STATE-RUN Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) missed by 47 percent its gross revenue target of about P34 billion for the first half of the year. It only drew in P18 billion during the period as the Covid-induced lockdown prompted it to suspend the operations of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (Pogos), as well as casinos and gaming stations.
Pagcor Chairman Andrea Domingo told the BusinessMirror their gross revenue as of end-June also suffered a 48-percent drop compared to about P34.6 billion in the same period last year.
“[Our gross revenue for the period is] about P18 billion, lower by 47 percent of our original target and lower by 48 percent compared to last year’s real income for the same period. Please take note that this figure includes the revenues earned from January 1 to March 15, 2020, when we were still in full operation,” Domingo said in a message.
Pagcor earlier said it expects to lose P5 billion to P6 billion monthly from the suspension of operations of Pogos, casinos and gaming stations following the lockdown which started mid-March.
It was only in May that the government allowed the partial resumption of Pogos in a bid to raise some revenues while several parts of the country remained under lockdown due to the pandemic. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, Pagcor was targeting to earn P85 billion in gross gaming revenues.
However, it was recently reported that two Pogos—SC World Development Group Ltd., a unit of Macau’s gambling giant SunCity Group, and Don Tencess Asian Services Solutions Inc.—have signified their intention to exit the country, and officially asked for cancellation of their offshore gaming licenses.
Aside from them, 13 other service providers were also reported to have also closed down their operations and more will likely follow suit due to stringent tax rules from the BIR and the impact of movement restrictions amid the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Pagcor.
Meanwhile, Domingo has also since appealed to the government to allow the gradual reopening of casinos.
But when asked if the state-run firm has renewed its appeal for the government on the resumption of casinos given the reduced gross revenue of Pagcor for the first half of the period due to the lockdown, Domingo said: “We will just follow their guidelines.”
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