PCSO reports drop in earnings for 2nd straight year due to COVID-19

The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) reported a drop in earnings for the second year in a row in 2020, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

PCSO reported a gaming operations income of P18.63 billion in 2020, a decrease of P25.4 billion or 57.7% from the P44.03 billion it earned in 2019.

The huge decline in sales “was a result of the [COVID-19] pandemic that affected not only the Philippines, but the whole world,” said the Commission on Audit (COA) in its latest audit report for the state lottery agency.

PCSO’s income in 2019 also suffered a P19.54-billion drop, from P63.57 billion in 2018.

Small town lottery (STL) operations logged the biggest loss in 2020, falling by around P14.17 billion to just P5.7 billion, from P19.876 billion in 2019.

COA noted that several STL authorized agents did not seek to resume operations, even after the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions in late 2020.

Retail receipts from Lotto operations also dropped to P11.94 billion, from P21.36 billion the previous year.

Meanwhile, Keno earnings in 2020 were only P407 million, down from P1.753 billion. 

Lotto and Keno operations temporarily stopped from March to July 2020 due to the lockdowns imposed in the country.

Sales from the National Instant Sweepstakes Program or ScratchIt tickets also went down to P522.4 million from P961 million, and Peryahan income was logged at P51.13 million, down from P68.77 million in 2019.

Finally, there were no retail receipts reported from Sweepstakes in 2020, as opposed to the P11.25 million it earned in 2019. – Rappler.com