PAGCOR’s casinos sale has been delayed

PAGCOR chairwoman Andrea Domingo confirmed that the government has put on hold the sale of its casino licences.

Philippines.- PAGCOR, the gaming regulator and operator of the Philippines, announced last year its intentions to sell its casino licences in the country. However, the body’s chairwoman Andrea Domingo has recently revealed the operation has been put on hold and won’t be executed in the near future.

“PAGCOR casinos are holding up quite well. Last year they contributed €344.6 million to our €940 million earnings and this year we’re looking at about €407 million to €422 million,” Domingo told news outlet Inside Asian Gaming. The official explained that the sale won’t be happening in the near future due to the solid growth of the local gaming industry: “[Casinos] are still profitable – because the PAGCOR owned and operated casinos, the GGR they yield goes directly to the government, 100%,” she explained.

Furthermore, Ms Domingo explained that PAGCOR’s share of the GGR thanks to IRs is about 19.5% and said: “If you look into that and the contribution to the national government every year, if you take this out it will take five years for a new IR to contribute that amount which automatically lessens our net contribution to the national government by €344.6 million for at least for the next 10 years.”

Regarding the eventual sale of its properties, the chairwoman said that “it is prohibited for (PAGCOR) to talk to anybody who wants to buy because of the procurement law,” and said: “There’s really nothing to sell because all of the casinos that we own and operate are in venues that are not owned by us, but only leased by us.”