Okada Manila allowed to offer online gaming for Philippine customers
PAGCOR has allowed the casino operator to offer live online table games and slots for the Philippine market.
The Philippines.- The gaming company Universal Entertainment Corp has confirmed that Okada Manila has soft launched online gaming for domestic clients from mid-April. It said it has received approval from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (PAGCOR) to operate eight online live dealer tables (six baccarat and two roulette) and 80 online electronic games.
The PIGO (Philippine Inland Gaming Operator) system that allows operators to offer gaming services to players within the country was announced in late 2020 to help the industry after the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment‘s Okada Manila Resort became the first casino in Manila’s Entertainment City to gain approval from PAGCOR.
The company says it successfully completed a period of simulation tests for the collection of casino taxes and licencing fees, anti-money laundering and other systems. It expects Okada to be allowed to run 16 live online gaming tables – 14 baccarat and two roulette –and 150 machines by the end of April.
Okada Manila posts GGR of US$115.7m for Q1
In its financial results for the first quarter, Universal Entertainment Corp reported that Okada Manila’s gross gambling revenue declined 14.1 per cent quarter-on-quarter to PHP6.02bn (US$115.7m).
The first-quarter results came after two consecutive quarters of consecutive GGR growth for the property. For the three months ended March 31, GGR from VIP table games was PHP2.54bn, down 32.6 per cent month-on-month. Mass table gaming revenue was PHP1.53bn, compared to PHP1.34bn in the previous quarter, while gaming revenue was about PHP1.95bn, up 2.6 per cent sequentially.
Okada Manila also reported PHP356m in other revenue, including hotel and retail revenue. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) was slightly over PHP1.15bn, down 16.1 per cent from the fourth quarter of 2021 but up 66.3 per cent year-on-year.
Okada Manila’s full-year GGR for 2021 was PHP18.92bn, up 23.4 per cent when compared to the previous year but still down against pre-Covid-19 numbers.
