Pagcor reports 24% growth in gross income to in H1

State-owned Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) posted a strong double-digit growth in gross revenues in the first-semester of the year due to strong gaming income.

In a statement, Cristino L. Naguiat Jr., Pagcor chairman and chief executive, said the company’s income rose 24 percent in January to June this year to

billion from billion in the same period last year.

In June alone, the gaming firm’s gross income amounted to billion, up 14 percent year-on-year.

Naguiat said Pagcor managed to increase its gaming revenues despite the stiff competition in the local gaming industry and the challenging gaming outlook in Asia.

Pagcor, however, did not provide the actual gaming income figure for the first six-months of 2015.

Meanwhile, Naguiat reported that Pagcor’s net income in June grew by more than 200 percent to million from million in the same period in 2014.

The Pagcor official attributed the growth on “judicious use of its funds.”

According to Pagcor, expenses dropped 4.2 percent during the month.

“This only goes to show that with the right strategies, sound management and marketing plans, we can pull through despite the competition,” Naguiat said.

The higher net income in June brought Pagcor’s first six-month profit to billion, which is higher by 81 percent compared with billion in the same period last year.

Naguiat said the new income record of the state-owned gaming firm during the first half of 2015 translated to more contributions for the government’s nation building efforts.

“From January to June 2015, our actual contributions to state coffers and other recipients of Pagcor’s funding amounted to billion. This is much higher by billion compared to the

billion contributions we made in 2014,” Naguiat added.

Naguiat said that the higher income generated by Pagcor translates to more funds being channelled to the agency’s various Corporate Social Responsibility programs.

“This only means we can help improve the lives of more Filipinos; we can build more classrooms for our public school students; we can fund more sports development programs and so much more. In the long run, the real winners here are our countrymen,” he added.