Philippines Struggles to Recover After More PAGCOR Figures Released
Published October 11, 2020 by Lee R
PAGCOR and POGO figures for H1 indicate Philippines needs to find the way forward.
The Philippines market is down and looking to pull out of the Covid economic impact.
PAGCOR GGR
Figures from jurisdiction gaming authority Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (PAGCOR) indicate that Q2 gross gambling revenue (GGR) resulted in an underwhelming PHP2.42bn ($49.9m).
2019 Comparisons
The closures in the Philippines meant made GGR for Q2 2019 look stronger in comparison, with PHP60.65bn generated from various gambling outlets and PHP1.32bn from online gaming operators.
Manila Casino Contributors
Key Manila casinos in the nation's capital such as City of Dreams Manila; Okada Manila; Resorts World Manila and Solaire Resort & Casino contributed the main revenue, operating in limited trial runs from the beginning of June 2020.
Those casinos pulled in PHP1.95bn ($40.5m) in Q2 2020, out of total private sector Q2 earnings of PHP2.16bn ($44.6m).
Junket Sector Drops
The vital private sector junket dropped to PHP129.8m ($2.7m); down from 2019 Q2's PHP1.69bn ($34.9m).
PAGCOR reported earnings of PHP55.33bn for the H1 of 2020, after a July announcement of a loss of PHP1.6bn for H1 ending June 30.
Limited Operations
The recovery is going to be slow, with casinos only currently available to operate at 30% capacity.
Net Income
H1 put the Philippines back to no small extent, with the total loss reported by PAGCOR for the period put at US$32.5 million for the period.
PAGCOR sequentially reported a net income of US$15.8 million for 2020's first three months to tally a US$48.4 million for Q2.
H1 Year-on-Year
PAGCOR Php18.44 billion totals for the first six months of 2020 was down 49.6% from US $714.5 million in the same period for 2019.
Licensed Casinos H1 Net
Licensed casinos generated US$138.4 million for H1, with nothing coming in the second quarter, while POGO operations contributed US$59.4 million with US$22.6 million in Q2.
Market Context
The confusion began March 15th when Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte responded to Covid by implementing a community quarantine across main island Luzon. Some areas have been allowed to open, but Manila remains under strict control.
Outlook
With both net income and gross gaming revenue figures distorted by the closures, the next step for Philippines would be to stabilize revenues and earnings again, and find a way to re-open land-based casinos or convert more operations to the online POGO-controlled space.
