Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) today said it recorded revenues of Php 79,37 billion Peso (Php) in 2023, up 34,63% from Php 58,96 billion last year, driven primarily by by the robust earnings of licensed casinos and the growing electronic gaming sector.
Gaming operations remain PAGCOR's largest source of revenue with Php 73,11 billion, while other sources such as services, business income, earnings, and non-operating income contributed Php 6,26 billion.
Net profit was Php6,81 billion, an increase of 53,27% from the agency's profit of Php4,44 billion in 2022.
The president and CEO of PAGCOR, Alejandro H. Tengco, said the higher earnings enabled the state-owned gaming company to increase its contribution to nation-building (CNB) to Php49,56 billion, which is 43% higher than Php34,67 billion CNB of the previous year.
"Our robust revenue generation in 2023 allowed us to remit more funds to the government to fund various services, including funding the Universal Health Care Program, also known as Philhealth“, said the head of PAGCOR.
Chairman Tengco said the lion's share of PAGCOR's CNB amounting to Php34,72 billion was remitted to the National Treasury. Half of the amount, amounting to Php17,36 billion, will go to Philhealth to provide free healthcare to millions of Filipinos.
PAGCOR also paid Php3,65 billion to the Bureau of Internal Revenue as 5% franchise tax and another Php285,20 million for the agency's corporate income tax.
Other recipients of 2023 PAGCOR earnings include the Philippine Sports Commission (Php1,73 billion), while another amount of Php92,58 million was awarded to athletes and coaches who won in international competitions as per the Sports Law sports incentives and benefits.
PAGCOR will also pay Php3,06 billion in cash dividends to the National Treasury, while local government units hosting Casino's Philippine branches will collectively receive Php451,72 million.
The Department of Justice Board of Claims will also receive Php63,12 million to compensate people who were wrongfully imprisoned.
"As the Philippine gaming industry fully recovers from the impact of the pandemic, we are optimistic that PAGCOR will sustain this growth momentum in the coming years“said President Tengco.
The largest revenue drivers for PAGCOR in 2023 are licensed casinos in integrated resorts in the country, which contributed Php33,18 billion, or 45,38% of revenue from gaming operations.
This was followed by the surge of the e-games industry which includes e-bingo, e-games, specialty games and sports betting with Php 21,66 billion or 29,62% of gaming revenue, while casinos operated from PAGCOR spent Php15,12 billion or 20,68%.
Offshore gaming operations brought in Php3,15 billion, accounting for 4,31% of PAGCOR's total gaming revenues.
Previously, the president Tengco had announced that the Philippine gaming industry's gross revenues in 2023 reached a record Php 285,27 billion, already surpassing pre-pandemic levels.
