Despite the fact that the gambling companies in the Philippines are on a losing streak due to increasing costs resulting from business expansion, Pagcor, the Philippine Amusement Gaming Corp, said in the local newspaper The Philippine Star that gaming revenues in the country are still going up.

Pagcor chairman Cristino Naguiat Jr. strongly believes that there is a revenue growth is=n the gaming industry of the Philippines despite the downturn of gambling companies. He said that this has nothing to do with the gaming behavior of players; instead it has more to do with the bad results to costs related to casino business expansion incurred by companies. In fact, in an interview last month, Naguiat said that the Philippines casino gross gaming revenue might increase by 20 percent in 2015 compared to last year.

The statement of Naguiat appears to be true. Bloomberry Resorts Corp that runs Solaire Resort and Casino in Manila’s Entertainment City announced a net loss in the second half of 2015, but it reported a gross gaming revenue increase compared to the same time last year.

Travellers International Hotel Group Inc that operates the Resorts World Manila Casino and Hotel, on the other hand, reported a 46.4 percent decrease to P622 million for the three months to the end of June compared to the net profit from last year as well as a downturn in gaming revenue which dropped by 10.5 percent.

Furthermore, Melco Crown Resorts Corp that runs the City of Dreams Manila also announced a net loss of P4.9 billion in the first half of 2015 from P2.4 billion. The loss is attributed to fees and taxes related to the renovation of the complex.

Industry analysts also believe that the low performance of the gaming operators in the Philippines is due to the crackdown on corruption in mainland China and the non smoking policy imposed in some casinos.