Bloomberry Resorts Corp., the owner and operator of Solaire Resort & Casino in Parañaque City, said Thursday first-half net income surged 24-fold to a record P4.1 billion from only P174 million posted in the same period last year, on the back of robust gross gaming revenues. Bloomberry said in the second quarter alone, net income jumped 47 percent to P1.95 billion from P1.33 billion a year earlier, on 34-percent increase in profitability in Philippine operations and lower losses from Korean gaming operations under Jeju Hotel & Casino. Bloomberry said in a disclosure to the stock exchange Solaire registered all-time high gross gaming revenues for VIP, mass table and electronic gaming machine segments. Consolidated gross gaming revenues increased 16 percent year-on-year and 14 percent quarter-on-quarter to P12.22 billion in the second quarter– the highest since opening Solaire in March 2013. “We are gratified to see the continuing results of our efforts to level up Solaire’s game. There will be no let-up in these efforts. We are on track, and we will continue to focus on surpassing our previous achievements.” Bloomberry chairman and chief executive Enrique Razon Jr. said.Jeju Sun’s GGR alone grew 47 percent and contributed P173 million to the total. The gaming firm achieved strong first-half performance despite increased competition following the opening of Okada Manila, the third integrated resort and casino to operate within the government-sponsored Pagcor Entertainment City. Bloomberry’s non-gaming revenues in the first half also rose 40 percent to P1.57 billion, driven by new shows in The Theatre at Solaire, the opening of The Shoppes and improved hotel occupancy in both the Bay and Sky Towers. Hotel occupancy averaged 91.6 percent in the first half, a 7.4-percentage-point improvement from 84.2 percent reported in the same time period last year.