State-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor) reported a net loss of nearly PHP1.60 billion (US$32.5 million) for the first six months of 2020. It compared with net income of almost PHP3.08 billion in the prior-year period.
The body saw its revenue from gaming operations decline sharply during the period, as many casinos in the Philippines have remained closed since mid-March as part of efforts to stem the further spread of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country.
Its total revenue from gaming operations for the first six months of 2020 decreased by 49.5 percent year-on-year to just above PHP18.44 billion, compared to approximately PHP36.57 billion in the first half of 2019.
The gaming regulator said it paid out a total of PHP9.68 billion in gaming taxes and contributions from that first-half gaming revenue. The deductions included nearly PH 8.73 billion directly transferred to the Bureau of the Treasury. Pagcor is required by law to pass at least 50 percent of its annual gross earnings to that national government body.
Pagcor’s total expenses fell by 28.4 percent year-on-year to nearly PHP 11.32 billion in the first six months of 2020, according to a financial statement posted on its website on Wednesday. The body reported decreases in the provision of several subsidies to corporate social responsibility projects and in donations made during the period.
Pagcor, an operator of publicly-owned casinos as well as the regulator for the country’s entire casino industry, which includes privately-developed venues, said regulatory fees collected from licensed casinos reached approximately PHP 6.80 billion in the six months to June 30, down from PHP13.67 billion a year earlier. Income collected from offshore gaming operators stood at nearly PHP2.92 billion in the reporting period, up from PHP2.67 billion in the first six months of 2019, according to Pagcor’s latest financial statement.
Casino operations in the Metro Manila area, including at the large-scale private sector sites of City of Dreams Manila, Okada Manila, Resorts World Manila and Solaire Resort and Casino, have remained closed since mid-March.
Quarantine measures in the Metro Manila area have been relaxed somewhat starting in mid-May, when a so-called general community quarantine was instituted. The timespan of that protocol has been extended on a number of occasions, most recently to July 31
The number of Covid-19 infections in the Philippines has continued to rise, particularly in the Metro Manila region.
Information carried on the website of the Philippine Department of Health indicated that the aggregate number of Covid-19 cases in the nation reached 85,486 as of Wednesday. A total of 1,874 new cases had been reported as of that day.
Since the start of the pandemic, a total of 1,962 Covid-19-related deaths has been reported in the Philippines.
