Pagcor profits P6.56B in first half of 2024

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Earnings of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) more than doubled in the first half of the year on the back of reforms and enhanced regulatory policies.

Pagcor recorded a net income of P6.56 billion in the first six months, increasing by 121.48 percent from the P2.96-billion bottomline in the same period a year ago.

Revenues also went up by 42.92 percent to P51.76 billion in the first semester from P36.21 billion last year. This put the country’s casino regulator on track to reach or even breach its P100 billion gross revenue threshold this year.

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Its gross gaming revenue also rose by 19.21 percent to P194.74 billion in the first six months from P163.36 billion last year. Growth in gross gaming revenue was mainly driven by the electronic games sector which contributed P63.01 billion, more than triple than P20.43 in the previous year.

“The robust income growth of the state gaming firm is a testament to the positive result of the reforms and enhanced regulations being implemented under the new administration,” Pagcor chair and chief executive Alejandro Tengco said in a statement yesterday.

The bulk of Pagcor’s revenues continued to come from its own gaming operations which amounted to P45.39 billion while nearly half of the gaming revenues came from the online gaming sector which contributed a total of P20.66 billion.

Meanwhile, integrated resorts or licensed casinos with a 35.44 percent share of the total gaming revenues added P16.06 billion while those casinos under the Casino Filipino brand chipped in P6.93 billion in the January-to-June period.

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With the strong income in the first half, Tengco said that Pagcor was able to remit P31.82 billion to the Bureau of Treasury, higher than P22.62 billion it gave last year.

“Given the phenomenal revenue increase in the e-games sector, and with more players and investors signifying their intent to enter the Philippine market, we are confident that the year 2024 will be truly a banner year for Pagcor,” he said.

On the other hand, Pagcor-operated casinos continued to decline at P8.89 billion in gross gaming revenue, down by 11.60 percent from P10.06 it recorded in the same period last year.