City of Dreams owner reports 79% surge in revenues to $145 M

Melco Crown (Philippines) Resorts Corporation reported that net revenues of City of Dreams Manila surged 79 percent to $144.7 million in the fourth quarter last year from the $80.9 million generated in the same period in 2015.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Melco Crown said COD Manila’s adjusted EBITDA reached $50.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2016 compared to $15.5 million in the comparable period of 2015.

The year-on-year improvement in Adjusted EBITDA was primarily a result of increased casino revenues.

“City of Dreams Manila, our integrated resort in the fast-growing gaming market of the Philippines, continues to increase its gaming market share by delivering another strong quarter fueled by revenue growth across all gaming segments,” said Melco Crown Chairman Lawrence Ho.

He added that, “the improvement in gaming operations together with cost efficiencies identified through our company-wide focus on managing reinvestment and other operating expenses, resulted in our Adjusted property EBITDA in Manila increasing by 224 percent on a year-on-year basis."

Rolling chip volume totaled $2.1 billion for the fourth quarter of 2016 versus $1.3 billion in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Mass-market table games drop increased to $149.0 million for the fourth quarter of 2016, compared with $106.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Gaming machine handle for the fourth quarter of 2016 was $671.3 million, compared with $420.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Total non-gaming revenue at City of Dreams Manila in the fourth quarter of 2016 was $28.1 million, compared with $25.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Ho noted the "increasingly impressive contribution from City of Dreams Manila" as of the fourth quarter of last year, with the local operation "continue to deliver improved volume across all gaming segment with our efforts to maximize table yields, optimize reinvestment and manage operating expenses resulting in an increased of share of the VIP and mass gaming market while remaining disciplined on cast which in turn is delivered another record quarter."

"Our decision to invest in the Philippines which continues to be the fastest growing gaming market in the world is a testament to our company's commitment to identify and commit to new markets or develop an opportunity that meet our stringent investment criteria and allows us to expand our gaming and non-gaming network around the region," Ho said.

Geoffrey Davis, Melco Crown chief finance officer, said the City of Dreams Manila delivered EBITDA of $50 million, "representing an increase of 12 percent sequentially and 224 percent year-overyear."