The Philippines’ gaming regulator, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor), estimates the country’s 2023 gross gaming revenue (GGR) will be PHP244.84 billion (US$4.50 billion), it said in a press release published on Wednesday.
The forecast for this year is 33.13-percent higher than the 2022 GGR target of PHP183.91 billion. It is also 14.23-percent higher than the actual GGR recorded for full-year 2022, at PHP214.33 billion, stated the regulator.
The GGR target for 2023 was included in a performance scorecard submitted by Pagcor to the Governance Commission for Government-owned and Controlled Corporations, according to the announcement.
Pagcor is an operator of publicly-owned casinos as well as the regulator for the Philippines’ entire casino industry, which includes privately-developed venues. Its own brand of casinos is called “Casino Filipino”.
Pagcor said it was “optimistic that performance growth remains on the horizon,” as the nation’s gaming industry “continues to gain momentum”.
The regulator stated earlier this month that the casino GGR tally industry-wide for full-year 2022 was just above PHP184.00 billion, up 90.6 percent from the prior year. The figure excludes revenue from bingo operations, electronic games parlours and from “e-sabong” betting business, the latter involving cockfighting events presented online
Wednesday’s statement quoted Pagcor chairman and chief executive, Alejandro Tengco, as saying that the bullish GGR target for this year was fuelled by the gaming industry’s “robust performance” in 2022, which had been largely attributed to the reopening of Philippine tourism to local and foreign visitors, following relaxation of countermeasures against Covid-19.
“Since the lockdowns were eased in the country late last year and gaming venues reopened, customer confidence slowly returned and the attendance in our owned casinos slowly improved. Our licensed casinos likewise recorded a major revenue growth,” stated Mr Tengco.
As part of its forecast, Pagcor is targeting revenue of PHP68.49 billion from its gaming operations in 2023. “This amount is [a] 36.6-percent increase from our PHP50.13 billion target in 2022 and 24.41-percent higher than our 2022 income from gaming,” said the Pagcor boss.
According to Wednesday’s release, the gaming regulator is also committed to: achieving PHP1.02 billion net income, less income tax; and ensuring a “98-percent collection efficiency of license and regulatory fees from Pagcor’s regulated gaming entities”.
Pagcor posted net income of nearly PHP4.45 billion for 2022, compared to just PHP203.57 million in 2021.
Mr Tengco said last week the body was looking to raise circa PHP80 billion from the sale of its network of small, state-owned casinos, citing a wish to split regulatory from operating functions.
But banking group Morgan Stanley said in a recent note that the “asking price” mentioned by Pagcor’s CEO for the body’s casinos “is too high and buying interest could be low”.
