Gaming revenue seen at $2.5B in ’13

Philippine Amusement Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) is maintaining the $2.5-billion revenue goal for the country’s gaming industry this year, with earnings to be driven mainly by the opening of the first casino resort in Entertainment City, Solaire Resort & Casino in March, company chair and CEO Cristino Naguiat Jr. said on Monday.

Three other casino complexes— owned by Filipino-Chinese tycoons Henry Sy and Andrew Tan and Japanese billionaire Kazuo Okada—are scheduled to open within the next four to five years. These would increase the country’s gaming revenue to about $10 billion, Naguiat said.

The country has so far been drawing attention overseas, and not just for the gaming sector.

“They are interested in the direction (of Philippine gaming) and how we see the Philippines right now,” Naguiat said, referring to queries he got in a recent gaming conference in Macau.

“In our presentation, we promoted not only Entertainment City but also Philippine tourism,” he said.

Nonetheless, Naguiat said 90 percent of gaming revenues by 2018 could come from Entertainment City, the country’s response to casino hubs in Singapore and Macau.

Korean visitors still comprise the bulk of gamers in the country, accounting for 25 percent, he noted.

New employment opportunities are also opening up in the country for Filipinos overseas, mainly those who are currently working in competing gaming hubs including Macau.

Naguiat said projects like Solaire Resort and Casino lured back at least 400 Filipinos working overseas. He said thousands more could come back once all licensees in Entertainment City were fully operational.

The Solaire Resort and Casino raised the curtain on the 120-hectare Entertainment City in the Manila Bay reclamation area. The casino is owned by Enrique Razon Jr.-led Bloomberry Resorts Corp.

Bloomberry booked P578.3 million in revenue in the first 15 days of operations of Solaire, a financial filing showed. Of the amount, gaming operations contributed P495.6 million.