Casino regulator-cum-operator Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor) missed its net income target for the first six months of 2014 due to lower revenues.
The Philippine state-run company reported total revenue of PHP19.96 billion (US$455 million) for the first six months of 2014, compared to PHP21.06 billion in the same period a year earlier, an official statement showed.
The firm’s net income in the first half of 2014 likewise contracted by 5.9 percent to PHP1.32 billion compared with PHP1.40 billion in the same period last year. Pagcor missed by 14.08 percent its net income target for the first six months of 2014.
Expenses for the six months to June 30 actually dropped by over 20 percent in year-on-year terms, to PHP8.1 billion.
The company reported PHP14.90 billion in revenue from gaming operations in the first six months, lower by 6.1 percent against the PHP15.86 billion target, but higher by 1.1 percent in year-on-year terms.
Pagcor’s revenue from other related services and sources – like regulatory fees from licensed casinos and income share from other gaming activities such as commercial bingo and poker – was PHP5.07 billion, down from PHP6.33 billion a year earlier.
In the first half of 2014, Pagcor remitted PHP10.5 billion to state coffers compared with PHP9.1 billion in the same period last year. That included PHP7.0 billion directly transferred to the Bureau of Treasury – Pagcor is required by law to forfeit at least 50 percent of its annual gross earnings to the government’s treasury bureau.
The Philippine government said earlier this month it expects Pagcor to remit at least PHP14 billion to the bureau in 2015, flat from the 2014 full-year target. That is despite the scheduled opening of casino resort City of Dreams Manila in the capital’s Entertainment City later this year.
