The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) released its financial performance during the first quarter of 2015, posting a net income of PHP937.6m compared to PHP920m it posted over a year ago.
Overall revenue decreased to PHP10.18b from PHP10.36b in Q1 2014. The decline was mainly attributed to the intense competition in the country’s casino industry, as two large integrated resorts—Solaire Resort & Casino and City of Dreams Manila— in Entertainment City are now accepting visitors from the Asia-Pacific region as well as from the rest of the world.
Despite the competition, gaming revenue increased 47% to PHP8.38b compared to PHP5.7b a year ago.
Revenue from related services totaled PHP1.8b, while revenue from other services amounted to PHP21.8 million.
Operating expenses grew 21.33% to P4.38b. By the end of March, PAGCOR’s assets amounted to PHP29.69b and its liabilities totaled PHP18.29b.
Pagcor contributed a total of P4.8b to nation-building in Q1 2015, P3.96b of which represented the 50% government share of the state gambling regulator’s earnings.
As much as PHP5b was remitted to the National Treasury, bringing a total of P11.5b cash dividends remitted under Cristino Naguiat’s leadership.
Mr. Naguiat noted that the main objective is to declare dividends and, thus, return considerable earnings to the corporation’s shareholders. He also pointed out that no such funds had been remitted to the government before his appointment as CEO of PAGCOR.
In 2014, the gambling regulator contributed a total of PHP14.2b cash dividends to the National Treasury while overall remittance to nation-building amounted to PHP21.68b, PAGCOR’s largest contribution under Naguiat’s term.
