LISTED gaming firm DigiPlus Interactive Corp. is targeting the launch of its South Africa operations by the second or third quarter of 2027, while aiming to restore its domestic business to pre-e-wallet delinking levels before yearend.
DigiPlus President Andy Tsui said the company remained confident of a recovery despite weaker first-quarter results caused by the delinking of e-wallets from online gaming platforms.
“We’re still aiming to recover our business back to pre-state linking level before the end of this year,” Tsui said.
The company said the e-wallet delinking disrupted accessibility and created friction in customer transactions, resulting in lower player activity and weaker revenues during the period.
Tsui, however, described the impact as “largely transitional rather than structural,” saying DigiPlus had begun rolling out alternative payment channels to improve user access and transaction volumes.
Despite the year-on-year decline in revenue, net income and Ebitda, DigiPlus said revenues had stabilized quarter on quarter, which management viewed as an early sign of recovery.
Chief Financial Officer Wilfredo Pielago said the quarter-on-quarter increase in net income was driven by non-cash fair value gains from the company’s investment in convertible bonds issued by International Entertainment Corp.
“These gains are non-cash and non-recurring in nature and therefore do not reflect an improvement in underlying operating performance,” Pielago said.
Amid efforts to stabilize its Philippine business, DigiPlus is continuing its overseas expansion plans, particularly in Brazil and South Africa.
“Usually, that would take a good nine to 12 months’ time to start launching the platform. So, we expect that the launch for South Africa will be sometime maybe in the second or third quarter of 2027,” he said.
The company had temporarily suspended Brazil operations shortly after a soft launch last year to recalibrate marketing strategies and localize offerings for the Latin American market.
Tsui said the Brazil and South Africa ventures were expected to provide “incremental revenue beyond the Philippines” over time.
In April, DigiPlus disclosed that it had secured a license to operate an online gaming business in South Africa, which it described as Africa’s largest online gaming market with estimated gaming revenues of $4.9 billion this year.
DigiPlus shares jumped to P1.32 to close at P12.72 each on Friday.
