Pagcor H1 gaming income up 9.3%

Thursday 25th of July 2019

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. reported a 9.3 percent rise in income from gaming in the first six months of the year, driven by licensed casinos.

The regulator took in total gross gaming income of PHP36.56 billion compared with PHP33.4 billion a year earlier. It reported a profit of PHP3.08 billion, down from PHP35.7 billion, although last year’s bottom line was inflated by the sale of a plot of land to Bloomberry Resorts and Entertainment.

This year, Pagcor took in PHP13.67 billion from licensed casinos, while income from Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator licenses was PHP2.66 billion. Bingo licenses generated PHP450 million and in-house bingo activities brought in PHP77 million. Pagcor said income from electronic bingo was PHP5.69 billion.

The regulator is required to remit 50 percent of its earnings to the government to contribute to nation-building activities. That amounted to PHP17.33 billion in the first six months of the year.

The Philippines has been one of the best-performing gaming markets in Asia for the past few years, with new resorts in Entertainment City helping to draw in more visitors to the country.

Recent results though have been mixed, with signs the fallout from the U.S./China trade tensions that has hurt VIP revenue in Macau may be extending to Manila.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment on Wednesday released its Q2 results and warned of increasing competition hurting earnings at City of Dreams Manila.

Revenues edged higher to $176.1 million compared to $173.9 million, while adjusted EBITDA slipped to $82.8 million from $87.3 million in the comparable period of 2018.

Rolling chip volumes totaled $1.9 billion down sharply from $3.0 billion in the second quarter of 2018. The rolling chip win rate was 5.21 percent in the second quarter of 2019 versus 3.70 percent in the second quarter of 2018. The expected rolling chip win rate range is 2.85 percent – 3.15 percent.

Mass market table games drop decreased to $192.8 million from $196.9 million.