Casino regulator-cum-operator the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor) on Tuesday reported net income of PHP2.45 billion (US$52.2 million) for the first six months of 2016, up by 2.5 percent from the prior-year period.
Income from gaming operations stood at PHP26.08 billion in the first six months of 2016, up 19.6 percent from a year earlier. In the three months to June 30, income from gaming operations reached PHP15.0 billion, a 35.4 percent sequential improvement compared to the first quarter.
Pagcor said it was 29.4 percent ahead of its own PHP20.16-billion target for income from gaming operations in the six-month period.
Total income for the first half of 2016 rose 8.6 percent year-on-year to PHP26.92 billion, Pagcor reported. For the second quarter alone, total revenue was PHP15.37 billion, up 33.1 percent from PHP11.55 billion in the first three months of the year.
In its latest report, Pagcor said that total operating expenses for the six months to June 30 increased by 3.7 percent year-on-year to PHP7.04 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 PHP17.43 billion to state funds in the first half of the year. That figure included PHP12.36 billion directly transferred to the Bureau of the Treasury. Pagcor is required by law to pass at least 50 percent of its annual gross earnings to the government’s treasury bureau.
The Philippines Commission on Audit said in a recent report that Pagcor underpaid by PHP15.40-billion – over a five-year period – the central government’s 50 percent share of the earnings generated by the casino industry regulator. Pagcor argues that “it is not liable for the alleged under remittance … as it has correctly remitted the national government share”.
Pagcor posted net income of PHP3.78 billion in 2015, an increase of 16.2 percent from 2014, according to official data.
