Casino group NagaCorp Ltd says it has “terminated effective immediately” a share award scheme, as it is “no longer aligned with the company’s objectives”.
The firm operates the NagaWorld complex (pictured) in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh, under a long-life monopoly for the capital region.
It said that as a result of the decision – given in a Friday filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange – initial connected grants of up to circa 10.2 million award shares and initial non-connected grants of up to 9.0 million award shares “will lapse… and the company will no longer seek to make the initial grants”.
The firm added that this was “due to changes in the circumstances of the group and the significant amount of time that has elapsed” since the initial grants were proposed by the board and approved by shareholders.
Since the original approval in June 2021, the awards had been deferred several times, due to what the firm said had been “the negative impact the Covid-19 pandemic… on the group’s business”.
The NagaCorp management outlined at a media briefing in August, following the group’s interim results, its efforts to boost NagaWorld’s appeal to mass-market players.
In early October, NagaCorp reported an 8.4-percent rise in gross gaming revenue (GGR) for the first nine months of 2024, reaching nearly US$410.8 million.
In a memo later that month on the regional impact of changes to the structure of the Chinese VIP-gambler segment, ratings house S&P Global Inc said: “Between 2017 and 2019, 70 percent of Naga’s GGR comprised VIPs. With the removal of Chinese junkets, we now expect VIPs (referrals) to contribute less than 10 percent of Naga’s total GGR” annually.
