PCSO extends Pacific Online’s contract by 2 yrs

Gaming firm Pacific Online Systems Corp. got a two-year extension of its contract to lease its equipment to the state-run Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

In a disclosure, Pacific Online said an extension to the lease agreement, covering April 1 this year to July 31 2015, was signed this week.

“Pursuant to its goal of continuously strengthening its partnership with the PCSO, Pacific Online has offered (and the PCSO accepted the said offer) to reduce the lease rate of online lottery equipment by 22 percent to 7.7 percent,” Pacific Online told the PSE.

Its previous lease fee was 9.85 percent of the gross revenue for each terminal. The reduction of the lease fees for existing terminals and the lower rate approved for the new terminals mean savings for the government.

Pacific Online said it had also agreed to bear the costs of all paper consumables and equipment maintenance for the online lottery operations in Visayas and Mindanao.

Last year, the company reported a 22-percent jump in operating income on the back of record-high PCSO lotto sales. Consolidated operating income in 2012 surged to P562.7 million from P460.3 million a year ago.

The firm’s consolidated net income increased by P26.0 million or 7 percent, to P418.1 million from P 392.1 million a year ago.

Pacific Online said it focused on making PCSO product lines readily available in the market, driving consolidated revenue to P1.63 billion, 21-percent higher than the P1.35 billion seen in 2011.

Pacific Online has about 2,600 terminals in Visayas and Mindanao.Paolo G. Montecillo