Pacific Online reports record sales in 2012

MANILA, Philippines - Pacific Online Systems Corp., the online lottery system provider of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) in the Visayas and Mindanao, posted record sales of P11.7 billion last year.

“Aggregate PCSO sales of Lotto and Keno handled by Pacific Online hit P11.7 billion for 2012,” the company said in a disclosure.

The latest data, which is a record high for the company since being a systems provider in 1996, is higher by 23 percent from 2011 levels. Pacific Online earlier targeted P11 billion in sales for 2011.

As of end-December, Pacific Online had 3,035 terminals selling various lottery games operated by PCSO.

Pacific Online’s subsidiary Total Gaming Technologies had 704 terminals selling the Keno game for PCSO.

In the nine months to September, Pacific Online said it earned P281.2 million, 58 percent higher from P178 million a year ago.

Pacific Online earlier signed a deal with the PCSO for the rollout of an additional 600 lottery terminals in its concession area.  This was in line with PCSO’s goal of hitting P30 billion in annual revenues to become one of the major contributors to the government’s coffers.

Last year, Prime Gaming Management Corp., the Philippine gaming unit of Malaysian conglomerate Berjaya Group, accused PCSO management of favoring rival firm Pacific Online.

Prime Gaming is at odds with the PCSO for allowing Pacific Online to infringe in what it perceives to be its exclusive territory, which is Luzon.

In 1993, Prime Gaming won the bidding to provide lottery equipment for the PCSO covering the whole Philippines, but the government decided to award to Pacific Online the Visayas-Mindanao territory. PGMC was given only Luzon as its exclusive territory.

Pacific Online is partly owned by Belle Corp., which is building a $1-billion casino and hotel complex in the Manila Bay reclamation area. It also owns a 2.5-percent stake in Leisure and Resorts World Corp.