PhilWeb revenue grows, profit declines in 2015
Philippines-based PhilWeb Corp recorded a 1.8 percent revenue increase in 2015, to PHP1.67 billion (US$35.5 million), despite “increased competition from other forms of gaming operations”, including from land-based casinos, the firm said in a press release on Wednesday.
The company added that its net income for last year was PHP870 million, compared with PHP904 million a year earlier, according to its 2014 annual report.
PhilWeb in 2003 received a licence from the country’s casino regulator, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp – also known as Pagcor – to launch a network of e-Games outlets. These are Internet cafés exclusively dedicated to casino games, including digital versions of popular games such as baccarat, blackjack or various slot machine titles. Most of the cafés operate 24 hours per day, seven days per week.
The firm’s network at the end of 2015 included a total of 268 operational e-Games outlets all over the Philippines, with more than 8,800 gaming terminals, according to the press release.
Many outlets are owned and operated by independent third parties. These operators handle day-to-day operations and get a commission based on the casino winnings of the café́.
“Our cash flows in 2015 have been steadily increasing, and this is evident in our EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation], which totalled PHP1.2 billion,” Dennis Valdes, president of PhilWeb, said in a statement.
“I am bullish about the coming year,” he added. “We have been a solid supporter of Pagcor for over a decade… In 2015, we remitted to Pagcor a total of PHP2.116 billion.”
Under the existing licence deal, Pagcor is entitled to a share of 35.8 percent of the casino winnings of e-Games cafés. Casino winnings are calculated after Pagcor charges a 5 percent national franchise tax over gross gaming revenue.
PhilWeb noted in the press release that it had updated its café gaming software in November “such that sports betting can now be done at each terminal”.
The firm stated that its e-Games café network had around 90,000 registered members.
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