Online gaming likely to sustain higher rents for BPOs
Over the past year, the industry regulator has approved 45 online gaming companies that cater only to non-resident gamblers and already the industry has contributed US$58 million to government coffers. Office landlords are also another major beneficiary. In the first half of the year, online gaming companies accounted for an impressive 30 percent of new office space rented in Metro Manila, helping to cushion a slowdown in demand from outsourcing firms. Last year, the latter accounted for 60 percent of total office rentals. Online gaming operators can absorb the entire supply of new office space in the second half of this year, Morgan Stanley estimates. Ayala Land Inc., which has a $12 billion market cap, said on its latest earnings call that the developer remains on track to rent out 90 percent of its new offices within a year because demand is “broadening.”
