Philippine Gross Gaming Revenue Increases by 600% in Q3 2020

In the third quarter of 2020, PAGCOR’s GGR increased significantly when compared to Q2 2020. However, a year-on-year comparison for Q3 reveals a decrease of 70% in gaming revenue.

PAGCOR Q3 GGR Increases from Q2 2020

Earlier this week, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) revealed the latest numbers outlining the gross gaming revenue (GGR) for the three-month period ending September 30. According to those numbers, GGR in Q3 2020 reached P17.66 billion (US$367 million). This represents a remarkable increase of more than 600% if compared to the second quarter of 2020 when the revenue halted at P2.4 billion.

During the three-month period ending June 30 (Q2 2020), the industry has sustained a significant blow by the COVID-19 pandemic. In light of the pandemic, during Q2, nearly all online gambling activities were suspended and land-based venues were forced shut.

After the COVID-19 shutdown, some Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) choose not to resume their operations considering that a big part of their employees have returned home to China. In contrast, other operators decided to restart operations despite the capacity limits which were introduced.

Although the third quarter GGR represents a significant increase when compared to Q2, the result still falls behind when compared to the same period last year. In Q3 2019, GGR hit P55.34 billion and when compared to this year’s revenue, we observe a decrease of some 70%.

Further Breakdown of the Third Quarter GGR

If we further breakdown the Q3 2020 revenue we see that Manila’s Entertainment City PAGCOR-licensed casinos have raised some P12.7 billion. Here, another decrease is observed as for the same period in 2019, Entertainment City licenses raised P42.8 billion in revenue. With that in mind, in total, PAGCOR licensed casinos raised nearly P15.04 billion in Q3 2020.

On the other hand, Casino Filipino branded casinos owned by PAGCOR have raised some P914.7 million in Q3 2020. This number represents an increase as in Q2, their revenue halted at P88.0 million. However, in a quarter-on-quarter comparison to last year, we observe a 90% decrease in the revenue in Q3, down from P9.33 billion last year.

Focusing on bingo and electronic games we see that combined they raised a total of P1.7 billion in Q3 2020. This represents another decrease of 72% in GGR when compared to the same period last year.

Although the revenue has improved since Q2, the sector is yet to recover from the hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, due to the recent typhoons which displaced one million people, PAGCOR revealed that it has allocated some $41.5 million to build 32 shelters across the country.