Pagcor gaming income nearly US$1bln in first 9 months

Oct 26, 2018 Newsdesk Latest News, Philippines, Top of the deck  

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Gross income from gaming operations at the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor), that country’s regulator-cum-operator, rose 18.7 percent year-on-year in the first nine months of 2018, according to data it filed on Thursday. Pagcor also saw a 20.0 percent jump in total expenses for the period.

The income from gaming operations for the calendar period to September 30 was PHP50.31 billion (US$935.8 million), compared with PHP42.38 billion in the prior-year period.

Of that sum, 50 percent went to the national government, 5 percent was deducted for franchise tax, and a small amount went to the Dangerous Drugs Board, accounting for total deductions of PHP26.41 billion.

During the first nine months, Pagcor – which operates publicly-owned casinos under the Casino Filipino brand, and also licenses and oversees private-sector properties – booked “other income” amounting to PHP33.77 billion.

In its first-half 2018 numbers, published in July, Pagcor had noted a jump in net income due to a land sale to Philippine casino operator Bloomberry Resorts Corp, completed in June. Bloomberry’s unit Sureste Properties Inc paid PHP37.33-billion to Pagcor for two parcels of land in Metro Manila that are home to the group’s Solaire Resort and Casino. Pagcor reported a gain of PHP32.72 billion on the sale.

In the first nine months of the year, Pagcor reported expenses of just over PHP21.26 billion, resulting in net income for the period of PHP37.59 billion, which was nearly 763 percent higher than the first nine months of 2017.

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