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We’re not Macau.

That’s the message from Philippine billionaire Enrique Razon Jr. after two quarters of losses at his Bloomberry Resorts Corp., the country’s biggest private casino operator and its worst-performing major stock this year.

Bloomberry’s losses will narrow because its gaming revenue -- in contrast to the situation in Macau -- is growing, Razon said in an Oct. 2 interview in Manila. Its earnings will improve even as the company plans to provision by year-end for all the unpaid credits it extended to VIP and premium players, he said. Bloomberry provided 1.81 billion pesos ($39 million) in the first half for 4.69 billion pesos of receivables.

Enrique Razon Jr.

Photographer: Goh Seng Chong/Bloomberg

“The whole industry has been painted with the same brush, but we’re nowhere near the situation in Macau, where revenue is really falling,” said Razon, 55. While some thought Macau and China would keep driving a gaming boom, Razon said the market is the size he anticipated, and “this is the scenario I expected all along.”

Bloomberry shares have fallen 61 percent this year, the worst performance in the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index, which is down 5.3 percent on the year. Investors have sold the stock as its losses mounted and amid an anti-corruption crackdown in China that has slowed growth in Asian gaming revenue.

The Philippine casino market is still growing, and the key is mass gaming and the local market, Razon said.

“The good thing now, in hindsight, is that our relationship with China is really not that good,” he said. “So we never had the business from China, which nowadays is probably a good thing.”

As Bloomberry was constructing its Solaire Resort in Manila, tensions between the Philippines and China were building over disputed territories in the South China Sea. The Philippines brought the dispute before a UN tribunal in January 2013, while China accelerated reclamation on contested islands to bolster its ownership claim.

Gross gaming revenue in Macau fell by a third in September, its 16th straight month of decline. Philippine revenue from casino operations is forecast to grow 13 percent a year from 2014 to 2017, the highest rate in Asia Pacific, while revenue in Macau is expected to drop by 11 percent during that period, Macquarie Group Ltd. said in a Sept. 28 report.

Premium customers from Southeast Asia, Taiwan and South Korea continue to arrive at Solaire, Razon said. The mass segment is expanding, aided by local and regional gamblers, he said.

In three to five years, the mass market will probably account for 60 percent of Bloomberry’s gaming revenue, reversing the current ratio of VIP customers, Razon said. The mass segment is stable because it’s a cash business at a time when credit for gamblers in the region is tightening, he said.

Razon has a net worth of $3.7 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He made his fortune through International Container Terminal Services Inc., a Manila-based operator of cargo facilities in about 20 countries.

Bloomberry has applied to build a gaming resort in South Korea’s Incheon Free Economic Zone and would spend $1 billion to develop it over five to 10 years. A casino venture on South Korea’s Jeju Island may start making money next year, Razon said.

The company will probably know by December if it has been awarded a license in Incheon. The casino’s size would depend on whether locals would be able to gamble or whether it would be restricted to foreigners, Razon said.

The billionaire is closely watching possible regulatory changes that would open the gaming industries in Thailand, Vietnam and Japan. The company also is seeking a gaming permit in Argentina, where it would need to spend about $500 million to build a “respectable” casino, Razon said.

Razon, who had to sell most of his overseas ports to survive the financial crisis that swept Asia in 1997-1998, has made sure that liabilities and costs in his ventures are managed, expansions are pursued with prudence and cash is conserved for opportunities that may arise.

“This is the time to make good moves that will make you a lot of money down the road,” Razon said. “We can’t stick to a strategy just because we want to. We have to adapt to the market, whatever that takes.”