In its preliminary report for the fourth quarter of the year to 31 December 2022, Japan-headquartered Universal announced that TRLEI (a finance company) achieved total revenue of PHP37.20bn ($681.7m/€627.3m/£551.3m) in 2022. This represents an 88.8% increase from 2021 and a 12.2% decrease from the pre-Covid year of 2019. Gross gaming revenue (GGR) for TRLEI reached PHP34.3bn in 2022, almost double the PHP18.9bn reported in 2021. However, this figure is 13.8% lower than the GGR in 2019, the most recent year before the introduction of Covid restrictions.
The Philippines, where TRLEI operates, experienced the easing of Covid restrictions towards the end of 2021. However, at the start of 2022, casinos were closed again due to increasing cases. The country’s borders reopened in February of the same year, with the exception of visitors from China. For the three months leading up to 31 December 2022, TRLEI recorded a GGR of PHP10.5bn, compared to PHP7.0bn in the previous year.
The GGR for VIP table games was PHP13.3bn in 2022, representing a 38.8% increase from 2021 but a 32.8% decline from 2019. Mass table gaming, including online gaming, totaled PHP9.3bn in 2022, slightly lower than the 2019 figure. Furthermore, gaming machine takings reached PHP11.7bn, a 13.2% increase from 2019.
TRLEI also generated other revenue of PHP2.9bn in 2022, which includes hotel, food and beverage, retail, and entertainment. This represents a remarkable year-on-year increase of over 250% and a rise of 10.6% compared to 2019. In Q4 of 2022, other revenue reached PHP1.1bn, more than double the figure reported for the same period in the previous year.
Hotel occupancy for TRLEI stood at 82.1% in 2022, compared to 75.4% in 2021 and 98.1% in 2019. In Q4 2022, the hotel occupancy rate was 84.2%. The adjusted segment EBITDA for TRLEI in 2022 increased by 263.0% compared to 2021 and 25.2% compared to 2019.
In September 2022, Universal regained control of its Okada Manila integrated resort property following a dispute with the company’s former CEO and founder, Kazuo Okada.
