State-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor) saw a sharp increase in its own gaming revenues in 2016, said Pagcor head Andrea Domingo in an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper.
Ms Domingo said that Pagcor’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) grew by 17 percent year-on-year, to approximately PHP55 billion (US$1.11 billion) for full-year 2016. That was despite a crackdown on online gaming ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte when he assumed office in June. Since then, President Duterte has made several remarks targeting the online gaming sector that have shaken investor sentiment.
“Not only were we able to maintain our revenues, but we were actually able to improve it,” Ms Domingo reportedly said. According to the media outlet, the head of Pagcor said the increase in revenue was “due to the combined effects of an improving market, as well as newly implemented in-house efficiency measures”.
Pagcor reported GGR of PHP38.1 billion for the first nine months of 2016, up by 17 percent from the prior-year period. Its net income for the period stood at PHP3.20 billion, up slightly – by 0.3 percent – from a year earlier.
The overall Philippines casino industry reported GGR of PHP34.17 billion in the three months to September 30, up by 12.4 percent from the prior-year period, according to official data. Nationwide casino GGR for the first nine months of 2016 was PHP99.77 billion, an increase of 19.8 percent in year-on-year terms, showed the data published in November.
Pagcor is an operator of public sector casinos as well as the regulator for the country’s entire casino industry. In November it had been reported by local media that Pagcor had started privatising the casinos it operates in the country.
