Pagcor posts record P3.56-B income for February
Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) Chairman Cristino Naguiat Jr. released a statement over the weekend saying marketing offensive and internal reforms had led to record-high revenues in the government’s casino operations.
Naguiat, who is accused of accepting cash and lavish gifts from a foreign casino operator, reported that Pagcor posted P3.56 billion in revenues in February, the ninth consecutive month since July 2010 that the agency broke revenue records.
In a press statement issued Sunday, Naguiat said the aim was to generate P45 billion for all of 2012.
“We are very happy and proud that our corporation is now reaping the benefits of all the reforms that we have instituted in Pagcor since our assumption to office,” he said.
Naguiat was reported to have received cash, suite accommodations and expensive gifts from Japanese casino magnate Kazuo Okuda. The charge emerged during a boardroom battle last month between Okuda and Steve Wynn, chair of the Las Vegas-based Wynn casino group.
Naguiat denied any improper dealings with Okuda, who has been granted a license to operate a casino in Manila. The Pagcor chief said he received no cash and returned a pricey Chanel bag meant for his wife during a visit to the gaming city of Macau in September 2010. As for the free accommodations, he said this was a standard courtesy among casino operators.
Underscoring Pagcor’s performance, Naguiat said the gaming agency’s gross revenue last month bettered by almost a billion pesos the P2.63 billion the agency generated in the same month last year. The corporation also exceeded its February 2012 income target by P274 million.
“Last February, our winnings from our own casino operations reached P2.58 billion, by far the highest gaming income ever recorded by Pagcor as a casino operator,” Naguiat said. The agency’s previous winnings record stood at P2.45 billion which was attained in December 2011.
Apart from earnings and winnings from its casino operations, Pagcor also benefited from income from private licensees of its casino, poker and commercial bingo operations. For the month of February, earnings from this segment amounted to P985 million, higher by P143 million compared to the comparative level last year.
Naguiat also attributed the record-breaking February income to the sustained improvement of marketing programs for Casino Filipino’s foreign and local markets, the upgrading of slot machines and the rationalization of expenses in gaming operations.
Because of the substantial earnings of Pagcor in February, he said the agency’s contribution to the government had increased by P763 million compared to last year. “We have allocated 54 percent or P1.94 billion of our P3.56 billion February income to our mandated beneficiaries and other nation-building projects.”
