It was a good six months for Universal Entertainment Corp. The Japanese gaming conglomerate posted a 24.9 percent increase in net sales for the first half of 2020, JPY65.65 billion (US$621.8 million), from JPY52.54 billion in the prior-year period.
The increase was driven by a 141.8 percent year-on-year rise in net sales for Universal’s amusement equipment business (pachinko and pachislot) to JPY48.85 billion. Universal Entertainment also operates the Okada Manila integrated resort in the Philippine capital of Manila.
According to GGRAsia, Universal reported a group-wide net profit of just over JPY3.41 billion in the six months to June 30, compared to a net loss of about JPY9.04 billion a year earlier.
The growth was concentrated in the first quarter, as the group said its businesses were affected by the “global spread of the Covid-19 pandemic” in the second.
In the integrated resort segment, “there was a big downturn in sales and earnings” from January through June. Okada Manila was forced to close on March 15, and restrictions in Metro Manila, which includes the Entertainment City casino zone, were reinstated August 4 due to a rising number of Covid-19 infections.
A Universal subsidiary, Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc., runs the Okada Manila IR. Universal is currently “creating a business resumption plan” so operations can resume as soon as casinos in Manila are allowed to reopen.
According to Inside Asian Gaming, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is likely to ease restrictions in Metro Manila and surrounding areas after August 18, but only to generate revenues. As presidential spokesman Harry Roque noted, “The bottom line is we no longer have resources to give assistance.”
