 The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) continued its winning streak in July, setting yet again a new monthly income record of P3.10 billion, the highest revenue generated by the agency for a single month in the last 25 years.
This is the third time in a row that PAGCOR broke previous monthly revenues set in May (P3.03 billion) and June (P3.05 billion) of this year.
PAGCOR’s impressive revenue performance in the last three months brought the agency’s total revenues to unprecedented heights. “From January to July this year, PAGCOR’s gross income climbed to P20.3 billion. This is higher by P1.8 billion compared to the same period of last year,” noted PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Cristino Naguiat, Jr.
“Our record-breaking income for July 2011 was also higher by P170 million compared to the income registered by PAGCOR in the same month last year,” added Naguiat.
Of the P3.10 billion July revenues, Naguiat said P2.10 billion came from PAGCOR’s own gaming operation in its 13 casinos and P1 billion from other regulated gaming activities like licensed casinos and commercial bingo.
"PAGCOR's new record revenues not only improves the liquidity and financial stability of the corporation but also puts us in a much better place where we can contribute more to government programs geared toward nation-building," Naguiat stressed.
PAGCOR has earmarked P1 billion for the construction of more than 1,000 classrooms nationwide under its “Matuwid na Daan sa Silid Aralan Project” with the Department of Education. This is the first time that the state-run gaming firm allocated such a staggering amount to fund a single government program.
PAGCOR also continues to fund several social development programs and agencies as stated in its mandate. “From January to July 2011, PAGCOR’s contributions to nation-building reached a total of P9.1 billion. This is higher by almost P234 million from last year's contribution of P8.9 billion,” Naguiat cited.
During the first seven months of 2011, PAGCOR’s remittances to the Bureau of Internal Revenue representing the 5% franchise tax reached P684 million. This was higher by almost P36 million compared to the P648 million paid to the BIR by PAGCOR from January to July 2010.
On the other hand, PAGCOR’s remittances of the 50% government share to the National Treasury totaled P6.5 billion as of July 31 this year, an increase of P340 million compared to the P6.15 billion remittances in January to July 2010.
During the seven-month period PAGCOR’s contributions to the PSC also went up to P325 million, better by P17 million compared to the agency’s P308 million contributions to the sports commission for same period in 2010. Meantime, the agency’s contributions to the President’s Social Fund (PSF) reached P1.24 billion, better by P32 million vis-à-vis the P1.208 billion remittances the PSF got from PAGCOR from January to July last year.
According to Naguiat, PAGCOR’s record-setting performance for 2011 was buoyed up by the agency's prudent use of resources that saw its operating expenses from January to July 2011 drop by a billion pesos.
Based on its budget for 2011, PAGCOR’s savings for the first seven months of 2011 reached P1.17 billion. “We only used up P7.57 billion of the P8.74 billion budget for operating expenses allocated for January to July 2011,” noted Naguiat.
During the seven-month period, PAGCOR was able to realize savings of P252 million from marketing expenses, P66 million from supplies and materials, and P163 million from advertisements and public relations.
The PAGCOR chief said that the agency will continue with its judicious use of people's money as it pursues modernization and enhancement of facilities to make it more competitive, attractive to tourists and players, and a relevant vehicle in promoting the Filipino culture.
|
