Philweb net income dips 4.6%

Philweb Corp., a listed gaming company led by former trade minister Roberto Ongpin, is placing more focus on growing its business in the Philippines amid disappointing results from its regional expansion.

Dennis Valdes, Philweb president, told reporters the business was poised to recover in the second half of 2015 after earnings slipped in the first half of the year. This was blamed on the absence of revenue from Premyo sa Resibo Inc. and its Asia Pacific operations.

For its regional business, Valdes cited difficulties in securing gaming licenses, and in some of its markets, in terms of operations.

“Asia Pacific has been a disappointment. We have been unable to get the regional growth that we wanted so we had to pull back and reassess,” Valdes told reporters at the sidelines of the company’s annual stockholders meeting yesterday.

Philweb noted in its website that it has been serving customers in Guam, Timor Leste and Cambodia. It was also negotiating contracts to operate in Nepal, Sri Lanka, Laos and Palau.

“Right now, I am 100 percent focused on the Philippines,” Valdes said.

A large part of the firm’s revenue comes from its e-Games cafes, which serve as venues where clients can play online versions of popular casino games. Philweb had 305 of these cafes at the end of 2014, its annual report showed.

For 2015, the company plans to launch its e-Games electronic wallet, which will allow players to leave credits in their accounts.

Philweb disclosed on Tuesday that net income in the first half of 2015 hit P411.44 million, down 4.6 percent while revenue dipped by about 1 percent to P797.15 million.