State-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor) saw its net income leap to nearly PHP3.48 billion (US$60.1 million) for the first nine months of 2022. It compared with net income of just under PHP183.92 million in the prior-year period.
Pagcor is an operator of publicly-owned casinos as well as the regulator for the Philippines’ entire casino industry, which includes privately-developed venues.
The improvement this year followed the easing from March 1 of Covid-19 restrictions in Metro Manila, home to the key commercial-casino market known as Entertainment City.
Pagcor’s aggregate revenue in the nine months to September 30 was PHP42.27 billion, up 73.5 percent from a year earlier. Income from gaming operations rose by 75.8 percent year-on-year, to PHP39.17 billion.
Pagcor’s total expenses increased by 64.7 percent year-on-year to PHP16.09 billion in the first nine months of 2022, according to a financial statement posted on its website on Friday.
The gaming regulator said it additionally paid out a total of PHP22.49-billion in a combination of subsidies and contributions in the year to September 30. Among other payments, Pagcor is required by law to pass at least 50 percent of its gross earnings to the national government.
The Philippines’ Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco said on Tuesday that the country’s leader, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, was to issue an executive order to end mandatory use of anti- Covid-19 face masks indoors, as part of efforts to boost inbound tourism and be more in line with Southeast Asian neighbours.
