Operator News

PAGCOR posts 42 per cent surge in first quarter income to Php 25.2bn

By Phil - 29 April 2024

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) has confirmed its total income for the first quarter of 2024 has reached Php25.24 billion, a 42.57 per cent increase compared with the same period last year.

The three-month earnings put the state gaming firm on track to reach the Php100bn annual income for the year, which would be a first in the 40-year history of the state gaming firm, according to PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Alejandro H. Tengco.

“We are happy to announce that PAGCOR is able to sustain our growth trajectory in the first quarter of 2024 and this should help position us into achieving another record breaking year,” Mr. Tengco said.

PAGCOR’s net operating income after expenses during the quarter stands at Php18.99bn, which is 54.22 per cent higher than the January-March 2023 figure of Php12.32bn.

Gaming operations accounted for the bulk of Q1 revenues with Php22.29bn. Of this amount, 43.46 per cent or Php9.69bn came from the E-Games sector (eBingo, eGames and Bingo grantees) while licensed casinos (integrated resorts) brought in Php8.04bn (36.06 per cent).

However, revenues from PAGCOR-run casinos under the Casino Filipino brand continued to slide, earning Php3.7bn or 16.62 per cent of the first quarter total. This is down from the 20.68 per cent share it contributed to PAGCOR’s revenues in 2023.

Offshore gaming operations for its part contributed Php860.89m or 3.86% per cent of the 2024 1st quarter total gaming income.

“As we said earlier, the E-games sector will be our major source of gaming revenues this year and in the next few years as innovation and technological integration allows the sector to offer more excitement and convenience to gamers,” Mr. Tengco said.

“Our robust earnings also bode well for the government’s various socio-civic programs including funding for the Universal Healthcare Program which provides health insurance to millions of poor Filipinos through Philhealth,” he added.

Of the agency’s nearly Php19 billion net income in the first quarter of 2024, Php15.56bn will go to its Contributions to Nation-Building. This includes the five per cent franchise tax; 50 per cent government share; shares for LGUs hosting PAGCOR casinos; other socio-civic projects; five per cent share of the Philippine Sports Commission; funding for the Sports Incentives and Benefits Act; and one per cent share of the Board of Claims to compensate persons who are wrongfully convicted.

PAGCOR’s previous earnings record was established in 2019 before the pandemic outbreak. In the first quarter of that year, total income was at Php19.49bn, a number easily surpassed by this year’s first quarter earnings by nearly 30 per cent.