On July 20, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, PAGCOR, the Philippine gaming regulator, revealed overnight that its rise in total profit by 35.6% in the first six months of 2023 to Php36.21 billion (US$663 million) was driven by a 48.7% rise in gross gaming income to Php136.37 billion (US$2.50 billion).

Profit for the first half of 2023 lower than pre-pandemic profit:

Although the regulator has yet to publicly reveal its results for the June 2023 quarter alone, it formerly reported first-quarter income of Php17.7 billion (US$324 million), showing second-quarter revenue reaching Php18.5 billion (US$339 million) across a number of operations. In this regard, the agency said: “Our revenues for the first half of 2023 were 6.7% lower than its pre-pandemic output of Php38.8 billion (US$710 million) in 1H19.”

In this regard, PAGCOR President and CEO Alejandro Tengco said: “PAGCOR will certainly ride on the tide of our country’s economic growth. As economic activities reach pre-pandemic levels, we are optimistic that we can sustain the gaming industry’s growth momentum as we fortify our regulatory policies to attract more investors in the Philippines.”

Gaming operations and regulatory fees from licensees main source of income:

The January-June profit displayed that profit from regulatory fees from licensees and gaming stayed PAGCOR’s biggest source of revenue at Php34.12 billion (US$625 million), up 38.0% yearly thanks to a big improvement in GGR. All this led to an increase in contributions to nation building with PAGCOR offering Php22.62 billion (US$414 million) in H1, of which Php16.20 billion (US$297 million) was sent directly to the National Treasury as 50% of the government’s share. In addition, another Php8 billion (US$146 million) will be transported to the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation to finance Universal Healthcare perks. Also, PAGCOR specifically said that it “allocated Php3.61 billion (US$66 million) for the government’s socio-civic programs, while Php1.70 billion (US$31 million) was remitted to the Bureau of Internal Revenue as 5% franchise tax and Php19.92 billion (US$365 million) to the Board of Claims under the Department of Justice. Another Php810.47 million (US$14.9 million) was remitted to the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), Php17.97 million (US$329,000) to the PSC as Sports Incentives and Benefits for national athletes and coaches who won in international competitions and Php225.86 million (US$4.1 million) to cities hosting PAGCOR’s Casino Filipino branches.”

On that note, Tengco said: “We have already hit approximately Php136.37 billion (US$2.5 billion) Gross Gaming Revenue or GGR in the first semester. With the favorable business environment that we have right now, we are hopeful that we can reach or even surpass our revenue targets and contribute more to nation-building.”