Pagcor posts 3rd month of record revenues

MANILA, Philippines—The state-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) on Tuesday reported its third consecutive month of record-high revenues on the back of what its management said are fiscal reforms being implemented at the agency.

In a statement, the gaming firm said that revenues for the month of July reached P3.1 billion, representing the highest level of sales generated by the agency for a single month in the last 25 years.

Pagcor recorded similar record highs for the months of May (when it had P3.03 billion in revenues) and June (when it hit P3.05 billion).

“From January to July this year, Pagcor’s gross income climbed to P20.3 billion,” Pagcor chairman Cristino Naguiat Jr. said. “This is higher by P1.8 billion compared with the same period of last year.”

“Our income for July 2011 was also higher by P170 million compared with the income registered [during] the same month last year,” Naguiat added.

Of the P3.1 billion in July revenues, Naguiat pointed out that P2.1 billion came from the agency’s own gaming operation at its 13 casinos while another P1 billion came from other regulated gaming activities like licensed casinos and commercial bingo.

“Pagcor’s record revenue not only improves the liquidity and financial stability of the corporation but also puts us in a much better place where we can contribute more to government programs geared toward nation-building,” Naguiat said.

As such, Pagcor’s remittances to the Bureau of Internal Revenue representing the 5-percent franchise tax reached P684 million during the first seven months of the year. This was higher by almost P36 million compared with the P648 million paid to the BIR by Pagcor during the same period last year.

Pagcor’s remittances of the 50-percent government share to the national treasury totaled P6.5 billion at the end of July, representing an increase of 5.7 percent, or P340 million, compared with the P6.15 billion remitted from January to July 2010.

According to Naguiat, Pagcor’s performance for 2011 was buoyed by the agency’s “prudent use of resources” that saw a reduction in its operating expenses by about P1 billion from January to July this year. Based on its budget for 2011, its savings for the first seven months reached P1.17 billion.

“We only used up P7.57 billion of the P8.74-billion budget for operating expenses allocated for January to July 2011,” Naguiat said.

During this time, Pagcor’s contributions to the Philippine Sports Commission also rose to P325 million, higher by P17 million compared with the agency’s P308 million contributions to the sports commission for the same period in 2010.

The agency’s contributions to the President’s Social Fund, meanwhile, reached P1.24 billion, better by P32 million from the P1.21 billion in remittances the Office of the President got from Pagcor from January to July last year.

Pagcor has allocated P1 billion for the construction of more than 1,000 classrooms nationwide under its “Matuwid na Daan sa Silid Aralan Project” with the Department of Education.