Reporting its latest earnings for the 12 months to 31 December on 30 January, the state provider said revenue at Pagcor was 41% higher than the existing record of PHP79 billion the previous year. It is also only the second time revenue has exceeded PHP100 billion, after the total hit PHP104.12 billion in 2018.
Online gambling, known locally as electronic gaming or egaming, was responsible for half of the annual total, Pagcor figures show. Revenue from egames and ebingo rocketed 116.0% year-on-year to PHP46.79 billion. It is now the primary source of revenue for Pagcor by some distance, overtaking licensed land-based casinos.
Licensed casino revenue for Pagcor was relatively level at PHP33.07 billion, or 33.9% of all revenue. Casino Filipino revenue dipped 16.2% to PHP12.67 billion, while offshore gaming revenue was also 5.1% lower at PHP2.99 billion.
Pagcor ceased Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGOs) in December on the orders of the president.
Overall, gaming operations and licence fees were responsible for PHP97.52 billion of total revenue. Other streams such as business income and service fees generated the remaining PHP14.18 billion.
Net operating income hits record high
On top of record revenue, Pagcor also saw its net operating income reach an all-time high in 2024. For the year, operating income topped PHP84.97 billion, an increase of 50.7% year-on-year.
Net income after deducting PHP68.21 billion in contributions to ‘nation building’ amounted to PHP16.77 billion. This beats the previous year by 146.3% and represents another new record for Pagcor.
As for where contributions went, some PHP46.32 billion was allocated for the government share. Pagcor sent PHP12.37 billion to socio-civic projects and PHP4.87 billion was used for franchise tax.
Other payments include PHP1.09 billion in corporate income tax and PHP2.31 billion for the Philippine Sports Commission.
“We are proud to announce that our 2024 financial performance is the best so far in the history of Pagcor,” said Pagcor chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco. “We thank our employees and stakeholders for making such an achievement possible.
“Our 2024 revenues allowed us to support more government programmes and other nation-building initiatives.”
Could rates reduction lead to more online growth?
Earlier this month saw Pagcor announce a further cut in its fee rates for online gambling. The fee has been lowered from 35% to 30% as part of an ongoing effort to combat illegal online gambling in the country.
Effective since 1 January, the lower rate is the second reduction in the space of less than 12 months. Pagcor last April cut its gaming rates to 35% of GGR in the hopes of drawing more legal operators to the market.
The fee rate collected by Pagcor is based on a fixed percentage of licensees’ gross gaming revenues (GGR). Prior to the rate reductions initiated in 2023, Pagcor was collecting fees of more than 50%.
Tengco added the gradual reduction in rates has drawn more licensees. The overall number of accredited gaming service providers increased threefold from 49 in 2023 to 174 in 2024.
“The continuous growth of the egames sector is the key driver of Pagcor’s record-breaking performance,” Tengco said in the results report. “It reflects the increasing popularity of digital gaming platforms and the transformative impact of technology on the industry.”
Original article: https://igamingbusiness.com/finance/pagcor-revenue-record-2024/
