Philip Lee Wai Tuck, chairman of Cambodian casino operator NagaCorp Ltd, attributed the improved performance in terms of gross gaming revenue (GGR) in the first half of 2025 to a “steady increase” in the mass-market tables segment, particularly boosted by “higher-margin side bet games”. The company reported in August GGR of nearly US$332.3 million, up 17.2 percent from a year earlier.
NagaCorp has a casino monopoly running to the end of the year 2045 for the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, where it operates the NagaWorld complex (pictured).
The casino firm’s earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) stood at nearly US$200.3 million in the first half this year, compared with US$55.5 million a year ago.
The Hong Kong-listed company reported a net profit of US$148.8 million for the period, on group-wide revenue that grew 16.8 percent year-on-year, to about US$341.8 million.
“Our positive results were attributed to continued growth in all operational segments, producing an upward, stable trajectory in revenue, net profit and EBITDA,” said Mr Lee in a statement included in the company’s interim report, published on Thursday.
“We continued to see a steady increase in the mass-market tables segment, achieving 24.0-percent year-on-year revenue growth mostly on the back of higher win rates of 22.9 percent, attributable to a large expatriate community, visitors from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries and to some extent the recovery of Chinese visitors patronising NagaWorld,” the chairman added.
According to the casino group, the average daily business volumes for its mass-market segment “is now at 97.3-percent recovery compared to pre-Covid-19, in the financial year ended 31 December 2019”.
“This explains the resilience of NagaWorld’s captive domestic market with a growing expatriate population,” stated Mr Lee.
The executive said NagaWorld’s premium mass tables high-limit areas have continued “to attract high-value patrons, significantly enhancing table yield and contributing to a notable shift in customer mix”.
Premium mass revenue represented 37.4 percent of aggregate mass-market tables GGR in the first half of 2025, showed the company’s data.
“The strategic rollout of higher-margin side bet games has consistently elevated win rates over the past 12 months,” observed Mr Lee.
“Because of this, mass-market tables’ average daily GGR in first-half 2025 has already surpassed the average daily GGR in financial-year 2019,” he added.
NagaCorp declared an interim dividend of US$0.0101 per share – amounting to US$44.6 million in aggregate –, to be paid on September 30. It represented the first declaration of cash distribution since the financial year ended December 31, 2021.
