ANALYSIS: 48-hour BSP ultimatum dulls casino stocks’ luster
Manila, Philippines – Casino shares were lackluster during Thursday’s trade at the stock market, dulled by a central bank order that was unveiled as the Senate opened its inquiry into the industry’s regulation.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas told lawmakers that it has given e-wallet companies that do business with casinos 48 hours to delink their apps from online gaming platforms.
“[A]ll BSIs [BSP-supervised institutions] are hereby instructed to remove links providing in-app gambling access in BSIs’ mobile payment apps and websites within 48 hours upon of this Memorandum,” a copy of the BSP memorandum seen by NewsWatch Plus on Thursday read.
“In-app gambling access includes any product/service that redirects an account holder to a gaming/gambling site,” it added.
DigiPlus Interactive Corporation, the listed gaming company behind brands BingoPlus, Arena Plus and Gamezone, tanked by 19.8 percent to return below P30-per-share level at P24.05.
The stock was the most traded during Thursday’s session that saw service stocks – under which casino shares are classified – leading the losses.
“We consider it as our proxy variable for the online gaming sector,” Japhet Tantiangco, research manager at Philstocks Financial, said in an interview.
“Now we see the steep decline because of the uncertainties in casino policy,” he added.
Prior to Thursday’s Senate hearing, DigiPlus somehow had been clawing back some of its losses in wake of a rebalancing in the 30-member Philippine Stock Exchange index that groups the most liquid and well-capitalized listed companies.
DigiPlus made the cut after bumping off fellow gaming share Bloomberry Resorts Corporation, the operator of Solaire Resort and Casino in Entertainment City in Manila.
Bloomberry, which was moved to the PSE midcap index, eked out a one-centavo gain to close at P3.30 per share, but not after being whiplashed during midday trade and dumped by foreign holders with net selling at P13.3 million.
Another Entertainment City contractor, Belle Corporation, which runs City of Dreams Manila, also saw choppy trade before it closed up 2 percent at P1.43 per share.
Pacific Online, the developer of lotto terminals for the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, fell to as low as P2.70 each before closing firmer at P2.79 per share, a 2.2 percent gain.
Penny stock PH Resorts Group, developer of the Emerald Bay Resort in Mactan in Cebu and Donatela Resort in Panglao in Bohol island, swung between a high of P0.195 and a low of P0.183, before settling near its high at P0.192 per share.
PAGCOR e-games operator PhilWeb sank 10 percent to last trade at P3.27 each.
What are brokers’ casino stock picks amid tighter gaming rules? If investors do not want to be caught on the wrong side of the bet, heed the “sell” tag for those casino shares heavily reliant on online gaming for their cash flow and topline, at least until Congress stop rolling the dice and make a decisive move.
