The Philippine casino sector produced nearly PHP15.95 billion (US$331.5 million) in gross gaming revenue (GGR) in the third quarter, up 602.6 percent from the preceding three months. The result was still down 71.2 percent from the PHP55.34 billion recorded in the prior-year period.
The data was published by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor), an operator of public-sector casinos as well as regulator and licensor of commercial-sector venues.
The quarter-on-quarter increase was supported by the return of gaming operations in a number of the country’s casinos, albeit at a limited capacity as a countermeasure against the Covid-19 pandemic.
An extensive lockdown for Metro Manila, including for its large-scale casino resorts in Entertainment City, was first announced in mid-March as part of Covid-19 countermeasures, and was subsequently extended in increments although the terms were relaxed somewhat.
Since June, casino firms – including large-scale private sector sites in Manila – have been allowed to resume “trial run operations” at 30 percent capacity.
Nationwide, the private-sector casinos – including those in Clark Freeport and elsewhere – produced just below PHP15.04 billion in GGR in the three months to September 30. Private-sector casinos based in Entertainment City accounted for about PHP12.96 billion in GGR in the period.
Pagcor’s own casinos – branded Casino Filipino – saw their third-quarter GGR at PHP914.7 million, from PHP88.0 million in the previous quarter. The latest reported figure was nonetheless down 90.2 percent from the PHP9.33 billion recorded in the prior-year quarter.
The Philippine gaming industry – including electronic gaming parlours and bingo operations – reported aggregate GGR of PHP17.66 billion, showed the official data.
In October, state-run Pagcor reported net income of nearly PHP132.7 million for the first nine months of 2020, compared with PHP4.97 billion a year earlier. The body said income from gaming operations for the period was down 60.0 percent from a year earlier, to approximately PHP22.33 billion.
