Resort operator’s sales plunge in May due to Boracay closure

BOULEVARD Holdings, Inc. ( BHI) saw a significant drop in sales of products and services for the month of May, following the sixmonth closure of Boracay Island where the company operates a beach resort.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Thursday, BHI said sales of products and services plunged 81% to P1.7 million last May, compared to the P8.74 million recorded in the same period last year.

“Decrease in sales mainly due to six-month closure of Boracay, Malay, Aklan for rehabilitation effective April 26, and Friday’s Holdings, Inc. (FHI), which owns and operates Friday’s Boracay Beach Resort is one of the companies affected by the order of the national government,” the company said. BHI is the parent firm of FHI. On a 12-month basis, sales went up by 5% to P105.38 million, versus the P100.1 million posted in the same period last year.

The listed company said last April that the closure of Boracay will lead to a loss of P6.5 million in monthly revenues from April to October. This is in addition to P35 million it will spend on fixed costs and expenses for the upkeep of the resort for six months.

Prior to the island’s closure, BHI said it had already lost P22 million in advanced deposit cancellations from customers in China and Germany.

The government moved to shut down Boracay last April, following President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s description of the island’s waters as a “cesspool.” This week, the Department of Interior and Local Government has also filed a complaint against Aklan Governor Florencio Miraflores and 16 local officials for alleged negligence in managing the island.

BHI swung to an attributable loss of P1.77 million in the nine months ending February, versus a net income attributable to the parent of P2.02 million during the same period last year. This came amid an 11% rise in revenues to P79.37 million for the period. —