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Bloomberry [BLOOM 3.40, down 4.0%] [link] owner Enrique Razon said that BLOOM’s online gaming platform would be launched in Q2 of this year. BLOOM’s bid to compete with PSE darling DigiPlus [PLUS 39.00, up 2.6%] is already “undergoing extensive testing” according to Mr. Razon, who added, “investors have been waiting a long time” for BLOOM to enter the digital gaming space. It appears as though the platform will be called Solaire Online.
MB bottom-line: PLUS has basically been out there on its own, printing money, for a very long time. The Philippines is a copycat business environment, so I’ve been waiting for the inevitable boodle fight of low-effort knockoffs to flood into the market, but nothing yet so far. I was critical of BLOOM’s rollout of this digital platform plan a few months ago when it seemed as though they were still tying the platform to BLOOM’s legacy casino business, but Mr. Razon has been clear to differentiate the two in recent reports, so that feels less risky. For BLOOM investors, this needs to be a digital-first endeavor. Not some clunky “oh yeah, and online too” type app that is slapped together and disrespected internally. You know, like all those first-generation online banking “apps”.
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