GGRAsia – NagaCorp 3Q GGR down 16pct q-o-q, but upbeat on market

NagaCorp 3Q GGR down 16pct q-o-q, but upbeat on market

Oct 05, 2022 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck

Third-quarter casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) at Cambodia operator NagaCorp Ltd fell 16.3 percent sequentially according to a non-statutory filing on its nine-month results made to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Monday.

Such third-quarter GGR was US$106.6 million, versus the just above US$127.4 million that had been mentioned for the second quarter, in the firm’s interim results to June 30, published on July 18.

NagaCorp has a long-life monopoly licence for casino operations in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh, where it runs the NagaWorld complex (pictured).

The group said in its Monday statement that by other measures, namely average daily business volumes, in the form of table game buy-ins, bills-in at slot machines, and “rollings” in premium mass and referral VIP, its third-quarter 2022 business had showed gains.

The average daily buy-in and bills-in aggregate was nearly US$9.5 million, up 5.1 percent on the first half’s daily average, said the company. The average daily rolling volume in premium mass, was just above US$8.5 million, up 6.2 percent on the first half’s daily average. Average daily rolling volume in referral VIP was US$4.2 million, up 43.0 percent on the first half’s daily average.

“Management believes the steady business recovery is mainly due to the continued improvement of international arrivals to Cambodia as more regional countries eased travel restrictions, as well as continued improvement of the business environment boosted by Chinese investments, post pandemic,” the firm said in its Monday filing.

It cited data from the country’s Ministry of Tourism, indicating total international tourist arrivals “increased by 720.2 percent to 998,272 visitors in the first eight months of 2022”. The firm added that 33.0 percent of the tally had arrived via Phnom Penh International Airport and “22.3 percent were business-related travellers”.

NagaCorp’s nine-month earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were US$183.2 million, versus negative EBITDA of US$17.4 million for the prior-year period.