State-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor) reported net income of approximately PHP2.97 billion (US$54.4 million) for the first half of 2023. The result was up 37.3 percent from the prior-year period, according to a financial statement posted on its website on Wednesday.
For the second quarter, the agency’s net income stood at PHP1.63 billion, compared to PHP1.34 billion in the first three months of 2023.
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”.
Alejandro Tengco, chairman and chief executive of Pagcor, revealed last week that the agency recorded total revenue of just above PHP36.21 billion in the first half of 2023, a 35.6-percent increase from the prior-year period.
Revenues in the six months to June 30 showed that Pagcor’s income from gaming operations and regulatory fees from its licensees amounted to just below PHP34.13 billion. The figure was 38.0-percent higher compared to the year-ago period.
In quarterly terms, aggregate revenue was PHP18.50 billion in the three months to June 30, up 4.5 percent from PHP17.71 billion in the first quarter.
Revenue from gaming operations in the second quarter was PHP17.25 billion, 2.1-percent higher PHP16.88 billion in the preceding three months.
Pagcor’s total expenses stood at just above PHP12.33 billion in the first half of 2023, up 17.0 percent from a year earlier.
The gaming regulator said it paid out a total of PHP20.90 billion in taxes and contributions in the first half this year. Among other payments, Pagcor is required by law to pass at least 50 percent of its gross earnings to the national government.
Pagcor said last week in a statement that the country’s gaming industry generated gross gaming revenue (GGR) of PHP136.37 billion in the first half of 2023, up 48.7 percent from a year earlier.
The announcement quoted Mr Tengco as saying that Pagcor was projecting that the Philippine gaming sector could generate at least PHP272.74 billion in annual GGR for full-2023.
