Pagcor revenue grows 10% to P8.37 billion in Q1

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) generated a total revenue of P8.37 billion during the first quarter of the year or a 10-percent increase from P7.61 billion posted in the same period last year.

Maricar Bautista, Pagcor assistant vice president for corporate communications, said the higher income enables the state-gaming firm to improve its contributions to its various agency-beneficiaries.

“Our mandated contributions for the first three months of the year reached P3.76 billion or P228 million more than the P3.53 billion remittances Pagcor made last year,” Bautista said in a statement.

Pagcor’s remittances to the President’s Social Fund (PSF) rose by P95 million during the first quarter of 2011. The agency’s contributions to the PSF are tapped to implement various social programs prioritized by the Office of the President.

Bautista said winnings from Pagcor’s gaming operations amounted to P5.71 billion, higher by P352 million compared to the first quarter gaming income last year. Pagcor’s other revenue sources such as income share from regulated gaming operations also increased significantly by P412 million.

Bautista said Pagcor also reduced its operating costs by P548 million during the first quarter which resulted in huge savings for the agency.

During the quarter, the franchise tax paid by the agency to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) was higher by P17.61 million.

Its remittance to the National Treasury was also higher by P167 million, and contribution to the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) increased by P8.37 million compared to the first quarter of 2010.

Apart from the increased government contributions, Bautista said Pagcor was also able to increase payment for the loans incurred by the state-gaming firm during the previous administration.

“As of December 2010, Pagcor has outstanding loans of P1.04 billion from the Land Bank of the Philippines and the Philippine National Bank. With the recent bank repayment made by Pagcor which amounted to P567.13 million, we saved at least P41.54 million in interest expenses,” Bautista said.

“With this move, we also reduced the amount of Pagcor’s outstanding loan by 61 percent from P1.04 billion to P406 million,” she added.  

Bautista said the agency has allocated payment for the remaining bank loan and it hopes to remit full payment by the second quarter of 2011.