PhilWeb eyes other gaming businesses
PHILWEB Corp. is hoping to return to profitability by venturing into other gaming businesses, as well as regaining the e-gaming outlets it had lost.
“Number one on my agenda is get back to profitability... Whether I’m able to do that or not ( this year) is too early to tell, but I will try. That means getting into other gaming businesses other than e- games. It has to be a lot more,” PhilWeb President Dennis O. Valdes told BusinessWorld on the sidelines of the ASEAN Gaming Summit in Conrad Manila last March 21.
Mr. Valdes said they are currently “looking at a lot” of gaming businesses outside e-gaming and e-bingo, but did not provide details.
The listed gaming firm previously operated 286 e-gaming sites across the country, until its license expired in August 2016. PhilWeb’s business suffered after President Rodrigo R. Duterte lashed out against online gaming and the company’s then-Chairman Roberto V. Ongpin, who he described as an “oligarch” he wanted to “destroy.”
PhilWeb has since switched to new management after Mr. Ongpin sold all his shareholdings — equivalent to 53.76% — in the company to businessman Gregorio Araneta III for P2 billion. Mr. Araneta now sits as PhilWeb’s chairman.
The company regained accreditation as an electronic gaming system service provider from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) in October 2017. PhilWeb currently operates 35 gaming sites.
“Under the PAGCOR rules, they have assured us of a level playing field. And they recently wrote all operators, that they are free to choose which service provider they want to use, which means that now I have to do the marketing for the operators so they can convert back to us,” Mr. Valdes said.
PhilWeb reported an attributable loss of P206.9 million in the first nine months of 2017, against a net income attributable to the parent of P229.24 million in the same period in 2016. The company remitted around P2 billion to PAGCOR in 2015, its last full year of operations before its contract expired.
Mr. Valdes also cited Mr. Araneta’s aggressiveness in putting the PhilWeb back on track to profitability.
“Mr. Araneta has been extremely supportive. He bought this company and he wants to get it back to what it used to be. So he’s very aggressive about that and he’s supportive of all of management’s efforts to do that,” Mr. Valdes said.