The performance of NagaCorp’s Cambodian integrated resort NagaWorld continues to soar following a record six months to 30 June 2018 in which gross gaming revenue grew 85% year-on-year to US$713.9 million and net profit jumped 20% to US$180.1 million.
The strong results, aided by the launch of Naga2 in late 2017, saw increases across the board including 117% growth in VIP rolling chip to US$16.8 billion, which translated to a 75% jump in VIP revenue to US$552.8 million. In its results analysis, NagaCorp said that the addition of Macau’s leading junket operator Suncity Group from 1 March 2018 “contributed to increased number of players and rollings” while “an increasing number of South East Asian players, noticeably from Thailand, have also visited NagaWorld during the period in addition to the traditional large number of Malaysians and customers from other regions.”
The company said that there has been customer demand for higher table limits and therefore increased roll at Naga2.
Mass market table buy-ins increased 53% to US$573.8 million with EGM bill-ins up 22% to US$1.0 billion.
NagaWorld has subsequently announced an interim dividend for shareholders of 2.49 US cents per share, representing a payout ratio of 60% based on the net profit generated for the period. The interim dividend will be paid on Monday 10 September 2018.
“The opening of Naga2 in November 2017 significantly increased the appeal, capacity, quality, range and reach of VIP, mass gaming and non-gaming offerings, such as up-market gaming and complementary entertainment facilities and equally attractive non-gaming products/facilities including spa, theatre, shopping, competitive rooms and food and beverage offerings,” the company said.
“Naga2 is transformative and has provided the group with a competitive integrated casino resort product comparable to integrated resorts in other established gaming destinations in Asia.
“Visitation and tourism growth continued to underpin the property’s headcount growth. In particular, visitation from China increased substantially. China is the leading source of visitation to Cambodia, growing by 79% to 0.6 million visitors in the first four months of 2018. As a result, the average daily foot traffic of the overall property has increased significantly and has also helped the mass market business.”