Philippine gaming parlour operator PhilWeb Corp saw its second-quarter revenues rise sharply year-on-year. Such revenues for the three months to June 30 were nearly PHP95.1 million (US$1.8 million), an increase of 144 percent year-on-year. The result took half-year revenues to nearly PHP172.6 million, an increase of 165 percent from the prior-year period.
According to the results filed with the Philippine Stock Exchange on Friday, this was “mainly due to the approval of Pagcor to restart the offering of PhilWeb’s electronic gaming systems to operators, thereby allowing the company to fully resume its operations”. That was a reference to the Philippine gaming regulator, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp, also known as Pagcor.
The filing reiterated that in August last year – after previous permissions held by PhilWeb had been allowed by the authorities to lapse in 2016 without renewal – the group had received provisional accreditation as an electronic gaming systems service provider for Pagcor-licensed gaming venues. On December 1 2017, the first 16 electronic gaming sites were allowed to operate, followed by 21 more in February this year. In early March, Pagcor issued a memorandum allowing the firm fully to resume its operations.
A press release issued by PhilWeb on Friday about its business prospects in the context of its latest results, indirectly quoted its president Dennis Valdes saying that, as of that day the group was supplying its electronic gaming systems to 54 Pagcor-approved outlets. The press release added that in June, what it termed a “second set of games using Habanero software” had further assisted the group’s business growth.
Gregorio Araneta, chairman of PhilWeb was quoted as saying in the press release, that the firm had “increased revenue while decreasing expenses, which is always a powerful generator of cash flow”.
The group’s net loss for the second quarter was PHP16.4 million, compared to PHP68.9 million in the prior-year period.
The net loss for the first six months was PHP45.3 million, compared to PHP141.3 million in the prior year.
