Pagcor revenues reach almost P3B in April

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) has earned more than P2 billion in April, bringing the agency’s total revenues to P11.3 billion for the first four months, up by more than P1 billion from the P10.07 billion earned in the same period last year, its chairman and chief executive officer, Cristino Naguiat Jr., announced on Tuesday.

“For the month of April alone, Pagcor’s gross revenues rose to P2.75 billion, or P285 million higher compared to the P2.46 billion income in April 2010,” Naguiat said in a statement.

The revenue upswing, the Pagcor chief said, was the result of remarkable increases in winnings from gaming operations and other income sources like shares from regulated gaming operations.

“During the period in review, Pagcor’s gaming income was up by P449 million while other income was better by P601 million,” he pointed out.

Because of Pagcor’s increased income in the first four months, Naguiat said, the agency was able to remit higher contributions to its mandated agencies.

He aid total remittances from January to April 2011 reached P4.94 billion–P176 million higher than the P4.77 billion contributions made during the same period last year.

“We paid P374 million in franchise taxes to the Bureau of Internal Revenue and remitted P3.56 billion to the National Government as mandated share. Other mandated recipients that received substantial funding from Pagcor include the Philippine Sports Commission (P178 million) and President’s Social Fund (P608 million),” Naguiat added.

Naguiat said Pagcor also continues to reap tremendous benefits from prudent fund management and other cost-saving initiatives.

“From January to April, Pagcor slashed its operating expenses by almost 14 percent, which led to savings of about P688 million. For April alone, we had savings of about P140 million,” he said.

Naguiat was confident that through sound business policies and prudent spending, the state-run gaming agency would continue to surpass previous performance milestones.

“By generating more revenues, Pagcor would be able to respond better to its mandate of helping government in its nation-building efforts,” he said.