Pagcor profit up 11 pct in first quarter, exceeds target

May 03, 2016 Newsdesk Latest News, Philippines, Top of the deck  

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State-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor) reported net income of PHP1.04 billion (US$22.1 million) for the first three months of 2016, up by 11.0 percent from the prior-year period.

The result exceeded the firm’s own target by almost 10 times, according to its latest statement of income and expenses, released last week.

Income from gaming operations stood at PHP11.08 billion in the three months to March 31, up 32.2 percent from a year earlier.

Total income for the period rose 13.4 percent year-on-year to PHP11.55 billion, Pagcor reported.

In its latest report, Pagcor said that total operating expenses for the first quarter of 2016 fell 1.6 percent year-on-year to PHP3.37 billion.

The state-run company, an operator of publicly owned casinos as well as the regulator for the country’s entire casino industry, contributed a total of PHP7.14 billion to state funds in the first three months of the year.

The contributions to the government included PHP5.28 billion directly transferred to the Bureau of the Treasury. Pagcor is required by law to pass at least 50 percent of its gross earnings to the government’s treasury bureau.

Brokerage CLSA Ltd said in a recent note that casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) in the Philippines increased by 7 percent year-on-year in the three months to March 31. The firm expects full year GGR to go up by 8 percent.

Accumulated casino GGR – including from venues managed by Pagcor and those run by private sector operators – reached PHP130 billion for the full year of 2015, up by 17 percent compared to 2014, said in January the chairman of Pagcor, Cristino Naguiat.

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