As digital revenues slow and margins compress, the BingoPlus operator is using cash from its online gaming boom to buy into a loss-making Manila hotel-casino — while shareholders get a regular dividend, not a windfall payout. DigiPlus Interactive Corp.’s online gaming boom has left it with one of the stronger balance sheets in Philippine gaming. But instead of handing shareholders a special windfall dividend, the company is deploying billions of pesos into a very different wager: a land-based casino operator that is still losing money, renovating heavily, and carrying the burden of a planned integrated-resort transformation. In March, DigiPlus booked a ₱5.9 billion cash outflow for convertible notes issued by Hong Kong-listed International Entertainment Corp., whose key asset is New Coast Hotel Manila, an integrated hotel and casino complex licensed by PAGCOR. The deal is framed by management as a strategic bridge between DigiPlus’ digital gaming empire — BingoPlus, ArenaPl...