Pagcor 1Q net income doubles as gaming rev up 49pct

Apr 25, 2023 Newsdesk Latest News, Philippines, Top of the deck  

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State-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor) reported net income of approximately PHP1.34 billion (US$24.0 million) for the first quarter of 2023. It compared with net income of about PHP624.7 million in the prior-year period.

Pagcor’s total revenue rose by 42.6 percent year-on-year, to PHP17.71 billion. Revenue from gaming operations in the first three months of 2023 increased by 49.4 percent year-on-year, to just above PHP16.88 billion.

Pagcor’s total expenses stood at just above PHP6.23 billion in the three months to March 31, up 23.0 percent from a year earlier, according to a financial statement posted on its website on Monday.

The gaming regulator said it paid out a total of PHP10.14 billion in taxes and contributions in the first quarter. Among other payments, Pagcor is required by law to pass at least 50 percent of its gross earnings to the national government.

Pagcor reported total income of PHP58.96 billion for full-year 2022, up 66.2 percent from the previous year. The regulator had said that the casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) tally industry-wide for full-year 2022 was just above PHP184.00 billion, up 90.6 percent from the prior year.

Pagcor estimates the country’s GGR will be PHP244.84 billion in 2023, according to a press release published in March.

The March announcement 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.

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