LISTED lottery firm Pacific Online Systems Corp. (POSC) nearly broke even in the first half, posting a net loss of P226,088 following a year-earlier profit of P145.5 million due to increased expenses coupled with a drastic drop in revenue.
The company said it was also affected by the delisting of majority stakeholder Premium Leisure Corp. (PLC) earlier this year.
In a disclosure, Pacific Online said it incurred a P20.5-million interest expense “in relation to the loans availed by PinoyLotto to fund its capital expenditures and nationwide operations.
First-half revenues fell 17 percent to P259.1 million from P310.8 million “due to the transition from the legacy system to the nationwide lottery system under its joint operation, PinoyLotto Technologies Corp. (PinoyLotto).”
Costs and expenses, meanwhile, climbed 45 percent to P251.7 million, attributed to the nationwide operations of PinoyLotto’s Philippine Lottery System (PLS) for the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) starting October last year.
“The company incurred higher depreciation expenses in line with the depreciation of the new equipment deployed, as well as higher variable costs, such as communications and repairs and maintenance in line with the requirements of PCSO for the PLS,” it added.
Operating income plunged by 94.6 percent, to P7.4 million as of end-June from P136.6 million.
Earlier this year, listed tourism and leisure destination developer Belle Corp. issued a tender offer and period to voluntarily delist its subsidiary PLC, which holds a 50.1-percent stake in Pacific Online.
The company’s cash balance increased by 58 percent to P542.5 million thanks to proceeds from the sale of the PLC shares to Belle Corp. during the tender offer.
In May, Pacific Online was the sole bidder for PCSO’s five-year lease of the web-based application program, e-lotto, eventually receiving the notice of award in June 2024 for a P4.088-billion contract.
E-lotto is a digitized version of traditional lottery games and is said to offer players the convenience, security and transparency of electronic betting.
As of July 12, the trial period for the e-lotto already ended “upon the instructions of PCSO, as it gears toward making the e-lotto services better and as it transitions to a new platform,” Pacific Online said.
The company’s shares fell by 4.0 percent to P4.08 apiece last Friday.
Be the first to comment