Net profit of Philippine-listed casino operator Travellers International Hotel Group Inc. (TIHGI) jumped three-fold in the first six months of 2018 as visitors returned to Resorts World Manila (RWM) more than a year after the grisly arson attack in the gambling establishment.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, TIHGI announced that its net profit totaled PHP1.69 billion (US$31.7 million) in the first half of 2018, higher than the PHP373 million ($6.99 million) it posted in the prior-year period.

However, TIGHI reported that its gross revenue slipped 1.5 percent to PHP11.05 billion ($207.2 million) in the January to June 2018 period from PHP11.22 billion in the same period last year due to the closure of its second floor gaming area.

It would be recalled that TIGHI moved RWM’s gaming area to the ground and third floors as part of an overhaul of its security operations. The second floor of the facility, which was set on fire by a man named Jesse Javier Carlos when he barged inside the RWM premises in June 2017, would be used for other non-gaming purposes.