from Bingo
Life Magazine
Winter 2015,
issue 16
Bingo Life
interview with Mr. Freddie Reyes
Head of
Investor Relations at Leisure and Resorts World Corporation
Manila,
Philippines
We are
fortunate to catch up with Mr. Freddie Reyes, Head of Investor Relations at
Leisure and Resorts World Corporation (LRWC) since 2006. Based in Manila, LWRC and it’s wholly-owned
subsidiary Bingo Bonanza are market leaders in domestic gaming, and were
featured in the December (2014) issue of Bingo Life Magazine.
Bingo Life Magazine Winter 2015, Issue 16 |
Leisure and
Resorts World Corporation is a leader in gaming in the Philippines. What is the
firm’s present position in both bingo and casino gaming?
We are a
market leader in professionally managing bingo operations in the Philippines.
AB Leisure Exponents, Inc (or ABLE) is our wholly-owned subsidiary managing
bingo. Under ABLE, we have a number of
products. One is traditional bingo and
for this segment, LRWC has about 40% of market share. Other products are the electronic versions of
bingo. One platform is electronic bingo
games (or EBG). We are a market leader
in the number of EBG machines installed with over 6,500 machines nationwide. We
have a number of suppliers for EBG machines.
Another platform is Rapid Bingo.
Rapid Bingo is similar to Keno where 20 numbers out of a possible 75 are
called every 10 minutes. Players can
choose from 4 to 10 numbers. The top
prize is P2.5M for picking10 out of 10 numbers.
We have 38
bingo halls in various malls nationwide.
We are in all the SM Malls except for two (2). We are also in other malls operated by
Robinson Land, Gaisano, Sta. Lucia Land
and others. Our other branded outlets
are called “Bingo Boutiques”. In Bingo
Boutiques sites, we have only electronic forms of bingo – EBG and Rapid Bingo
machines. We have 59 Bingo Boutique
outlets. Another expansion thrust is
with Total Xtreme GameZone (TGXI). In
GameZone sites, we will offer various games - EBG machines as well as eCasino games,
Instawin machines, sports betting and others.
Mr. Freddie Reyes |
Recently, we
bought 44 eGames outlets from Digiwave.
We now have 49 sites as we continue to look for other acquisitions. We
plan to enhance these sites by adding other forms of games such as electronic
bingo, Rapid Bingo and other games thru the license of IEST, a subsidiary of
DFNN. We have a management agreement
with DFNN. In total, we will end 2014 with over 145 gaming outlets – from our
mall-based bingo halls to Bingo Boutiques to eCasino sites and GameZone Xtreme
sites.
LRWC is the
largest bingo provider in the Philippines. What recent and planned expansion
does the firm have in bingo?
Our
expansion plans will continue with opening bingo halls within malls as well as
Bingo Boutique sites. As new malls are
built, we make a bid for bingo operations.
Our expansion plans are also centered on a retail approach to providing
more venues for LRWC’s bingo games.
Bingo Boutiques as well as our Total GameZone Xtreme sites.
Will both
electronic and traditional bingo games be part of LRWC’s strategy to sustain
revenue growth?
Traditional
bingo will continue to be a part of our business. The traditional bingo segment
has been declining the past four years.
Cognizant of this trend, we have focused our attention on expanding our
electronic bingo segment as well as Rapid Bingo. We are also exploring newer methods of
playing bingo, such as on PDAs and mobile phones.
However, we
are not limiting ourselves to bingo but will look to offer a wider range of
products and games for out retail outlets.
As part of this strategy, we have acquired a number of sites that offer
other products: eCasino outlets, slot
machine arcade sites.
With Bingo
Bonanza, it appears LRWC places significant value on the importance of bingo.
How does the firm’s focus on bingo compare with other firms in Asia Pacific?
We will
continue to focus on expanding our bingo sites nationwide. Aside from just
bingo, we will also offer other forms of games that will complement or
otherwise provide a more complete gaming experience for our customers.
How long has
LRWC been involved in the gaming industry?
As a pioneer
in the bingo industry, LRWC started its first bingo outlet at SM’s Megamall in
1993 and has expanded since then. In
2004, we made our initial investment in First Cagayan Leisure and Resorts World
Corporation to work with government to manage a jurisdiction for online
gaming. In 2011, we signed an operating
agreement with Belle Corporation to operate a casino granted to their
subsidiary by Pagcor. Subsequently, we
became a financial partner of Belle, as Melco is now the operator of the casino
under Premium Leisure Corporation. In
2012, we took a 51% equity stake in Midas Hotel and Casino. We have turned around hotel operations as
well as worked with Pagcor to help in marketing the casino site that Pagcor
operates.
What trends
do you see in the bingo and gaming industry for the Philippines?
We believe
that bingo and the gaming industry, as a whole, will continue to expand and
show significant gains it the next few years.
The opening of the City of Dreams integrated resort and casino will
expand the gaming space as well as the revenues for the whole gaming
segment. We will continue to be on the
lookout for other products, services, properties for the tourism and leisure
segment.
What role
does social media play for Bingo Bonanza and LRWC?
We have only
recently looked at the possible role of social media for LRWC and Bingo Bonanza
and have not, as yet, tapped into this potentially lucrative tool for the
company.
Do the firm’s
entertainment and other gaming options add to the appeal of bingo at LRWC’s
venues?
Yes, we
believe they are complementary and help to expand the appeal of gaming in
general. As the integrated resorts
(Resorts World Manila, Solaire and City of Dreams) continue to expand their
products and services, more people will look for other forms of leisure and
entertainment activities nearer their places of work or homes. We are also
transcending the concept and business model from a purely bingo venue to a multi-product
venue – a six-in-one concept with EBG machines, eCasino games, sports betting,
Instawin machines and others games. This
will complement our expansion thrust by opening more gaming venues.
How is LRWC
involved with online gaming and online bingo? Can the firm’s land-based and
online bingo complement each other?
We have a
69.68% -owned subsidiary called First Cagayan Leisure and Resorts World
Corporation. First Cagayan works with
the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) to help manage a jurisdiction for
online casinos and online gaming.
First
Cagayan has 96 licensees who have located their companies and business in the
Philippines in order to tap into the Asian market. We review companies’ application and
business plans by using third parties to check the individual background of
their executive team as well the software they will use. Once completed, we endorse their company to
government who then grants them a license to operate. It is noted that First Cagayan’s licensees
are not allowed to take bets from the Philippines as well as from the United
States. Our bingo operations cater to
the local market while First Cagayan taps into the overseas markets.
With their
significant presence in the domestic and international gaming industry, LWRC,
ABLE and CEZA are organisations to keep an eye on. Their active expansion and commitment to
bingo and the overall gaming industry will ensure they’re active market
trend-setters for the foreseeable future.
Bingo Life
would like to thank Mr. Reyes for his participation in this interview.
No comments:
Post a Comment