The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) continued its upward income trend after posting P3.11 billion in total revenues for the month of August, up by P634 million or 26% over the same period of 2010.

Its August gross earnings is the fourth time in a row that the state-owned gaming firm attained a record-breaking revenue performance for a single month beginning May this year. PAGCOR generated a total income of P3.03 billion in May, P3.05 billion in June, P3.10 billion in July, and P3.11 billion in August. These are the highest monthly revenues ever recorded in PAGCOR’s 25-year history.

PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Cristino L. Naguiat, Jr. said that the agency’s August earnings brought its total income to P23.44 billion during the first eight months of 2011. “We are happy to report that our January to August 2011 gross income was higher by P2.48 billion (11.87%) than the P20.95 billion revenues generated for the same period last year.”

The hefty increase in the agency’s income performance came from the bullish performance of PAGCOR’s casinos and its other regulated gaming operations. “Our own gaming operations yielded total winnings of P15.74 billion from January to August 2011. This surpassed PAGCOR’s winnings for the same period last year of P14.7 billion by more than a billion pesos,” Naguiat cited.

On the other hand, PAGCOR’s January to August 2011 earnings from its other income sources reached P7.69 billion, up by P1.46 billion compared to the same period of 2010 (P6.23 billion). These other income sources include regulation of the operations of licensed casinos, poker, and bingo grantees.

According to Naguiat, PAGCOR continued to implement cost-saving measures and prudent fiscal management of funds. “Our higher revenues were complemented by lower expenditures during the first eight months of 2011. In fact, we spent P675 million less compared to same period of last year.”

Naguiat added that PAGCOR also realized substantial savings vis-à-vis utilization of the corporation’s approved budget for the period. “We recorded P1.28 billion savings from January to August 2011 in terms of budget utilization.”

PAGCOR’s biggest budget savings were realized from marketing expenses (P139 million), Advertising and Public Relations (P184 million), supplies and materials (P76 million), and entertainment (P67 million).

PAGCOR’s bullish revenue performance for the year resulted in increased remittances to the government for its nation-building programs. “From January to August, PAGCOR’s contributions to nation building totaled P10.58 billion. This was much higher by P382 million compared to the P10.19 billion contributions that PAGCOR made for the same period in 2010,” Naguiat added.

From January to August 2011, PAGCOR remitted P787 million to the Bureau of Internal Revenue, P7.47 billion to the National Treasury, P373 million to the Philippine Sports Commission, P331 million to PAGCOR’s host-cities for their different community development projects, and P1.44 billion to the President’s Social Fund. PAGCOR also gave P120 million as direct assistance to socio-civic projects.

PAGCOR likewise gave P9.82 million as cash incentives to coaches of past Filipino achievers in international sporting events. This is mandated under RA 9064 (also known as the Sports Benefits and Incentives Act) which taps PAGCOR as sole funding source.

Naguiat attributed PAGCOR’s upbeat income performance to the agency’s revitalized marketing and entertainment efforts. “For example, we have the P100 million National Cash or Car Raffle Promo which significantly increased our customer attendance since we started implementing it last July. We are lining up other marketing programs of this nature that will be national in scope to further increase our market reach not only among locals but more importantly among foreign players,” he added.

“Our goal is to ultimately provide our customers with a world-class gaming and entertainment experience. We are doing our best to further improve our facilities and complement this with improved customer service that will showcase to the world the exceptional Filipino way of serving our clients,” Naguiat added.

“We are also looking for ways on how to deal with competition within the Philippines and across Asia. We want to position our country as a world-class tourist destination through the Entertainment City Manila project where four integrated resorts will be built within the next few years,” Naguiat said.

“We need to keep improving our operations so that we can continue to contribute more to our government’s efforts to improve the lives of our countrymen. Like what is stated in our vision for the corporation, PAGCOR is a sure bet for progress in gaming, entertainment and nation building,” Naguiat concluded.

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