NagaCorp said its flagship NagaWorld casino in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh is bounding back nicely since emerging in July from a three-month Covid-related shutdown.
The company posted a 57.7 percent decline in gaming revenue to US$377.5 million through the first half of the year but said mass-market volume recovered in August and September to 97 percent of the average recorded in the three months before NagaWorld was closed by government order in April to contain the spread of the pandemic.
Naga said it has observed “increasing footfall and new clientele” on the casino’s main floor, particularly among bigger spenders, whom it termed a “key mass-market revenue growth driver.”
On the VIP side, the company reported the daily volume of rolling chip turnover at 71 percent of the average seen in the first quarter, “largely driven by a sizable number of expatriates currently living and conducting business in Cambodia.”
“The group has observed repeating VIP customers and new clientele pool within both the junket hall as well as direct VIP player gaming hall,” it said.
The company also hailed a new bill making its way through the national legislature which will provide Cambodia for the first time with a comprehensive framework for regulating gaming within its borders.
The measure will “strengthen the gaming regulatory environment and improve the confidence of promoting investment and tourism in the country,” Naga said.
The proposal, endorsed by the government in July, includes a tax rate of 7 percent of gaming revenue, sets as-yet unspecified capital requirements for investing in casinos and includes provisions for combatting money laundering.
Economy and Finance Minister Aun Pornmoniroth said it is aimed at “boosting economic growth, promoting tourism, increasing tax revenue” and “maintaining social safety and security.”
