DigiPlus eyes return to growth track in Q4

MANILA, Philippines — Gaming operator DigiPlus Interactive Corp. is reaching out to high-value players in an attempt to bring them back on its platforms, as the company works on reversing its fortune in the fourth quarter.

DigiPlus president Andy Tsui is optimistic the company would recover to growth mode toward the end of the year, driven by marketing efforts to win back some of its high-stakes players.

“Our customer service team has been actively contacting some of our high-value players and we are trying to bring them back to our platforms,” Tsui said.

DigiPlus is banking on this initiative to flip the switch in the fourth quarter, which is a period of peak spending as Filipinos receive their year-end bonuses. Tsui said DigiPlus has to work harder to reverse its profit dip in the third quarter.

DigiPlus’ net income declined by more than half to P1.71 billion in the third quarter, from P3.52 billion a year ago. Tsui attributed this to the government’s order to take down all online gambling links on e-wallets.

In August, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas instructed e-wallets to remove icons and links on their apps that lead to online gambling platforms, as policymakers scramble for solutions to what they say is a growing addiction, especially among the youth, to bet digitally.

Leading Philippine e-wallets GCash and Maya complied with the order immediately, and this has resulted in an online gambling slowdown in August and September as reported by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

Still, the electronic games industry managed to turn in a 17-percent growth in revenues to P41.95 billion in the third quarter, propelled by strong July activity prior to e-wallet delinking.

Tsui said for DigiPlus, recovery is beginning to pick up pace over the past two months. He said the company is working on expanding its payment ecosystem to maintain active users.

Further, DigiPlus is teaming up with payment centers to widen the network for funding players. Tsui believes that these measures will pay off and that DigiPlus will return to growth mode in the fourth quarter.

Recently, DigiPlus signed convertible notes to secure a controlling stake in International Entertainment Corp. (IEC), which is listed in the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong.

IEC, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates New Coast Hotel Corp., a five-star hotel located along Roxas Boulevard in Malate, Manila.