Bloomberry’s Hawkins Rebuilds Solaire After PHP2.8B Loss

Kyle Kevin

iGaming Writer

Fact Checked

Greg Hawkins is rebuilding Bloomberry from the top down. Online, on land, and in the cost column. The Philippine gaming market leader is not where it was. Hawkins says it will not stay where it is.

Greg Hawkins has a simple diagnosis for what ails Bloomberry. “The relevant margins in the business Bloomberry required a proper focus on cost management and capital expenditure management,” the group president and COO said Bloomberry in an exclusive interview. He is executing that Bloomberry focus now. Hawkins took the acting role in December 2024. It became permanent in June 2025. Since then, Solaire Entertainment City has posted a sharp Q2 rebound. GGR rose 18% year-on-year. Property EBITDA jumped 40% to PHP2.4 billion ($38.9 million). Margins rebounded from 20.8% to 26%. The improvement is real. It is also relative. Cumulative Entertainment City GGR still fell 1% for the first half. The flagship is climbing out of a deep hole. In 2025, Bloomberry posted a full-year loss of PHP2.8 billion. VIP revenue at Entertainment City had cratered 62% in Q2 2025. Mass tables were off 9%. Slots fell 16%. Property EBITDA collapsed 61% to PHP1.7 billion. Hawkins is Bloomberry fixing what broke. He is also building what was not there before.

Solaire Entertainment City: The Turnaround Numbers

The Q2 2026 results at Entertainment City tell a story of partial recovery. GGR rose 18% year-on-year. VIP surged 81%. Mass tables gained 8%. Slots increased 6%. The VIP bounce is dramatic but deceptive. The segment had fallen 62% a year earlier. An 81% recovery from that trough still leaves VIP well below historical levels. Hawkins acknowledges the shift. “We know that VIP segment has shrunk considerably in the Philippines over the past couple of years,” he said. The post-POGO era is the primary cause. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr banned Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators in 2024. The expatriate workforce that fuelled VIP play vanished. Hawkins described the old environment as “quite a cash rich environment at that point in time, flowing through to other parts of the business.” That flow has stopped. Property EBITDA of PHP2.4 billion in Q2 2026 represents a 40% improvement over PHP1.7 billion a year earlier. The margin expansion to 26% from 20.8% reflects cost discipline. Hawkins Bloomberry said he has engaged management teams “on cost and margins as much as we are on top line and GGR growth.” The external environment remains challenging. “The broader economy and local economy has been softer than what it has been historically,” Hawkins noted. Middle East geopolitical tensions added fuel cost pressure. “When the Middle East crisis first started, there was an immediate flow through that we felt,” he said. “We’ve come through that and the businesses have adapted, but cost of living pressures, particularly fuel, are still a close watch.” AGBrief tracks Philippine gaming market developments and operator earnings.

FUNaloMAX and the Online Pivot

Hawkins sees online as “very big upside if we can execute properly.” Execution is now underway. In July 2026, Bloomberry launched FUNaloMAX. The platform targets the mass online market with in-house technology. It replaces MegaFUNalo, a third-party system that suffered “technical teething problems” around guest experience. “We quickly recognized some technical teething problems,” Hawkins said. “So behind the scenes really has been looking at the Bloomberry platform that our online systems sit on.” That work began late 2025. It produced FUNaloMAX. Solaire Online, the premium platform launched in 2021 under PAGCOR’s PIGO licensing framework, will migrate to the in-house platform this quarter. The marketing push is just Bloomberry starting. “We’re only stepping now into the active marketing of FUNaloMAX,” Hawkins said. “That will very much ramp up over the next couple of months into the new year, which would include awareness branding, as well as direct marketing offers to the database.” The database is Solaire’s advantage. Land-based casinos have customer relationships that pure online operators cannot replicate. Hawkins is leveraging that. “A lot of that is rebate and other offers to initiate a gaming experience,” he said. Blask, the global iGaming intelligence platform, calls FUNaloMAX “a fast-growing niche challenger.” At end-July, one month after launch, it ranked 70th of 335 Philippine market Bloomberry brands. That is modest. It is also a start. Hawkins is not chasing volume for volume’s sake. He is building a sustainable online Bloomberry business that feeds the land-based brand rather than cannibalising it.

From VIP to Mass: Reconfiguring the Floor

Hawkins is rethinking Solaire Entertainment City’s physical layout. The property was built for a VIP-heavy market. That market is gone. “Can we look at converting some of that, as the VIP segment is not as strong as it was historically, to either more mass or more premium mass?” he asked. The answer is yes. Management has reviewed “the mix of allocated space to historically VIP.” Some areas will become mass gaming. Some will become premium mass. Some will become non-gaming entertainment. The conversion is already visible. The Space, an area outside the 1,851-seat Theater at Solaire, now hosts events and entertainment experiences. It drives footfall beyond the core gaming demographic. Hawkins partnered with GMG Productions to bring top local and international shows to the theater. On the food and beverage side, menus are being refreshed. “We want to ensure that the beautiful restaurants that are here have a variation in their menu experiences,” he said. The goal is broader appeal. “A property of this scale needs to adjust its strategic positioning relative to the changes happening in the market,” Hawkins stated. “That means to me that we need to more broadly appeal to gaming and resort guests who are after new and exciting experiences.” The international market is the long-term prize. Hawkins wants foreign visitors to stop in Manila before heading to the islands. “International tourism into the Philippines generally, is arriving into Manila and in most cases, going straight into island experiences outside of Metro Manila,” he said. “Whereas the opportunity for a two or three day stay in wonderful international standard integrated resorts very close to the airport is a real opportunity.” That requires government coordination on infrastructure, tourism promotion and visa policy. Hawkins is pushing for it. He cannot control it.

Solaire Quezon City and the Local Play

Solaire North, now rebranded Solaire Quezon City, is Hawkins’ other project. The $1 billion property opened in May 2024. It is an hour north of Entertainment City. It is also a different animal. “Across that journey, it’s clear that it’s much more of a locals property,” Hawkins said. The primary catchment is Quezon City, Metro Manila’s largest municipality with three million residents. Q2 2026 GGR rose 9% year-on-year in a flat market for licensed casinos. EBITDA jumped 19% to PHP1.3 billion. The gains reflect first-mover advantage. Solaire Quezon City was the first integrated resort in its immediate area. Hawkins believes that position creates durable value. “I do believe in the first mover advantage,” he said. “I think first mover into markets with real potential, with a well executed plan, creates long term shareholder value.” Damian Quayle, hired as Quezon City COO in July 2025, runs the property. He came with experience in Australia, Macau and Manila. His approach is entertainment-first. “The big drivers here are entertainment and fun,” Quayle said. Slots dominate the floor. Quayle thinks of the slot floor “like a theme park,” with zones for different volatility models and a prize patrol celebrating wins. The ballroom hosts weekly bingo with singing and dancing. Government workers are not allowed to gamble. “But they love our F&B,” Quayle noted. The property has more than a dozen dining options. The two Solaires share learnings. Quezon City’s pickleball success spawned an Entertainment City sports club with padel and a golf simulator. Hawkins called the properties “working hand in hand.” The broader portfolio is controlled by billionaire Enrique Razon Jr through his port-to-power conglomerate. Bloomberry has been linked to overseas opportunities from Bangkok to Brazil to Jeju Island, where it sold its casino business in March 2026. A beachfront resort in Cavite, south of Metro Manila, was announced in 2024. “Cavite is still there as an opportunity, but still down the path,” Hawkins said. “It’s not an area that’s actively focused on Bloomberry from my perspective.” Fixing what is broke comes first.

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