GGRAsia – LRWC to ‘forgo’ US$1.2-mln profits in e-Games shutdown

LRWC to ‘forgo’ US$1.2-mln profits in e-Games shutdown

Sep 12, 2016 Newsdesk Latest News, Philippines, Top of the deck

Philippine gaming investor Leisure and Resorts World Corp (LRWC) says it is likely to “forgo” PHP56.2-million (US$1.2-million) in profit and PHP477-million in revenue if it is required to cease operations at some electronic games parlours.

The firm added the likely “forgone” profit would be the equivalent of approximately 5 percent of the group’s consolidated 2015 profit.

LRWC had previously announced that on Thursday, two wholly-owned units had been separately ordered by the country’s gaming regulator, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor), to cease current operation of some electronic games and bingo parlours in that country. The reason given was alleged non-compliance with “distance restriction guidelines”.

The group said on Friday that it was writing to Pagcor to ask it to reconsider the decision.

In a follow up filing that day, responding to questions from the Philippine Stock Exchange, LRWC clarified the likely financial impact of Pagcor’s instructions if they are not rescinded.

“Revenues and net income foregone up to the end of 2016 for the affected sites are estimated to be PHP477 million and PHP56.2 million respectively, based on historical first seven months of 2016,” said the firm.

“These numbers approximate 5 percent of total consolidated 2015 revenues and net income of the LRWC group,” added the filing.

The company additionally said it would send “not later than Tuesday, 13 September 2016” the letter asking Pagcor to reconsider its rulings.

“We will still wait for… Pagcor’s reply to our request for reconsideration before we could set our timetable for the resumption of operations of the affected sites. We could not anticipate the exact date on when will Pagcor answer our request,” added LRWC.

The move against some of LRWC’s domestic gaming operations comes only weeks after Andrea Domingo, the new head of the Pagcor, said the regulator would not be renewing the gaming licence of PhilWeb Corp, which offered Internet-delivered casino games via a network with a total of 286 retail outlets in that country, according to company information.

PhilWeb has since stopped its operations and the firm’s controlling shareholder, Roberto Ongpin, has unsuccessfully made several offers to the Philippines government for a deal that would rescue the company.