PhilWeb Showing Strong Profits for 2009

According to the Philippine Daily Inquirer in Manila local online gambling firm PhilWeb Corp. expects to post a huge profit from all it's endeavours. The company is directed by the former Trade Minister, Roberto Ongpin, who looks at this as a positive sign of real domestic recovery from the recent slowdown in the economy. The majority of its profit in 2009 came from the firm’s core gaming operations, which grew by an astounding 126 percent. Ongpin said its net income last year amounted to an 89-percent increase from year-ago. PhilWeb is the biggest operator in the local Internet gaming sector. As a technology enabler of Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor), PhilWeb operates Pagcor’s e-Games café network and Internet Sports Betting Stations (ISBS).

ISM Corp.was a good investment for PhilWeb as it has been paying equity dividends since it's purchase. The PhilWeb president Dennis Valdes said, “Our unrealized gain of P2.4 billion from our investment in ISM is a real albeit hidden jewel in our balance sheet,” he added, “PhilWeb’s and ISM’s recent acquisition of Acentic GmbH, which provides in-room guest entertainment services to the hospitality industry, will provide us a platform for international expansion. PhilWeb’s role in this expansion will be to look at introducing gaming into the Acentic network of over 200,000 rooms, and partner with ISM in growing Acentic’s reach into Asia.”

Income growth was made possible by PhilWeb's well rounded gaming operations. With it's 171 Pagcor e-Games cafés 50 of which were opened last year with other offerings like Basketball Jackpot, Premyo Sa Resibo and the newly launched Bid Wars mobile game all contributed to the outstanding gains.

The firm had an overall 82 percent rise in revenues in 2009. “We had an excellent 2009 but are even more excited about our prospects in 2010,” said Mr. Valdes.