Philippine Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) Earnings Soar to PHP28 Billion in the First Quarter of 2025, Thanks to Online Betting surge
Rewritten Article:
It's clear that Pagcor's starting the year on a high note, reporting a whopping PHP28.07 billion ($502.8 million) in Q1 revenue. The primary source of this success? You guessed it—online gambling. This sector continues to flourish, even with Pagcor moving away from offshore gaming.
Now, here's a fun fact: Online games and bingo made up more than half of Pagcor's total gaming revenue! That equates to PHP14.32 billion! Land-based casinos struggled to keep up, managing only PHP8.32 billion, while Pagcor's own casinos brought in PHP2.88 billion.
Surprisingly, even without the POGOs (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations), which were shut down in December 2024, Pagcor still saw an impressive 11.2% increase in revenue compared to the same period last year.
Keeping costs down, profits up
Not only did Pagcor earn more, but they also spent less! Operating costs dropped by 15.5% to PHP6.21 billion. This cost-cutting helped boost net income to PHP4.22 billion, marking a 23% increase from last year's Q1 results.
Chairman and CEO, Alejandro Tengco, attributed this turnaround to improved internal practices and reforms. He said, "This solid performance reflects Pagcor's commitment to responsible governance and fiscal discipline."
As a result of these stronger financials, Pagcor allocated PHP18.9 billion to nation-building programs, a 21.5% year-on-year increase.
Attracting more operators with lower fees
Pagcor has been cutting tax rates for online gambling to entice more operators into the legal market. In the past year alone, they've lower rates twice, most recently in January 2025, dropping them from 35% to 30%.
Tengco mentioned that these reductions are helping to curb illegal gambling and draw in more licensed service providers. The number of accredited providers jumped from 49 in 2023 to 174 by the end of 2024.
In the full-year 2024, discontinued POGOs generated PHP2.99 billion. Since then, Pagcor has been working to streamline its licensing model and boost domestic digital gambling activity. Tengco said the gradual fee reductions have certainly encouraged more companies to sign up. By the end of 2024, Pagcor had accredited 174 licensed service providers—up from just 49 in 2023.
It's safe to say Pagcor's game is on fire with online gambling continuing to dominate their revenue, and regulatory modernization underway to stabilize the sector’s ecosystem. Unfortunately, detailed fee dynamics aren't clearly represented in the disclosures, but operational streamlining appears to support profitability.
- The Philippines' Pagcor, having reported PHP28.07 billion in Q1 revenue, manages to significantly lower their operating costs by 15.5%, leading to a net income of PHP4.22 billion, a 23% increase from last year.
- In an attempt to attract more operators into the legal market, Pagcor has been reducing tax rates for online gambling, most recently dropping them from 35% to 30% in January 2025.
- Thanks to these fee reductions and a gradual increase in the number of accredited service providers, Pagcor saw a drastic increase in the number of licensed providers, from 49 in 2023 to 174 by the end of 2024, signifying a growing casino-and-gambling sector in the Philippines.
