Pagcor expects revenues hitting P46B in 2013

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Amusement Gaming Corp. (Pagcor), the government’s third largest revenue earner, expects gross revenues hitting P46 billion in 2013 on the back of operational reforms and initial income from its much-touted Entertainment City, which is scheduled to open early next year.

 “This year, we will hit P43 billion then in 2013, we can hit P46 billion,” Pagcor chairman and chief executive officer Cristino Naguiat Jr. said told The STAR in a recent interview.

He said that when Pagcor’s Entertainment City in Pasay becomes fully operational, gross gaming revenues that may be turned over to the government could hit at least P80 to P90 billion.

Naguiat said Pagcor’s revenues could increase further with income from hotel and restaurant sales.

The Entertainment City, envisioned as Las Vegas-style casino complex, is set to open in the first quarter of 2013 with the start of operations of Enrique Razon’s Bloomberry Resorts, one of four licensees that will operate in the Pagcor project. 

The three other licensees are Andrew Tan’s Alliance Global, Japanese tycoon Kazuo Okada and taipan Henry Sy’s Belle Corp.

During the first semester of 2012, Pagcor’s gross revenue increased to P21.32 billion or P4 billion more than the P17.22 billion generated in the same period last year.

In 2011, Pagcor generated P36.65 billion in total income, P5.19 billion more than the P31.46 billion recorded in 2010.

 “Our performance during the last 24 months of the Aquino administration is a testament to the fact that our resolve to institute and implement operational reforms is working so well. We are able to break records and create laudable milestones,” Naguiat said.

He said that with more efficient operations, Pagcor would strive to sustain its rosy performance.

“We have set really high standards for ourselves. That is the only way to go forward. We also keep reminding ourselves that we are here to help our government raise the much-needed funds to sustain its nation-building programs,” he said.

In all, Naguiat said that in the past two years, Pagcor has generated over P73 billion in gross earnings and more than P35 billion in contributions to nation-building.

Furthermore, he said that Pagcor has recorded cumulative income growth of about 43 percent month-on-month over the past two years.

He said the reforms embraced by the new Pagcor management have helped improve gaming experience of players at Casino Filipino, higher revenues and better profitability ratio for the agency.

“We ended the two-year period with another record-breaking month in June. We earned a total income of P3.88 billion in June 2012. This is our newest revenue record for a single month since July 2010, the 12th time under our administration,” Naguiat said.