THE Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) has reported a total income from gaming operations of P67.854 billion as of end-December 2018, breaching its target of P61.659 billion for the year.
In its latest financial statement, Pagcor reported that its P67.854-billion collection was higher by 18.34 percent than revenues it collected in 2017, of P57.335 billion.
Netting out the state-run gaming regulator’s total gaming taxes and contributions for the year, which amounted to P35.623 billion, total gaming income stood at P32.230 billion—still higher compared to the P27.234 billion in gaming revenues for 2017.
Its total gaming taxes and contributions breached the target set for the year of P32.371 billion.
Pagcor’s gaming taxes and contributions include a 5-percent franchise tax and 50 percent of its gaming share, as well as dividends to the Dangerous Drugs Board of P60 million as mandated under the Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.
Its expenses as of end-December 2018 amounted to P36.864 billion, or higher by 49.09 percent than 2017’s P24.726 billion.
This includes operational expenses, funding for corporate social responsibility projects, as well as contributions to other agencies as mandated by special laws.
For 2018, the agency reported a net income of P31.490 billion, which expanded by 536.62 percent from the P4.946 billion recorded in 2017.
Pagcor traced the increase in net income for 2018 to the “gains on the sale of [a] [Philippine Reclamation Authority] lot amounting to P32.718 billion.”
It was reported earlier that Pagcor sold in 2018 two parcels of land in Metro Manila to Sureste Properties Inc., a unit of casino operator Bloomberry Resorts Corp.
Last month, the Department of Finance (DOF’s) Corporate Affairs Group (CAG) reported collections of a total of P40.17 billion from government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) for remittance to the National Treasury.
This represented a 32-percent jump from the P30.46 billion collected in 2017.
Among those which remitted dividends to the government was Pagcor, which was included among the top dividend contributors in 2018, with remittances of P2.593 billion.
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