With more regulated gambling hubs operating again, the bottom line of the state-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) jumped 2,631 percent to P2.2 billion at the end of the first half.
Pagcor’s latest statement of comprehensive income posted on its website on Thursday showed a huge increase in end-June net income from P79.1 million in the first six months of last year.
The gaming regulator’s actual first-half net income was also 1,915-percent larger than its target of P107.2 million for the period.
Total revenue rose 68.1 percent year-on-year to P26.7 billion as of June.
First-half income from gaming operations, which accounted for the bulk of Pagcor’s service and business incomes, climbed 67.3 percent to P24.7 billion, while other revenues grew 18.1 percent to P890.1 million.
Pagcor also posted 191.4-percent growth in gains to P1.03 billion, plus a 17,095-percent increase in other non-operating income to P56.7 million.
Total expenses increased 62.5 percent to P10.5 billion, as personnel services as well as maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) rose 87.3 percent and 58.9 percent, respectively, year-on-year. Financial and non-cash expenses were slightly smaller than a year ago.
Last April, Pagcor chair and chief executive Andrea Domingo projected the domestic gaming industry’s gross gaming revenues (GGR) to hit P60-65 billion — or nearly double of last year’s earnings — by yearend with economic reopening in full swing.