Philweb projects doubling of income in 2012

Listed gaming firm PhilWeb Corp. aims to double its profit this year from year-ago level with the ongoing expansion of its business in the Asia Pacific region.

The company set this target after reporting a 40-percent year-on-year surge in profit to P243 million in the first quarter of 2012.

“We are doing extremely well. My personal goal is to double the net income for this year,” PhilWeb chair Roberto V. Ongpin told shareholders at the company’s general meeting on Thursday.

Last year, the company recorded P940 million in net earnings. “We should have reached P1 billion last year. We should make it at least P2 billion this year,” Ongpin said.

PhilWeb president Dennis Valdes said the company’s growth would be driven by the stronger sales of sweepstakes scratch cards and the sustained growth in revenue from its “Pegs” or Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) Internet gaming cafes.

Pegs cafes still contribute the most to PhilWeb’s revenue at about P286 million in the first quarter of 2012. Commissions from Pegs cafes operated by BigGame Inc. reached P38.5 billion while scratch card sales added P17.5 million.

In the meantime, Valdes said the expansion of PhilWeb’s overseas business would start contributing more to earnings starting this year.

In 2011, PhilWeb secured gaming licenses in Timor Leste, Cambodia and Guam. Despite this, overseas sales contributed only 5 percent to total revenue. The company hopes to get licenses in Laos, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Palau, Myanmar, Indonesia and Vietnam.

“Our strategy of pushing into new markets is paying off very quickly,” Valdes said. “My vision is that in five years, international operations would account for 50 percent of revenue,” he said.