PAGCOR Boosts Its Share of Income To National Government, But Lags Behind Pre-Pandemic Levels

It was recently reported that the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) increased its handout to the country in the first 11 months of 2023, but it still fell short of pre-pandemic numbers.

Boost:

In compliance with the data of the Bureau of the Treasury, the part of PAGCOR’s realized income attributable to the National Government increased by 37% to P30.58 billion for the said 11-month period, compared to the portion of P22.38 billion during the same time frame back in 2022.

On a related note, the 11-month figure is also already twice the entire-year program of P15.03 billion established by the Department of Finance (DOF) for the said PAGCOR. But, regardless of this significant increase, the overall remittance at the end of the November was still lower than the P32.3 billion revealed in the same time frame back in 2019, just prior to the outbreak of COVID-19.

Only in November, PAGCOR was able to remit P3.4 billion to the said Bureau of the Treasury, an increase of 42% when compared to P2.4 billion of November 2022. In this sense, the DOF expects that the National Government’s taking of profits from the PAGCOR will come to P29.87 billion in this ongoing year.

Furthermore, by law, PAGCOR, the government’s 3rd biggest income-generating agency, have to hand out 50% of its net income to the aforementioned Bureau of the Treasury, as reported by the Manila Bulletin.

2024 Philippine Gaming Industry GGR To Reach PHP336.38bln:

On January 15, Alejandro Tengco, CEO and President of the PAGCOR, estimated that the gross gaming income (GGR) of the Philippines this year, involving non-casino operations, is probably to reach PHP336.38 billion, which is approximately US$6.03 billion.

He also said that gross profits of the local gaming industry jumped 33% to peak at P285.27 billion during 2023. These numbers exceeded the GGR of P214.34 billion during 2022. In addition, they also exceeded the PAGCOR’s target of P273 billion for the same year.

Relatedly, Tengco commented it was an 11% growth compared to the former peak of P256.49 billion revealed back in 2019, only prior to the interim shutdown of gaming operations and movement restrictions, the main cause of which was the COVID-19.

PAGCOR’s main goal is to reach a GGR of P336.38 billion this year, according to Tengco.

The gambling industry in the Philippines managed to generate US$1.24 billion in Q3 2023:

In other news, during November 2023, it was reported that the gross gaming revenues of the Philippine gaming industry reached PHP68.8 billion (US$1.24 billion) in the third quarter of 2023. The figure reportedly represents a 20.1% increase when compared to the third quarter of 2022, as well as an increase of US$20 million compared to the result achieved in the second quarter of 2022.