State-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor) reported an 18.1 percent year-on-year increase in revenue for 2015. Revenue for the whole of 2015 reached PHP47.21 billion (US$993.7 million), compared to PHP39.99 billion in the previous year, according to Pagcor’s financial statement posted on its website.
Gaming revenue increased by 45 percent from the previous year to PHP43.39 billion in 2015, showed the unaudited results.
Pagcor, an operator of publicly owned casinos as well as the regulator for the country’s entire casino industry which includes privately developed venues, said regulatory fees collected from licensed casinos rose 32.8 percent year-on-year to PHP11.29 billion in 2015.
Revenue from junket gaming operations more than doubled to PHP504.2 million last year, it said.
Pagcor’s net income for 2015 totalled PHP3.78 billion, up by 16.3 percent from the prior-year period, showed the official data.
Total expenses – including operating expenses and contributions to the government – amounted to PHP43.43 billion last year, up by 18.2 percent from 2014.
Contributions to different government departments combined with tax payments reached an aggregate of PHP29.08 billion in 2015, Pacgor said. That included PHP20.55 billion directly transferred to the Bureau of the Treasury. Pagcor is required by law to forfeit at least 50 percent of its annual gross earnings to the government’s treasury bureau.
The chairman of Pagcor, Cristino Naguiat, said in a recent interview that accumulated casino gross gaming revenue – including from venues run 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.
