Pagcor gaming revenues recover in Q1 (Sabong News)

State-owned Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) posted a double-digit rise in gambling revenues in the first three months of the year, but was still short of its target. Based on Pagcor’s statement of comprehensive income, the gaming regulator raised P11.29 billion from gaming operations in January to March, up 35 percent compared with P8.36 billion in the same period last year. Pagcor, however, noted that the end-March gaming income was below by five percent against its P11.93 billion goal. Last April 27, Andrea D. Domingo, Pagcor chair and chief executive officer admitted that they had a “bad start” this year due to the surge of Covid-19 cases that forced gaming venues to temporality close shop. However, Domingo said Pagcor was on track to hit its revenue targets, driven by much improved economic environment in the country amid the prolonged pandemic. She added that Pagcor is now hitting its gross gaming revenue (GGR) target, generating about P17 billion from January to April 2022. “We’ll have two months more until I end my term and I think that we should be hitting anywhere from P35 to P30 billion by June,” Domingo said. “It would be possible that by the end of the year, Pagcor would have about P60 to P65 billion a year GGR which is almost twice as much as last year’s,” the official added. Meanwhile, Pagcor’s other service and business income amounted to P516.5 billion in the first-quarter, an increase of 49 percent from P345.45 billion in the same period in 2021. It is also well above the P95.66 billion target. Moreover, other non-operating income accelerated from only P157,643 to P56.02 million, which also surpassed the P3.49 million goal. Pagcor also booked P549.45 billion gains. At end-March, Pagcor’s total revenues reached P12.41 billion, up 39 percent from P8.9 billion a year ago and exceeded the P12.03 billion target. On the other hand, Pagcor’s expenses rose 54 percent to P5.06 billion from P3.29 billion. It was also above the P4.96 billion program. As of March, the gaming regulator and operator posted a P624.7 million profit, 309 percent better than the P152.62 million seen in the previous year.