Hong Kong-listed NagaCorp reported a 57.4% year-on-year increase in net profit to US$83 million in the three months to 30 June 2023, which it attributes to “continued tourism recovery in Cambodia from ASEAN and the gradual return of business travellers from China, driving increased footfall to [Cambodian integrated resort] NagaWorld.”
Releasing its 2Q23 financial results overnight, NagaCorp said that gross gaming revenues climbed by 7.9% to US$252.3 million with EBITDA up by 10.1% to US$143.2 million.
The recovery was largely mass market led, with mass table GGR reaching US$98 million and EGM GGR reaching US$64.9 million. By comparison, Premium VIP GGR was US$62.9 million and Referral VIP US$26.5 million.
However, NagaCorp noted that all segments showed sequential growth versus the March 2023 quarter.
Average business volume for mass market gaming improved from US$9.8 million in 1Q23 to US$10.1 million in Q2, up 3.7%, while average daily rollings in Premium VIP grew 8.6% to US$11.8 million and in Referral VIP by 40.9% to US$6.1 million.
This means that average mass volume has now recovered to 83.9% of 2019 levels and Premium VIP average rolling volumes to 97.9% of 2019 levels, NagaCorp said.
Looking forward, the company said it expects to see continued uplift from the return of both Chinese tourists and international business travelers in the coming months.
“Cambodia is expected to continue its upward trajectory of recovery with the influx of tourist arrivals, business visitation and expected surge in FDI into the country resulting in an increased number of investors and a growing domestic expat population,” NagaCorp explained.
“The Group believes that NagaWorld – the only integrated resort in Phnom Penh will benefit from this with increasing footfall from customers seeking entertainment and luxurious lifestyle offerings at competitive price and value. As such, the Group remains optimistic on the long-term prospects and believes the outlook will remain stable.”