Casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) of Hong Kong-listed operator NagaCorp Ltd jumped nearly two-fold in the first three months of 2018 as more mass market players turned to gaming tables for entertainment.
In a regulatory filing, NagaCorp announced that its gross gaming revenue jumped to US$243.19 million for the three months ending on March 31, 2018, a 181 percent increase compared to the unaudited GGR of $86.66 million in the same period last year.
NagaCorp, which has an exclusive license to operate casinos in Cambodia’s capital of Phnom Penh, attributed the rise of gaming volume in its brick-and-mortar facilities to the influx of Chinese tourists that drove the mass market segment.
The mass market business climbed 32.8 percent in the first quarter to $779.1 million.
Mass table buy-ins jumped 56 percent to $263.77 million during Q1 compared to $169.37 million in the same period last year. The figures were above the 32 percent growth expectation of analysts.
International brokerage Union Gaming pointed out that NagaCorp’s mass table results will put to rest the fears of possible cannibalization resulting in the opening of Naga 2 in November 2017.
“Importantly, this suggests that not only is NagaWorld not feeling any cannibalization but that Naga 2 is undersupplied in terms of mass tables. We believe the company is already in the process of adding more mass tables to Naga 2,” Union Gaming Analyst Grant Govertsen said in a note.
NagaCorp’s electronic gaming machines segment also saw 24 percent growth in ‘bills-in’ volume to $515.38 million.
Meanwhile, the casino operator reported that its VIP rolling chip turnover grew 51 percent to $5.6 billion in the first three months of the year compared to $3.73 billion in 2016.The VIP segment got a boost after Macau-based junket operator Suncity Group Holdings Limited agreed to set up a fixed base business operation with full-fledged office facilities, effective last March 1.
Aside from SunCity, NagaCorp said that other Macau-based operators are already working with the group.
“The increase of VIP business volume of the Group in 1Q 2018 was due to the increase of business of both properties, being more pronounced in Naga 2, where customers demand for more tables and higher table limits,” the casino operator said in a statement.NagaCorp
