Citing an increasingly stable political environment in Cambodia and increased visitation from China, NagaCorp voluntarily released statistics for the first 9 months of 2019 showing major growth in revenue across the board for the operator.
For the period beginning January 1, 2019 and ending September 30, 2019, gross gaming revenue rose from US$1.07 billion to US$1.29 billion – a 20% increase when compared to the same period in 2018. Mass market mass table buy-ins and electronic gaming machine bill-ins increased by 38% to US$1.22 billion and 28% to US$2.05 billion, respectively.
Grant Govertson, an analyst with Union Gaming, said these strong results made Naga ‘the safe port in the storm’ and added that “the high-margin mass and slots segments continued to demonstrate notable ramping, suggesting to us that Naga2 – nearly two years after opening – still has plenty of runway ahead.” Govertson expressed confidence that revenue will continue to grow between now and Naga3’s expected opening in 2025.
VIP rollings increased from $25.03 billion to $33.87 billion. Two Macau-based junket operators have set up fixed operations at NagaWorld during the 9-month period, which contributed to the VIP growth. NagaCorp noted a large customer demand in Naga2 for higher table limits.
The company says the transition to Cambodia’s new Royal Government in September 2018 has led to “political and social stability of the operating environment” and an increase in foreign direct investments of 11% in 2018 as compared to 2017. In addition, the government banned online gaming in 2019, a move favorable to the exclusively brick-and-mortar NagaCorp.
Cambodia’s international visitation increased by 11% to 3.8 million during the first seven months of 2019. Visitation from China rose 37% during the same period. Historically, NagaCorp had been dependent on Southeast Asia to boost its visitation numbers, but an influx of tourism from Northern Asia in recent years has helped the company continue to grow. The company says that foot traffic and customer spending continue to grow in line with this increased visitation to Cambodia. The company has a guaranteed monopoly of the Phnom Penh area until 2035.
