In the third quarter of 2024, Okada Manila reported a significant decline in gross gaming revenue (GGR), reflecting a challenging year for the casino resort in the Philippines. According to a Tuesday filing from its parent company, Universal Entertainment Corp, GGR fell by 33.4 percent year-on-year, totaling just under PHP8.23 billion ($140 million), down from PHP12.35 billion in the same period last year. This marked a continued downward trend in quarterly GGR, which also dropped 6.8 percent compared to PHP8.84 billion in the second quarter.
Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc. (TRLEI), the operator of Okada Manila, has seen a persistent decline in GGR since the end of the third quarter of 2023. After a 29.7 percent year-on-year increase in Q3 2023, the property has faced consistent declines, with GGR decreasing by 11.2 percent in Q4 2023, 24.1 percent in Q1 2024, and 21.8 percent in Q2 2024.
For the first nine months of 2024, Okada Manila recorded a GGR of PHP25.84 billion ($446.82 million), down 26.6 percent from the same period in 2023. VIP revenue took the hardest hit in Q3, plummeting by 44.3 percent year-on-year to just under PHP2.47 billion, with a 15.1 percent sequential decline. Similarly, revenue from mass-market tables dropped 40.2 percent from the previous year and 17.3 percent compared to the prior quarter, reaching PHP2.46 billion.
Gaming machines, although down 13.4 percent year-on-year, performed relatively better, posting an 11.5 percent quarterly increase to generate nearly PHP3.31 billion. Non-gaming revenue for the third quarter grew by 2.3 percent year-on-year to approximately PHP933 million, but declined 7.1 percent compared to the second quarter.
Okada Manila’s third-quarter EBITDA was heavily impacted, dropping by 69.2 percent year-on-year to just under PHP1.10 billion ($18.93 million), and nearly 49 percent quarter-on-quarter. Despite these financial challenges, the resort’s hotel occupancy rate rose to 87 percent, an improvement from 78.9 percent in Q2 and 81.4 percent in the same period last year.
In terms of foot traffic, Okada Manila welcomed approximately 1.42 million visitors during the third quarter, a decrease of over 80,000 visitors compared to the same period in 2023. This figure was also slightly down from the 1.45 million visitors recorded in Q2 2024.
Overall, the decline in VIP and mass-market revenues, along with a drop in total visitors, contributed to a challenging quarter for Okada Manila, significantly affecting both its GGR and EBITDA figures.