TRLEI issues P300 million payment for Emerald Bay casino

A subsidiary of Philippines firm PH Resorts Group Holdings Inc has received an initial “non-refundable” payment of PHP300.1-million towards the cost of a stock subscription that would transfer majority ownership in the operating interest for the stalled Emerald Bay casino resort scheme (pictured in a file photo), in Cebu, to Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment, Inc (TRLEI). TRLEI, the controlling entity of the Okada Manila casino complex in Entertainment City, Manila, made the payment.

PH Resorts disclosed the information on the PHP300.1-million payment as part of “advances for future stock subscription” in its annual report for 2023, filed with the Philippine Stock Exchange on Tuesday. Philippine entrepreneur Dennis Uy leads PH Resorts.

In December, TRLEI, via its parent company, Japan’s Universal Entertainment Corp, announced a preliminary agreement with PH Travel and Leisure Holdings Corp, a subsidiary of PH Resorts, for the acquisition of certain interests in Lapulapu Leisure Inc (LLI) and Lapulapu Land Corp (LLC), both subsidiaries of PH Travel and developers of Emerald Bay.

If finalized by July this year, as expected, the deal with TRLEI will allow the “development and construction” of Emerald Bay to proceed “with the aim of opening in 2026,” according to Universal Entertainment.

PH Resorts, as noted in its 2023 annual report filed on Tuesday, has been facing “material uncertainty” regarding its ability to continue as a going concern. The group incurred net losses of PHP1.81 billion and PHP801.9 million for 2023 and 2022 respectively.

In both 2023 and 2022, PH Resorts’ current liabilities exceeded its current assets by PHP303.0 million and PHP1.97 billion respectively. To address its financial challenges, PH Resorts has been engaging in financing and capital-raising plans to generate “sufficient cash flows” to support debt obligations and complete projects, as mentioned in the annual report.

The group received a letter of financial support from its ultimate parent company [Udenna Corp] stating that it shall extend its full and continuing support for PH Resorts with regards to the… PHP1.0 billion deposit from Bloomberry until such time that the group is in the position to repay this amount without impairing its liquidity position

PH Resorts Corp

These measures include restructuring its outstanding indebtedness with China Banking Corp in October 2023, through an agreement involving the sale and leaseback of certain land and improvements of Emerald Bay’s developer entities, LLI and LLC.

PH Resorts is also in ongoing discussions with Land Bank of the Philippines to further extend principal and interest payments, as noted in the annual report. The group’s outstanding loan balance as of December-end amounted to PHP975.0 million. Talks with Bloomberry Resorts Corp in 2022 about investment in several PH Resorts casino schemes ended without a deal, although PH Resorts received a PHP1.0-billion deposit from Bloomberry.

Newer operators who cannot fully fund their ongoing development are being funded now by existing bigger operators. Developments outside Metro Manila is also welcomed in order to provide entertainment and gaming services to other part of the country.

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