NagaCorp plans Chinese version of casino op’s name

Mar 07, 2016 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck  

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Hong Kong-listed casino operator NagaCorp Ltd is to ask its shareholders to approve a dual, Chinese, name for the company.

The name, in traditional Chinese characters, includes the Cantonese phrase “kam kai”, literally meaning “gold world”. The firm was already using the Chinese name “for identification purposes only”, it said in a filing on Friday.

Approval for adoption of the Chinese name – which would be lodged with the authorities in the Cayman Islands, where NagaCorp is registered – is to be sought at the annual general meeting of the company on April 20.

Analysts at brokerage CIMB Securities Ltd said, in a note on February 2, that NagaCorp was aiming to increase the number of mass-market Chinese players visiting its NagaWorld property in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh (pictured). The institution added that in January the venue had also started offering telephone betting for VIP players.

NagaCorp’s full year gross gaming revenue for 2015 increased 26 percent year-on-year to US$480.6 million.

Cambodia saw a 24.0 percent year-on-year rise in the number of visitors from mainland China during 2015, according to the country’s Ministry of Tourism.

A law to regulate Cambodia’s casino industry – that a government official says could be passed this year – is part of a strategy by the Southeast Asia country to attract more gaming investment and more tourists, especially tourists from China, the government has said.

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