Casino Industry in the Philippines predicted to Earn More than Macau and Nevada
The Republic of the Philippines is enjoying the spotlight this time when it comes to being the country with the most growth in terms of casino revenues in just a short period of time.
After analyzing Bloomberry Resorts’ first quarter results, an analyst for Morgan Stanley Asia Ltd named Praveen Choudhary said that the Philippines casino sector is significantly growing faster than “Las Vegas, Macau and Singapore.”
The first quarter results showed 40% higher revenues year-on-year. Based on those results, the firm predicted the Solaire operator shall be experiencing a growth of 16% on its EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization) for the year 2019.
This quick growth would mean that it will notably surpass the Macau operators who are projected to achieve an EBITDA of around 4% only. Furthermore, the GGR (gross gaming revenue) of Macau has suffered, dropping 0.5% for the first quarter. Even Las Vegas performed better and saw taxable GGR rise to 3.8% in its first quarter.
In contrast to that, Solaire’s GGR for VIP play fell, same for Macau too, by 15.9%; however, it was saved thanks to a 23.5% increase in mass-table play, which resulted to the 16% forecast for the year.
Upon checking other Manila casino operators, all of them look like they are enjoying a progressive and linear growth. Okada Manila reported strong GGR numbers all throughout the year, whereas Resorts World Manila also reported strong income revenue even if there was a bit of decline in their profits.
Just this week, local media reported that PAGCOR (Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation) remittance was on record high. PAGCOR chairman and CEO Andrea Domingo (the lady in pink in the picture below) said, “In 2018, we recorded our highest revenue in history, which amounted to P104.12 billion. This feat enabled our agency to significantly increase our contributions to nation-building by 42.52 percent.” From P41.36 billion in total contributions in 2017, PAGCOR remitted a combined P58.95 billion to the national coffers and other mandated beneficiaries in 2018 and of its revenues last year, P67.85 billion came from the agency’s income from gaming operations while P36.27 billion came from other income including the sale of PAGCOR’s land in Entertainment City to Bloomberry Resorts Corp., netting P32.71 billion for the government.
With Bloomberry set to build a future casino in the Vertis North complex of Quezon City (a place with lots of people but doesn’t have high-end entertainment options), the casino industry in the Philippines will just continue to grow even more.
There’s also a possibility of new licenses to be awarded since Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte recently confessed that he won’t “meddle with gambling anymore”.
If the current government simply allows the industry to invest as much as it wants to in the country, then the Philippines casino industry could grow even faster.
