A drop in the number of VIP gamblers at City of Dreams in Manila, Philippines, caused gaming revenue of one of its parent companies, Premium Leisure Corp (PLC), to drop 44% year-on-year in the first three months of this year.

PLC’s share of gaming revenue from COD Manila was only Php 401.19 million (approximately US$6.97 million), according to the company’s most recent stock exchange filing.

Although the group did not provide specific details of the decline in VIP revenue, AGB has sought comment on the group's plans to increase market share.

Belle Corp, PLC's parent company, announced last week that it expects casino revenue at City of Dreams in Manila to grow 50% to $41.7 million by 2023. This is mainly due to the company's shift towards adding more local and international tourists, while improving its mass and VIP business.

City of Dreams wasn't the only property to see a decline in the first quarter, with other operators also experiencing slowdowns, particularly in the first two months of the year.

As the number of Chinese tourists has not yet reached the expected level, the four IR operators in the entertainment city are competing for market share in South Korea and Taiwan to increase their VIP and high-end passenger traffic and drive local passenger traffic.

PLC generates revenue from equipment rentals, and revenue in the first quarter fell 95% to 9.44 million Philippine pesos (approximately US$164,000). However, "lease and commission income" amounted to approximately 129.46 million pesos (approximately US$2.25 million), accounting for approximately 24% of total revenue. The group is responsible for the lottery operations of the Philippine Lottery under Pacific Online Systems.

PLC's revenue for the quarter fell 40% year-on-year to only 540.1 million pesos (approximately $9.4 million), while costs fell only 2% to 304 million pesos (approximately $530,000).

PLC's net profit fell 53% to 272.71 million pesos in the first quarter of 2024, while EBITDA fell 47% to 343.9 million pesos (approximately US$5.98 million).

Despite the revenue decline, the company noted that it does not expect any liquidity issues over the next 12 months.

Recently, Premium Leisure Corp announced that it intends to privatize the company and delist from the Philippine Stock Exchange, as approved by the board of directors on March 11.