State-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor) reported net income of nearly PHP104.9 million (nearly US$2.1 million) in the three months to September 30, it said in a Thursday statement.
The body had posted net income of approximately PHP152.6 million for the first three months of 2021, which declined to just under PHP79.1 million as of June 30 this year.
Pagcor is an operator of publicly-owned casinos as well as the regulator for the country’s entire casino industry, which includes privately-developed venues.
In the third quarter, the body saw its gross income from gaming operations reach PHP7.05 billion, to an aggregate of PHP22.28 billion in the first nine months of 2021. In the first half, such income was PHP14.76 billion.
In its latest information, the gaming regulator said it paid out a total of almost PHP3.94 billion in gaming taxes and contributions in the third quarter.
The third-quarter deductions included just under PHP3.55 billion directly transferred to the Bureau of the Treasury. Pagcor is required by law to pass at least 50 percent of its gross earnings to that national government body.
Pagcor’s total third-quarter expenses were PHP4.39 billion. In the first nine months of 2021, such expenses were nearly PHP12.39 billion.
Pagcor said regulatory fees collected from licensed casinos reached PHP3.33 billion in the third quarter. For the nine months to September 30, such fees were PHP9.66 billion.
Casino operations in the Metro Manila area include the large-scale private sector sites of City of Dreams Manila, Okada Manila, Resorts World Manila, and Solaire Resort and Casino. During the third quarter, Manila’s casino resorts were subject to shutdown as a Covid-19 countermeasure, starting from August 6.
As of October 18, GGRAsia saw confirmation from several large private-sector casino resorts in Manila’s Entertainment City zone that gaming had restarted at those properties, following the relaxation of lockdown rules in the capital region.
