THE board of directors of Belle Corp., which owns the land and properties of the City of Dreams Manila, has approved the P1-billion share buyback program.
The company said in a statement that it will buy the corporation’s shares from the market, subject to regulatory approvals.
The program comes ahead of the formal opening of its $1.2-billion City of Dreams Manila, the second integrated casino and resort to open in Entertainment City in Pasay.
The casino, which will be operated by the Philippine unit of Macau’s Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd., is scheduled to formally open its doors to the public on Monday, February 2.
City of Dreams Manila has been open for several weeks now as the Melco Crown decided to open its facilities to the public with only a few gaming tables, which did not arrive on time due to the port congestion in Manila, sources said. It opened its doors to the public on December 14.
During this “sneak peak period,” the operator said in a statement that it had more than 600,000 visitors.
“City of Dreams Manila is poised to become the premier leisure and entertainment destination in the Philippines and within the region. The resort combines electrifying entertainment, an amazing array of accommodation, regional and international culinary offerings, together with designer brand shopping, as well as a spacious and contemporary casino,” it said.
The formal launch will be attended by Melco Crown Co-chairman and CEO Lawrence Ho, Cochairman James Packer and local company executives.
Belle’s net income for the nine-month period of 2014 ending September fell by close to 50 percent to P1.86 billion due to higher nonrecurring items during the previous year. The items included the termination fee income from Melco Crown of P949.6 million, which the company earned in March 2013. The fee was paid after Melco Crown starts its lease on the property where the City of Dreams Manila currently stands.
Without such income, Belle’s income for the period would have been at P613 million, higher by 18 percent from the previous year.