Licensed casinos in the Philippines saw a six-fold sequential increase in gross gaming revenues in the three months to 30 September 2020 as the industry began its long road to recovery.
According to information published by Philippines gaming regulator PAGCOR, the nation’s licensed casinos – including those in Entertainment City and Clark – generated GGR of Php15.04 billion (US$312.5 million) for the quarter, up from just Php2.16 billion (US$44.9 million) in 2Q20 although still less than half the Php38.24 billion (US$794.6 million) in GGR during the first three months of the year.
The majority of third quarter revenue came from Entertainment City which generated GGR of Php12.96 billion (US$269.3 million) compared with Php1.96 billion (US$40.7 million) in Q2, while Clark saw its GGR increase from just Php185.7 million (US$3.9 million) to Php1.89 billion (US$39.3 million).
PAGCOR-owned casinos enjoyed a similar increase, up almost 625% to Php914.7 million (US$19.0 million) although still well down on the Php12.93 billion (US$268.7 million) in GGR during 1Q20. PAGCOR said its casinos generated Php421.7 million (US$8.8 million) in slot machine revenue in 3Q20, with Php291.9 million (US$6.1 million) from junkets and Php201.1 million (US$4.2 million) from table games.
Total industry-wide GGR in the Philippines in 3Q20 grew 630% quarter-on-quarter to Php17.66 billion (US$367.0 million), albeit down 66.6% on the Php52.92 billion (US$1.10 billion) generated in the first quarter of the year.
Casinos across the Philippines closed their doors on 15 March as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, before restrictions outside of Manila were eased from early July. Entertainment City casinos remained shuttered until late August when PAGCOR granted permission to reopen at a maximum 30% capacity.
