In a mirror reflection of the heightened competition across the Macau gaming market in recent years, Japan’s Universal Entertainment Corp (UEC) said it was seeing intense competition among operators in the Manila market which is driving the cost of customer acquisition higher.
The comments formed part of UEC’s 1Q26 financial results, released Thursday. While a strong quarter for the company’s pachinko and pachislot segment drove group-wide sales to JPY28.4 billion (US$179 million), up 4.2% year, and narrowed its loss to JPY1.43 billion (US$9.0 million), UEC noted that its Philippines integrated resort, Okada Manila, faced ongoing challenges due to “structural headwinds” in the local market.
