The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) has enjoyed a solid first few months of the year. According to a statement released by the state-run gaming operator, it saw strong revenue growth from January to April, reaching 11.4% higher than the same period last year. By the end of April, PAGCOR had taken in gross revenue of approximately $482.5 million (PHP25.09 billion) and total revenue came in at $460.45 million.
The statement explains the source of the company’s revenue, saying, “A huge bulk of PAGCOR’s revenues (P23.84 billion [$460 million]) came from its income from gaming including fees from licensees and offshore gaming operators. Further, PAGCOR’s other income as well as its income from other related services amounted to P1.24 billion [$23.92 million].”
PAGCOR operates several publicly-owned casinos in the Philippines and acts as the country’s gaming regulator. The figures for the first four months follow on its first-quarter year-on-year improvement, which was $29.93 million, or 9.5% higher than the first quarter of 2018. Gross gaming revenue (GGR) for the period was $101.43 million.
In the recent PAGCOR statement, chairman and CEO Andrea Domingo asserted, “We will do our best to sustain this momentum. Right now, we are recording a monthly average of PHP6.27 billion [$1.21 million] in revenue.”
2018 was also a good year for the organization, giving it a net income of about $608.2 million. This was a year-on-year increase of 536.6%; however, it had a little help. The significant spike came after PAGCOR sold land to Bloomberry Resorts Corp., a deal that was signed last June. Bloomberry paid around $721 million to acquire two properties located in Metro Manila that are being used for its Solaire Resort and Casino. That transaction netted PAGCOR $631.96 million.
The revenue allowed PAGCOR to make substantial contributions to the country’s infrastructure as required. Over the four months, it has given around $352.91 million in total, representing a 12.22% increase above the $314.65 million it gave in the same period last year. The money was sent to the National Treasury, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Philippine Sports Commission, cites that host a Casino Filipino branch, the Board of Claims, Corporate Income Taxes and to various “socio-civic programs” implemented by the government.
