NagaWorld to win from Cambodia tourism comeback: chair

Aug 25, 2023 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck  

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Tim McNally (pictured), chairman of Cambodian casino resort operator NagaCorp Ltd, says the group believes it will “benefit” from a forecast return in 2025 to pre-pandemic numbers of visitors to the country.

Referring to the group’s casino-resort monopoly in the Cambodian capital, the chairman stated: “We believe that NagaWorld – the only integrated resort in Phnom Penh, will benefit from these tourist arrivals, with increasing footfall from customers seeking entertainment and luxurious lifestyle offerings at competitive pricing and value.”

Mr McNally’s comments were in NagaCorp’s interim report for the trading period to June 30, filed with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Thursday.

He said it had been estimated Cambodia would “attract up to 5 million international tourist arrivals in 2023 and 7 million international tourist arrivals by 2025, surpassing the pre-pandemic level [seen] in 2019.”

Mr McNally also observed in his remarks in the interim report: “The new Phnom Penh international airport will further promote tourism and national economic growth.”

The chairman added: “Approximately 50 percent of the construction work has been completed and the airport is expected to begin operation by early 2025 as Cambodia prepares for a return of tourism in increasingly large numbers.”

In mid-July, NagaCorp reported a net profit of US$83.0 million for the first half of 2023, up 57.4 percent from a year ago.

The chairman also gave some commentary on those results. He observed that a 39.9 percent increase year-on-year in “premium VIP” rolling chip volume was “primarily” due to “expatriates” present in Cambodia, and the “faster pace” of growth in business-related visits to the country by Chinese, “since China reopened earlier this year”. That was a reference to the lifting by Chinese authorities of Covid-19 travel restrictions.

“We will remain focused on these segments for growth and sustained recovery,” stated Mr McNally.

He said that also in the first half, “referral VIP” business volumes – understood to be a reference to junket-generated gambling business – saw a 75.9 percent year-on-year increase in rolling volume, “translating into a 53.5 percent year-on-year increase” in revenue in that segment, amid “increasing headcount from neighbouring Southeast Asia countries”.

The NagaCorp chairman noted that in the six months to June 30, the group’s non-gaming revenue increased 90.3 percent year-on-year, “primarily due to travellers from the region and China, which led to higher hotel occupancy rates and footfall to the property”.

Last month, Mr McNally had told GGRAsia that NagaCorp was “fully confident” about the “future leadership and political stability” of Cambodia, amid a transition of power that has seen Hun Sen, the country’s leader for nearly 40 years, choose to step down as prime minister, in favour of his son Hun Manet.

The same month, the firm said at a press conference in Hong Kong, that it still plans to move ahead with construction of Naga 3,  an addition to the NagaWorld gaming complex. That is despite the project having been pushed back by four years.

According to management, Naga 3 is likely to be opened in phases, with the podium likely to be the first part to come into use.

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