Philippine casino stocks among worst performers

Wednesday 24th of June 2015

Philippine casino stocks are among the worst-performing so far this year as an expected influx of Chinese visitors has failed to materialize, Bloomberg reports.

Shares of Bloomberry Resorts, which operates the Solaire Resort & Casino, have lost 27 percent this year, and Resorts World Manila operator Travellers International Hotel Group Inc. has slumped 35 percent. Melco Crown (Philippines) Resorts, operator of the newly opened City of Dreams, has tumbled 56 percent.

The declines in casino shares come despite a 4.4 percent gain in the Philippine Stock Exchange Index this year, peaking at a record high in April amid official forecasts for two-straight years of 8 percent economic growth.

Operators in the Philippines had been expected to reap the benefits of Chinese visitors shunning Macau in favor of destinations further afield to ensure they are not on Beijing’s radar, amid an ongoing crackdown on corruption. However, despite the new resorts opening that hasn’t happened, the report said.

Arrivals to the Philippines from China, the country’s fourth-biggest tourist market, fell by about 33 percent to 93,043 in the first quarter. A territorial dispute between the two nations over islands in the South China Sea also deterred travelers.

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