and private sector workers.
Play
Innovations is a joint venture of ABS-CBN, which has a 73% stake, and
Singapore-based Kids Edutainment Ltd. BVI, which has a 24% share in
investments.
Asked how
much tickets would cost, Mr. Cerrado said the company is still “reviewing
ticket prices.”
Pressed on
the venture’s profitability, Maricel Pangilinan-Arenas, president and chief
executive officer of Play Innovations, said in the same briefing that existing
KidZania ventures worldwide have been generally profitable. KidZania’s Web site
shows that besides two sites in Japan, facilities now operate in Bangkok,
Thailand; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Jakarta, Indonesia; Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia; Lisbon, Portugal; Monterrey and Mexico cities, Mexico; Santiago,
Chile; and Seoul, South Korea.
This year,
facilities were to open in Cairo, Egypt; Istanbul, Turkey; Jeddah, Saudi
Arabia; Mumbai, India; and Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Next year --
besides Metro Manila -- facilities are slated to open in Moscow, Russia and
Singapore, while 2015 will see operations start in Doha, Qatar; London, United
Kingdom; and the United States. -- LCSM
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