Online gambling firms post hefty profits in '08
01/15/2009 | 03:17 AM
MANILA, Philippines - Online gambling companies enjoyed their best year in 2008, posting healthy revenue and profit increases despite the slowing economy.
Gaming firm Pacific Online Systems Corp. told the stock exchange Wednesday it had posted a 48% surge in revenues to P740 million last year due to the rollout of more lottery terminals in the Visayas and Mindanao.
Pacific Online is the exclusive online lottery system provider of the government’s gambling arm, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).
"PCSO sales of various lottery products in Vis-Min hit P770 million in December alone," Willy Ocier, Pacific Online chairman and president, told the bourse.
The company said it had deployed 200 lottery terminals last year, bringing the total to 1,600 in the Visayas and Mindanao. "December 2008 sales were our best ever," the company said.
Pacific Online, which posted P125 million in profits in January to September — 8% higher than a year earlier — has yet to release its income figures for the year.
PCSO’s 2008 lotto sales in the Visayas and Mindanao hit a record P6.49 billion, an increase of more than a third from P4.79 billion in 2007, the company said.
Meanwhile, listed gaming firm PhilWeb Corp. said it had sustained its growth for the full year.
The company, which increased profits by almost three-quarters to P211 million in January to September from a year earlier, also said 2008 was its "best year ever."
PhilWeb President Dennis O. Valdes expects 2009 to be even better, saying Filipinos would continue gambling on the Internet.
"Filipinos are very resilient... No matter what happens, we always want to be entertained," he said in a telephone interview. "[PhilWeb services] are a form of entertainment," he added.
Mr. Valdes noted that while some sectors such as manufacturing and exports might be hit by the slowing global economy, industries such as business process outsourcing would keep the country partially insulated from the crisis.
He said their profit as of the third quarter was already almost equal its P222-million net income for the full year of 2007.
Mr. Valdes declined to disclose the company’s profit figures for 2008, citing disclosure rules.
An analyst from online brokerage 2TradeAsia said the positive outlook for 2009 was understandable since Filipinos love gambling.
"I think [this year being better] is possible, probably driven by the fact that some consumers may... try their luck with their last P10 in a game of chance," 2TradeAsia analyst Grace Cerdenia said in an interview Wednesday. But it would be difficult to determine a trend for the sector since it is still young, she added. — Paolo Luis G. Montecillo, BusinessWorld
Gaming firm Pacific Online Systems Corp. told the stock exchange Wednesday it had posted a 48% surge in revenues to P740 million last year due to the rollout of more lottery terminals in the Visayas and Mindanao.
Pacific Online is the exclusive online lottery system provider of the government’s gambling arm, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).
"PCSO sales of various lottery products in Vis-Min hit P770 million in December alone," Willy Ocier, Pacific Online chairman and president, told the bourse.
The company said it had deployed 200 lottery terminals last year, bringing the total to 1,600 in the Visayas and Mindanao. "December 2008 sales were our best ever," the company said.
Pacific Online, which posted P125 million in profits in January to September — 8% higher than a year earlier — has yet to release its income figures for the year.
PCSO’s 2008 lotto sales in the Visayas and Mindanao hit a record P6.49 billion, an increase of more than a third from P4.79 billion in 2007, the company said.
Meanwhile, listed gaming firm PhilWeb Corp. said it had sustained its growth for the full year.
The company, which increased profits by almost three-quarters to P211 million in January to September from a year earlier, also said 2008 was its "best year ever."
PhilWeb President Dennis O. Valdes expects 2009 to be even better, saying Filipinos would continue gambling on the Internet.
"Filipinos are very resilient... No matter what happens, we always want to be entertained," he said in a telephone interview. "[PhilWeb services] are a form of entertainment," he added.
Mr. Valdes noted that while some sectors such as manufacturing and exports might be hit by the slowing global economy, industries such as business process outsourcing would keep the country partially insulated from the crisis.
He said their profit as of the third quarter was already almost equal its P222-million net income for the full year of 2007.
Mr. Valdes declined to disclose the company’s profit figures for 2008, citing disclosure rules.
An analyst from online brokerage 2TradeAsia said the positive outlook for 2009 was understandable since Filipinos love gambling.
"I think [this year being better] is possible, probably driven by the fact that some consumers may... try their luck with their last P10 in a game of chance," 2TradeAsia analyst Grace Cerdenia said in an interview Wednesday. But it would be difficult to determine a trend for the sector since it is still young, she added. — Paolo Luis G. Montecillo, BusinessWorld
