GGRAsia – VIP roll at Cambodia’s Star Vegas up 69 pct in fiscal 2015

VIP roll at Cambodia’s Star Vegas up 69 pct in fiscal 2015

Jul 27, 2015 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck

Rolling chip turnover for VIP games rose 69 percent year-on-year at casino property Star Vegas Resort and Club (pictured) in Cambodia, during the fiscal year to June 30, said the venue’s new owner. Such turnover reached approximately US$3.88 billion from nearly US$2.30 billion a year earlier.

Total net revenue for the border casino – which mainly serves Thai patrons – rose 17 percent year-on-year in the 12 months, to nearly US$76.8 million from just over US$65.7 million a year earlier. Casino gambling is illegal in Thailand.

The property’s new owner Donaco International Ltd gave the numbers in a filing on Monday to the Australian Securities Exchange, although the firm pointed out the venue has only been part of the group since July 1. That was the date a deal was closed under which Donaco acquired the property – located in Poipet on Cambodia’s frontier with Thailand – for a consideration of US$360 million.

Because of the timing of the deal, the VIP turnover and other performance numbers reported by Star Vegas Resort and Club are not part of Donaco’s results for its financial year 2015, which ended on June 30 and which will only be announced next month.

VIP revenue at Star Vegas Resort and Club rose 54 percent to US$103.7 million from US$67.6 million in fiscal 2014. Gross revenue from main hall table games went up 18 percent to nearly US$19.2 million from US$16.3 million in the prior-year. Table games net revenue went up 21 percent, to US$41.9 million from the US$34.6 million achieved in fiscal 2014.

Net revenue from slot machines at the Poipet venue was up 11 percent, to nearly US$32.2 million from US$29.1 million in fiscal 2014. In the six months to June 30, the resort’s management added 185 new slot machines to the casino floor, increasing the total number of such machines by 14 percent to 1,485 units. “The new slot machines are expected to contribute more strongly in future periods, as customers become familiar with them,” said Donaco in it latest filing.

During the period discussed in the business review for Star Vegas Resort and Club, non-gaming revenue jumped 34 percent, to nearly US$2.7 million, from just under US$2.0 million in fiscal 2014.

Star Vegas Resort and Club’s operating expenses before depreciation went up 8 percent to approximately US$18.6 million from nearly US$17.2 million a year earlier. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation rose 20 percent to nearly US$58.2 million from US$48.5 million in fiscal 2014.

Donaco said all the reported figures had been converted from Thai baht to U.S. dollars, and took account of an adverse exchange rate impact measured at 1.13 percent for the period.

Donaco stated in a May filing to the Australian Securities Exchange that it had a “vendor warranty” that Star Vegas’ EBITDA “will total at least US$60 million per year for the two full years following acquisition”.

The new owner said on Monday that factors contributing to the trading improvement for Star Vegas Resort and Club in the 12 months to June 30 included marketing initiatives that had attracted additional VIP players; improvements in the road network linking Poipet with the Thai capital Bangkok, and “efforts by the Thai government to crack down on illegal gambling in the Bangkok area”.

In June, Thailand’s police chief appeared to endorse a proposal to legalise casino resorts in Thailand, saying it would stop Thais visiting casinos in neighbouring countries and keep tax revenue from gaming in the local economy. But days later the general heading Thailand’s ruling military junta, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, said the government had more pressing problems to consider.

Donaco also operates a casino-hotel called Aristo International Hotel in Lao Cai province in Vietnam, on that country’s northern border with China.