NagaCorp US$77mln loss as Cambodia casino closed most 1H

Aug 31, 2021 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck  

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Casino developer and operator NagaCorp Ltd made a US$77.2-million loss for the first half this year, compared to a US$20.6-million profit in the prior-year period.

The outcome “reflects the impact from the voluntary temporary suspension of business operations since 2 March 2021, in response to the Covid-19 outbreak in Cambodia,” said the firm, in a Monday filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The firm did not declare a dividend for the latest reporting period.

The group has a long-life monopoly casino licence for the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, via its NagaWorld resort complex (pictured), and also has a development project in the Russian Far East.

The group’s earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) remained positive for the first half, at US$11.2 million. That compares with EBITDA of US$88.7 million in the prior-year period.

Had it not been for a one-off cost “related to the employee mutual separation scheme” – a reference to some staff leaving the firm, coinciding with the ongoing closure of NagaWorld – then the half-year 2021 EBITDA would have been US$17.7 million, NagaCorp said in its first-half filing.

Group-wide revenue for the period was US$130.4 million, 65.4 percent down on the US$377.5 million in the prior-year period.

Gross gaming revenue (GGR) from casino operations amounted to US$129.3 million, down 65.2 percent from a year earlier.

First-half 2021 VIP market GGR fell 70.3 percent year-on-year, to US$80.5 million; while mass-market table GGR was US$29.9 million, down 56.4 percent, said the group.

Revenue from electronic table game operations fell 42.0 percent year-on-year, to US$18.9 million.

Hotel room income, sales of food and beverages and “other” items, declined 79.9 percent, to US$1.1 million, from US$5.5 million.

NagaCorp said it paid US$11.6 million in taxes for the first six months of 2021, compared to US$13.6 million in the first half of 2020.

For the latest six-month reporting period, NagaCorp had a casino tax bill – “in accordance with the Casino Law effective from 1 January 2021” – of US$6.6 million; a “gaming obligation payment” of just under US$2.0 million; and a “monthly non-gaming obligation payment” of US$214,338.

NagaCorp said that as of June 30, it had cash and deposits amounting to US$275 million.

“The group has sufficient liquidity and cash reserves to fund cash expenditures during the voluntary temporary suspension of business operations,” said the company in its half-year filing.

The firm gave no timetable for the reopening of NagaWorld. But it noted: “According to the Cambodia Tourism Minister’s statement on 21 May 2021, the Cambodian Ministry of Tourism is working towards the possible reopening of Cambodia’s tourism industry in the fourth quarter of 2021 to fully-vaccinated tourists.”

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