Lottery supplier to provide more terminals

Prime Gaming Philippines Inc. (PGPI), the exclusive supplier of equipment for the online lottery of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), will provide an additional P27.04 million worth of terminal as part of its commitment to the state gaming firm.

The company told the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) that its wholly-owned subsidiary Philippine Gaming Management Corp. (PGMC) will purchase 100 Datamark Flipper (DMF) lottery terminals at $5,200 per unit or P27.04 million based on an exchange rate of P52 to $1.

The purchase is part of a program to install 2,000 lottery terminals for the PCSO under the equipment lease agreement (ELA) signed in 1998. For providing PCSO with the lottery equipment, inclusive of repair and maintenance for a fee, PGMC is entitled to a rental fee based on an agreed percentage of the gross amount of ticket sales.

PGPI, through PGMC, handles the PCSO’s online lottery terminal operations in the whole of Luzon. In its first full year of operations ending April 1999, net income reached P63.7 million on gross revenues of P235.8 million; by the following year, its profitability improved to P73.9 million on gross revenues of P260.5 million.

"The purchase is anticipated to result in increased revenues for PGMC and would not result in any significant impact on the subsidiary’s current and future operations, or on the result of its operations," PGPI said.

Since its inception, the online lottery games have drawn wide patronage among Filipinos, as more and more game variations have been introduced. From the original Lotto 6/42 Jackpot, the games have since included the MegaLotto 6/45; the 4-Digit and 6-Digit draws; and the SuperLotto 6/49. An instant lotto version is being planned within the near term.

The investment holding company for gaming operations, PGPI is controlled by Malaysia’s Berjaya Lottery Management (HK) Ltd. with a 68.5-percent stake. Other stakeholders include its chairman Alfredo Ramos of the National Bookstore chain (15.67 percent) and McDonalds’ Philippine franchisor George Yang (8.88 percent).

At the stock market, PGPI last traded at P20 per share or twice its par value. – Conrado Diaz Jr.