Emerald Bay Rescuers Tiger Resort Pays First US$5 Million

A subsidiary of Philippine company PH Resorts Group Holdings Inc received an initial "non-refundable" of PHP30.1 million (US$5.2 million) for share subscription costs, and will move on to Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment (TRLEI) after taking majority ownership of an operating stake in the Emerald Bay Casino Resort Plan (file photo) in Cebu.

The latter is the governing body of the Okada Manila Casino Complex in Manila Entertainment City.

Information about the PHP30.1 million payment as part of "advanced future stock subscriptions" is presented in PH Resorts' 2023 annual report to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Tuesday. PH Resorts is led by Filipino entrepreneur Dennis UY.

TRLEI announced in December through its parent company, Japan Universal Entertainment Corporation, that it has entered into a preliminary agreement with PH Travel and Leisure Holdings Corporation, a subsidiary of PH Resorts, to acquire certain stakes in Lapulapu Leisure (LLI) and Lapulapu Land (LLC), which are developing Emerald Bay.

Universal Entertainment said in December that the "development and construction" of Emerald Bay would go ahead "with the aim of opening in 2026" once its contract with TRLEI is finalized, as expected by July this year.

PH Resorts is facing "significant uncertainty," a 2023 annual report filed on Tuesday said, raising questions about whether it can continue with ongoing concerns. The group suffered net losses of 1.81 billion and 811.9 million PHPs in 2023 and 2022, respectively.

Current debt at PH Resorts exceeded PHP 330 million and PHP 1.97 billion in 2023 and 2022, respectively.

The group is engaged in financing and capital raising plans to meet its debt obligations and generate the "sufficient cash flow" needed to complete the project, the annual report said.

These steps include restructuring outstanding debt and improving Emerald Bay's developers LLI and LLC through an agreement with Philippine lender China Banking Corp on certain land sales, leasebacks and repurchase options in October 2023.

"This restructuring includes an area of approximately 12.4 hectares and improvements to the assets of LLI and LLC located in Mactan Lapulapu City, Cebu State. In addition, this restructuring will allow LLI and LLC to repay their peso-denominated bridge loans and extend the U.S. dollar-controlled bridge granted by the CBC [Bank of China] in 2018," PH Resorts said in its annual report. 파워볼사이트

PH Resorts is in ongoing talks with Philippine Land Bank to further extend principal and interest payments, the annual report said. The group's loan balance stood at 975 million PHP as of the end of December.

Some 2022 negotiations with another casino company in the Philippines, Bloombury Resorts Corporation, over investments in several PH resort casino schemes ended without a deal