Japanese gaming giant Universal Entertainment Corp reported a loss of JPY19.22 billion (US$166 million) in FY21, largely flat with its 2020 performance despite a significant increase in revenue at its Philippines integrated resort, Okada Manila.
The reason for the subdued results was Universal’s pachinko segment, which saw net sales fall 12.3% to JPY54.19 billion (US$469 million) due to reduced machine sales. Adjusted segment EBITDA declined 29.9% to JPY15.42 billion (US$133 million), with the number of machines sold during the year falling from 139,152 in 2020 to 127,094 in 2021.
“The number of pachislot and pachinko machines supplied remained low as people were reluctant to visit pachinko halls because of declarations of states of emergency and other government pandemic safety measures,” Universal said.
“The extension of transitional measures concerning the removal of machines that comply with previous regulations also held down sales.”
It was a different story at Okada Manila, where sales grew 27.2% to JPY35.23 billion (US$305 million) and Adjusted EBITDA returned to a profit of JPY5.33 billion (US$46 million) from an EBITDA loss of JPY2.65 billion (US$23 million) in 2020. Gross gaming revenue was JPY18.92 billion (US$164 million) with more than 1.8 million visitors to the property during the course of the year.
Group-wide, Universal’s net sales remained flat in 2021 at JPY90.44 billion (US$783 million), with operating profit down 23.3% to JPY1.96 billion (US$17 million).
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