The Philippine casino industry reported gross gaming revenue (GGR) of PHP187.54 billion (US$3.58 billion) in full calendar year 2018, up by 22.9 percent from the prior-year period, said the country’s gaming regulator.
Private-sector casino resorts in the Philippines recorded overall GGR of PHP151.65 billion in 2018, an increase of 28.3 percent compared to PHP118.18 billion in the previous 12 months, according to data released this week by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor).
Most of the private-sector casino GGR in 2018 was generated by the four properties associated with Manila’s Entertainment City project.
They are: City of Dreams Manila, run by a subsidiary of Melco Resorts and Entertainment Ltd; Solaire Resort and Casino, controlled by Bloomberry Resorts Corp; Resorts World Manila, owned and operated by Travellers International Hotel Group Inc, a venture between Philippine-based Alliance Global Group Inc and Genting Hong Kong Ltd; and Okada Manila, owned and operated by Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc, a subsidiary of Japanese gaming conglomerate Universal Entertainment Corp.
The data from Pagcor showed GGR generated by the casino junket segment stood at PHP51.94 billion for full 2018, representing a 24.4 percent year-on-year increase, and accounting for 27.7 percent of total casino GGR for the period. The majority of junket-generated casino GGR was recorded in the private-sector casinos – a total of PHP42.91 billion – rather than the Pagcor-run ones.
In 2018, “non-junket” GGR represented 40.7 percent of the total, at PHP76.37 billion, while electronic gaming machines claimed a market share of 31.6 percent.
Last year, revenue from electronic gaming sites – including traditional bingo, electronic games and sports betting – reached PHP28.31 billion.
Aside from being the sector’s regulator, Pagcor directly operates a suite of state-run casinos under the branding “Casino Filipino”. According to the latter’s website, the brand operates venues in six locations across the country, and has a further 33 so-called “satellite” sites across the Philippines.
The data disclosed by Pagcor showed that, as of 2018-end, the country’s casino sector offered a total of 2,080 live gaming tables and more than 19,900 electronic gaming machines.
On the fourth quarter of 2018, the Philippine casino industry reported GGR of PHP49.80 billion, up by 26.7 percent from the prior-year period. The Entertainment City casinos generated GGR of PHP38.32 billion, representing an increase of 35.4 percent in year-on-year terms.
