Philippines-licensed private casino operators’ revenue surged by one-quarter in the third quarter of 2019 while state-managed casino operations failed to keep pace.

Figures released this week by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) showed industry-wide gaming revenue of PHP63.4b (US$1.24b) in the three months ending September 30, a nearly one-fifth improvement over the same period last year. For the year-to-date, market-wide revenue is up 16% to PHP183.6b ($3.6b)

Land-based casino revenue rose 20.8% to PHP55.3b, of which PHP9.3b (+2%) came via the PAGCOR-operated Casino Filipino brand. Private-sector casino operations fared much better, growing 25.3% year-on-year to PHP46b.

Most of the private sector growth came via casinos licensed to operate in Manila’s Entertainment City gaming zone, which reported revenue up 23.5% to PHP42.2b. This sum represented a 4.1% rise over Q2 2019.