The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) posted a hefty increase of P764 million in total revenues during the first quarter of 2011. As a result, the state-gaming firm was able to improve its remittances by P228 million to agencies mandated to receive funding from it.

Maricar Bautista, PAGCOR’s AVP for Corporate Communications, reported that the state-gaming firm posted gross revenues of P8.37 billion from January to March this year, an increase of 10% compared to the P7.61 billion total income posted for the same period last year.

“This enabled PAGCOR to remit higher contributions to its various legally mandated agency-beneficiaries. Our mandated contributions for the first three months of the year reached P3.76 billion or P228 million more than the P3.53 billion remittances PAGCOR made last year,” Bautista said.

Winnings from PAGCOR’s gaming operations amounted to P5.71 billion, higher by P352 million compared to the first quarter gaming income last year. The corporation’s other revenue sources such as income share from regulated gaming operations also significantly increased by P412 million.

Bautista attributes PAGCOR’s upbeat first quarter income performance to the management’s unrelenting policies on fiscal prudence. “During the quarter, PAGCOR reduced its operating costs by P548 million which resulted in huge savings for the agency,” she added.

“Judicious fiscal spending and cost-effectiveness in business decisions have been two of the major strategies employed by our management headed by Chairman and CEO Cristino Naguiat, Jr. since July 2010. By utilizing its resources wisely, PAGCOR is able to perform its mandate better,” Bautista noted.

“During the quarter, the franchise tax paid by PAGCOR to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) was higher by P17.61 million. Our remittance to the National Treasury was also higher by P167 million, and contribution to the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) increased by P8.37 million compared to the first quarter of 2010,” she added.

Meantime, PAGCOR’s remittances to the President’s Social Fund (PSF) rose by P95 million during the first quarter of 2011. PAGCOR’s contributions to the Fund are tapped to implement various social programs prioritized by the Office of the President.

Apart from the increased government contributions, the management’s policies on judicial spending enabled PAGCOR to accelerate payment for the loans incurred by the state-gaming firm during the previous administration.

“As of December 2010, PAGCOR has outstanding loans of P1.04 billion from the Land Bank of the Philippines and the Philippine National Bank. With the recent bank repayment made by PAGCOR which amounted to P567.13 million, we saved at least P41.54 million in interest expenses With this move, we also reduced the amount of PAGCOR’s outstanding loan by 61% from P1.04 billion to P406 million,” Bautista explained.

PAGCOR said it has allocated payment for the remaining bank loan and hopes to remit full payment by the second quarter of 2011.

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