GGRAsia – NagaCorp 1Q GGR recovery hurt by Covid-19 shutdown

NagaCorp 1Q GGR recovery hurt by Covid-19 shutdown

Apr 06, 2021 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck

Hong Kong-listed casino operator and developer NagaCorp Ltd says it had “continued to record recovery” of gaming volumes in the first quarter of 2021. That was up until February 20, when the firm’s sole operating casino property – the NagaWorld casino complex (pictured in a file photo) in Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh – “voluntarily” suspended operations after 11 employees tested positive for Covid-19.

The firm has yet to provide information on the property’s reopening.

In a Thursday filing, NagaCorp said that average daily business volumes at its mass-market gaming segment during the time within the first quarter that NagaWorld was open, had recovered to 99 percent of the average seen in the first quarter of 2020.

VIP rolling chip turnover daily volume – prior to the February 20 suspension of operations – was back to 53 percent of the average seen in the first quarter of 2020, said the company.

The casino operator said the daily average of mass-market table buy-ins stood at US$3.74 million in the period NagaWorld was open for business in the first quarter of 2021, compared to US$3.76 million in the opening quarter of 2020. Average daily volume in the electronic gaming machines business was US$5.44 million for the latest period, compared to US$5.52 million in the January-March 2020 period, it added.

VIP rolling chip turnover daily volume was approximately US$56.60 million in the January 1 to February 20 period, versus almost US$106.52 million in first-quarter 2020.

NagaCorp recorded GGR of US$127.34 million for the first quarter of 2021, of which US$80.51 million was GGR from VIP operations. The firm posted net gaming revenue of US$72.60 million for the initial three months of 2021.

“Mass market segment average daily volume recorded positive sequential growth compared to the second half of 2020, which reflects the gradual growth trend observed,” NagaCorp said. “Public floor table average daily buy-ins and electronic gaming machines average daily bills-in grew by 5.2 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively, compared to the respective average daily volume recorded in the second half of 2020.”

The firm stated that recovery in the mass market segment was “largely” linked to the presence in the market of a “reasonably sized expatriate community and to some extent, visitors from East Asia, mainly from China, South Korea and Taiwan”.