NagaCorp posts GGR recovery, adds gaming space

Oct 05, 2020 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck  

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Hong Kong-listed casino operator and developer NagaCorp Ltd says it has recorded a “relatively good recovery and sustenance” of average daily gaming business volumes in the two months ended September 30. The company said it had expanded the gaming area in its complex to cater for increasing demand.

The company runs the NagaWorld casino complex (pictured in a file photo) in Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh. It has an exclusive licence to operate casinos in Phnom Penh and its surroundings.

In a Sunday filing, NagaCorp said that average daily business volumes at its mass-market gaming segment in the August-September period has recovered to 97 percent of the average seen in the first quarter of 2020, before the closure of the casino in April.

VIP rolling chip turnover daily volume – post-closure period – was back to 71 percent of the average seen in the first quarter this year, said the company.

The casino operator said the daily average of mass-market table buy-ins stood at US$3.50 million in the August-September period, compared to US$3.76 million in the opening quarter of 2020. Average daily volume in the electronic gaming machines (EGMs) business was back to regular levels, at US$5.54 million, it added.

VIP rolling chip turnover daily volume was nearly US$76.10 million in the two months to September 30, versus US$106.5 million in first-quarter 2020.

All casinos in Cambodia were ordered to shut down temporarily with effect from April 1, as part of a number of measures to prevent the further spread of the pandemic domestically.

NagaCorp had been permitted to reopen its VIP gambling tables and slot machines operation on July 8, subject to introducing a set of Covid-19 countermeasures. The firm announced on July 19 it had also been allowed to reopen its mass-market gaming tables.

In its Sunday filing, the casino firm said that in the third quarter it had converted additional non-gaming space into gaming areas, “in response to the growth of the gaming business”. It cited the conversion of the Garden Buffet restaurant into an EGM zone, which operations have “already commenced”.

NagaCorp said it had observed “increasing footfall and new clientele” on the casino’s mass-market floor, in particular at the premium mass and high-limit gaming area. “After reopening of casino operations in July 2020, the premium-mass segment has been the key mass-market revenue growth driver,” it said.

The company also said that VIP business volume had recorded a “satisfactory recovery … largely driven by sizable number of expatriates currently living and conducting business in Cambodia.”

It added: “The group has observed repeating VIP customers and new clientele pool within both the junket hall as well as direct VIP player gaming hall.”

NagaCorp Ltd reported in August net profit of just above US$20.6 million for the first half of 2020, down 91.6 percent from the prior-year period. That was on revenue that fell by 57.7 percent year-on-year, to US$377.5 million, it said.

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