Daniel Cecilio, head of licensing and regulatory groups at state-run regulator Philippine Entertainment Games Corp., said he expects the country’s gaming industry revenue to recover to pre-pandemic levels or even overtake those levels by 2026. He said on Tuesday it was because player confidence was slowly returning to the division. “Obviously there will be no further lockdowns, but it’s hard to regain players’ confidence,” Cecilio told Reuters. He was the keynote speaker at the opening day of the ASEAN Games Summit in Manila.
Total gaming revenue could reach more than 256 billion PHP ($4.62 billion) by 2026, and land-based casinos are expected to contribute 146 billion PHP, Cecilio told media. In a speech at the Games Summit, Cecilio said the Philippines’ land casino GGR is expected to reach $105.85 billion this year. According to Reuters, the PAGCO executive added that the recovery in the gaming sector will be fueled by subdued demand and strengthening consumer confidence by domestic and foreign gamblers.
The Philippine casino sector produced 32.75 billion PHP in the three months to March 31, up 14.8% from the previous quarter. The tally was up 27.2% year-on-year, according to official data. Pagcor’s chairman and chief executive Andrea Domingo said in April that her organization expects total revenue from game operations to double in 2022, despite a “bad start” to the year. 안전놀이터 추천
Regulatory and operator Pagcor saw its total revenue from game operations rise nearly 8.8% Y/Y to PHP 32.63 billion in 2021. However, data released in February showed that the institution’s net profit fell 86.9% year-on-year to 23.57 million PHPs. Several casino industry veterans recently told GGRAcia that Ms Domingo’s ability to balance pandemic countermeasures with the Philippine casino industry’s revenue retention would be seen as a major achievement in her tenure leading the country’s gaming regulator.