Moody\u2019s cited DigiPlus\u2019 market position and financial strength while highlighting regulatory and competitive risks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
The Philippines.- DigiPlus Interactive Corp<\/strong> has received a B1 corporate family rating<\/strong> from Moody\u2019s Ratings<\/strong>. The agency expects the Philippine online gaming operator\u2019s EBITDA to fall from PHP14.3bn in 2025 to PHP11.4bn (US$182m) in 2026 before recovering in the following two years. Moody\u2019s assigned a stable outlook, citing DigiPlus\u2019 market position, low leverage, strong cash generation and net cash position, while regulatory changes and competition are seen as key risks<\/p>\n\n\n\n DigiPlus has an estimated 38.5 per cent share of the Philippine online gaming market and around six million monthly active users. Its offering includes more than 1,000 games spanning bingo, electronic games and sports betting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moody\u2019s expects EBITDA to decline partly due to the August 2025 Philippine central bank directive requiring mobile wallets and payment providers to delink in-app access to online gaming platforms. The agency said higher fuel costs, inflation and weaker consumer sentiment have also weighed on gaming spending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ratings agency forecasts EBITDA to return to about PHP14bn-15bn (US$223.5m-239.5m) in 2027 and 2028, supported by organic growth, overseas investments and the potential consolidation of International Entertainment Corp (IEC). DigiPlus has invested HKD1.6bn (US$204.2m) in convertible notes issued by IEC, including a second HKD800m subscription completed in June. Full conversion would give DigiPlus a 53.89 per cent stake in the Hong Kong-listed company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The company is also pursuing online gaming opportunities in Brazil and South Africa, while planning to apply for an online gaming licence in New Zealand. Moody\u2019s estimates that combined capital spending on its Brazilian and South African expansion will be about PHP650m (US$10.4m) over the next two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moody\u2019s expects DigiPlus\u2019 leverage to remain below 0.5 times over the next 12 to 18 months, assuming no major acquisitions or investments. As of June 30, it held PHP10.5bn (US$167.5m) in cash and cash equivalents. Moody\u2019s expects operating cash flow of about PHP19.5bn (US$311.1m), which it said would cover PHP7.6bn (US$121.3m) in capital spending, PHP1.3bn (US$20.8m) in debt maturities and PHP4.2bn (US$67.1m) in shareholder returns through December 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moody\u2019s said tighter regulation could lead to further consolidation in the Philippine online gaming market as smaller operators face higher costs to meet regulatory requirements. This could give established operators such as DigiPlus an advantage. However, the agency noted that DigiPlus\u2019 reliance on external game providers limits its ability to differentiate its products from competitors, while its casino and international expansion plans create additional execution risks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the B1 rating takes into account stricter gaming regulations, it does not factor in a nationwide ban on online gaming. Moody\u2019s warned that such a ban could trigger a multi-notch downgrade since online gaming accounts for most of DigiPlus\u2019 revenue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Moody\u2019s cited DigiPlus\u2019 market position and financial strength while highlighting regulatory and competitive risks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2395,"featured_media":777047209,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Moody's has assigned DigiPlus Interactive Corp a B1 corporate family rating with a stable outlook, acknowledging its robust market position and financial strength. The assessment highlights anticipated EBITDA fluctuations driven by a 2025 Philippine central bank directive impacting payment integration, alongside competitive pressures. However, it forecasts recovery supported by organic growth, strategic international expansion, and potential consolidation of International Entertainment Corp.","focusai_entities":"DigiPlus Interactive Corp, Moody's Ratings, International Entertainment Corp (IEC)","focusai_location":"Philippines, Brazil, South Africa, New Zealand, Hong Kong","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.95), regulator (0.75), compliance_legal (0.85), operator_casino (0.9), product_ux (0.7), tech_data (0.75), marketing_crm (0.7), payments_fraud_aml (0.9), investor_analyst (1.0), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Regulatory Compliance Strategy","query":"What specific technological and operational investments is DigiPlus prioritizing to ensure compliance with the August 2025 mobile wallet delinking directive and mitigate its projected EBITDA impact?"},{"label":"International Market Entry ROI","query":"How does DigiPlus's projected ROI for its Brazil and South Africa expansion compare to its capital expenditure, and what are the specific B2B\/B2C licensing and regulatory compliance challenges anticipated in New Zealand?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[163,16333],"tags":[1897,225,337],"class_list":["post-777047262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance-news","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-igaming","tag-legislation","tag-regulation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777047262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2395"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777047262"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777047262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777047290,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777047262\/revisions\/777047290"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777047209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777047262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777047262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777047262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}