PH casino giants face slowdown in Q2 as GGR falls; state-owned casinos also hit

While major casino operators in the Philippines face a slowdown this quarter compared to the previous, year on year performance is still stronger; slowdown mostly due to the private casinos, gov-owned casinos also hit.

Original story by Ben Blaschke for Inside Asian Gaming

The Philippines gaming industry saw its recent momentum slow in the three months to 30 June 2023, with gross gaming revenues falling by 2.2% quarter-on-quarter to Php68.9 billion (US$1.22 billion).

The decline was largely on the back of the country’s licensed casinos, which saw GGR fall by 4.5% to Php51.71 billion (US$917 million).

According to information from gaming regulator PAGCOR, Entertainment City casinos – comprising City of Dreams Manila, Newport World Resorts, Okada Manila and Solaire – saw their 2Q GGR decline by 4.3% to Php43.47 billion (US$771 million) while Clark casinos fell by 5.1% to Php7.86 billion (US$139 million). Fiesta was down by 11.3% to Php374.0 million (US$6.6 million).

PAGCOR casinos also saw their revenues decline compared to the March 2023 quarter, with GGR down 3.8% to Php5.13 billion (US$90.9 million).

Despite the sequential decline, GGR across the board was improved versus the same period in 2022. Licensed casinos were up by 22.8% year-on-year and PAGCOR casinos by 29.6%, helping industry-wide GGR improve by 28.3% in 2Q23 compared with 2Q22.

PAGCOR also recently reported that it had achieved 35.64% more in income from operations and regulatory fees in the first half of 2023 compared to last year at the same time amounting to PHP 36.21 billion (USD 665M).

The regulatory agency also said that it plans to finish the year with USD 1.27B earned. This is on top of their other pronouncements this year towards privatization and modernization and looking to onboard online operations for the first time.

For the first six months of 2023 combined, Philippines gaming industry GGR sits at Php136.4 billion (US$2.42 billion).

Read the original story by Ben Blaschke for Inside Asian Gaming here: https://www.asgam.com/index.php/2023/08/08/momentum-slows-for-philippines-gaming-industry-in-2q23-as-ggr-falls-2-2-to-us1-22-billion/