International tourist arrivals to Cambodia increased by 4.6% to 2.3m in the first half of 2015, with 11% increase from “gaming-centric countries” such as Vietnam, China and South Korea.
In a Wednesday filing, Cambodian casino operator NagaCorp’s flagship property NagaWorld in Phnom Penh posted GGR growth of 42% to $255.4m. In the VIP segment, rolling chip turnover jumped 50% from a year earlier to about US$3.6b, while in the mass market, table buy-ins rose 11% year-on-year to nearly US$262m and slot machine buy-in increased 10% to US$629.3m.
Revenues from gaming tables increased by 17.4% year-on-year to US$163.4m in the six-month period while electronic gaming machines (EGM) doubled to approximately $92 million. The latter figure includes a negotiation fee of $40m from investors for exclusive negotiation of the placement of up to 300 EGM in NagaWorld, bringing its EGM numbers to 1,600 as of June 30.
“Continued visitor growth from these gaming-centric countries is one of the drivers of the Group’s business growth,” said NagaCorp. “The positive results were attributable to the increase in business volume from all segments of the gaming business.”
As a result, the NagaCorp revenue increased by 39% to $265.4m and net profit rose 49% to $101m. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) also improved by 53% year-on-year to $132.8m.
NagaCorp also gave an update on its $369m in-development Naga2 expansion, which includes the retail and public space NagaCity Walk, and the TSCLK Complex which features approximately 1,000 hotel rooms, 38 luxury VIP suites, a multipurpose-entertainment/theatre with a seating capacity of approximately 2,100; and additional gaming space (up to 300 gaming tables and 500 electronic gaming machines).
The company reaffirmed the schedule with NagaCity scheduled to start operations in the third quarter of 2016 while TSCLK Complex will open in 2017.
“It is anticipated that with the completion of Naga2 and the present premises, NagaWorld will further strengthen its position as the leading integrated gaming and entertainment destination in Indochina,” said NagaCorp.
