Duterte’s gambling policy pulls down LRWC Q1 net income

Philippine-listed holding company Leisure and Resorts World Corporation (LRWC) is now feeling the pinch of President Rodrigo Duterte’s new online gambling policy, with its gambling segments posing significant decreases in income in the first quarter of the year.

LRWC, which operates a bingo gaming business and maintains majority interest in First Cagayan Leisure and Resort Corp. (First Cagayan), announced that its consolidated net income tumbled by 5.7 percent to PHP272.1 million (US$5.46 million) from PHP288.7 million (US$5.8 million) in the first three months of 2017.

Gross revenue of LRWC for the first three months of the year, on the other hand, was at PHP2.82 billion (US$ 56.7 million) while its gross expense swelled to PHP2.45 billion (US$49.21 million) in the January – March 2017 period compared to PHP2.38 billion (US$47.81 million) of the same period last year.

In a filing to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday, the holding firm recognizes that Duterte’s hard line stance against online gambling had affected their business.