PHILWEB Corp. has acquired three gaming sites in exchange for shares in the company and a total of P18 million in cash.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Tuesday, the listed gaming firm said its subsidiary purchased a Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) Bingo Games site in Caloocan. The site was bought for P13 million, in addition to P10.74 million worth of PhilWeb shares consisting of 3.68 million priced at P2.92 each,

Another PhilWeb subsidiary, BigGame, Inc., also acquired a PAGCOR e-games site in Taytay, Rizal and another in Rodriguez, Rizal. The two sites were purchased for P5 million plus 735,294 PhilWeb shares worth a total of P2.15 million.

The three gaming sites were previously owned by Triple 8 Amusement and Development Corp.

This will be added to the 63 gaming locations that PhilWeb had by the end of 2018.

Philweb booked a net loss attributable to the parent of P77.58 million in 2018, lower than its attributable loss of P293.27 million in the year before. This came on the back of P366.36 million worth of revenues, more than double what it generated in 2017.

The company has been recovering, following the shutdown of its operations in 2016, when PAGCOR declined to renew its license. It was able to resume operations only in December 2017, with an initial 16 electronic gaming locations. It was able to resume full operations in March 2018.

While trimming its net loss in 2018, the company also noted it was able to book positive cash flow for the first time in three years. Earnings before income, taxation, depreciation, and amortization stood at P9 million, compared to P152 million in negative cash flow in 2017.

PhilWeb Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Gregorio Ma. Araneta III said they are working on bringing the company back to its former profitability levels.

Shares in PhilWeb jumped 2.74% or eight centavos to close at P3 each at the stock exchange on Tuesday. — Arra B. Francia

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