State-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor) reported net income of nearly PHP4.86 billion (US$85.3 million) for the first nine months of 2023. The result was up 39.7 percent from the prior-year period, according to a financial statement posted on its website on Saturday.

For the third quarter, the agency’s net income stood at PHP1.89 billion, an increase of 16.0 percent compared to PHP1.63 billion in the second quarter of 2023.

Pagcor is an operator of publicly-owned casinos as well as the regulator for the Philippines’ entire casino industry, which includes privately-developed venues. Its own brand of casinos is called “Casino Filipino”.

The figures for the nine months to September 30 showed that Pagcor’s revenues stood at PHP55.95 billion, up 32.4 percent from a year earlier. The figure included PHP51.66 billion in income from gaming operations, 31.9-percent higher from a year ago.

In quarterly terms, aggregate revenue was just above PHP19.73 billion in the three months to September 30, up 6.6 percent from PHP18.50 billion in the second quarter. Quarterly income from gaming operations stood at PHP17.53 billion, a 1.7-percent sequential increase.

Pagcor’s total expenses stood at just above PHP18.85 billion in the first nine months of 2023, up 17.2 percent from a year earlier.

The gaming regulator said it paid out a total of PHP32.23 billion in taxes and contributions in the first nine months this year. Among other payments, Pagcor is required by law to pass at least 50 percent of its gross earnings to the national government.

Alejandro Tengco, chairman and chief executive of Pagcor, was quoted in a July statement as saying that the institution was projecting that the Philippine gaming sector could generate at least PHP272.74 billion in annual gross gaming revenue for full-2023. That included GGR from private-sector casinos and Pagcor-operated venues.