NagaCorp Ltd., the biggest leisure, gaming and hotel operator based in Cambodia, has announced excellent results in terms of gross gaming revenue for the first quarter of this current year. Profit grew by 23.7% compared to the previous year to almost US$145.4m, based on a non-mandatory quarterly results filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on April 3.

Revenue data for Q124:

Profit before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) was US$80.3m for the period of 3 months leading to March 31, an increase of 32.6% from the same period last year. Relatedly, the company owns a long-standing monopoly license to operate a casino in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, where it officially manages the premium establishment called NagaWorld.

In its statement from April 3, the operator commented that according to other measures, i.e. the average volume of business per day, in the shape of “rollings” in referral VIP and premium VIP, bills-in at slot machines and table game buy-ins, its operations for Q124 displayed profit. Additionally, slots bills-in and table buy-in, considered as a whole, were approximately US$951.3m, an increase of 8.2% over the same period last year, according to the firm.

Then, the GGR of the segment increased by 19.9% on the annual basis, to US$92.5m in the first quarter of the previous year.

Commenting on the excellent revenue results, the company commented: “The mass-market segment continued its growth trajectory, which was mainly contributed by … table games which recorded GGR growth of 34 percent in first-quarter 2024, compared to the prior-year period. Premium mass high limit table games remain … the key growth driver, with GGR increasing by 51 percent in the first quarter of 2024” from a year earlier.”

The firm’s highest average daily volume of business in its mass market segment since reopening:

The average business turnover per day reported in its mass market section in the period of 3 months leading to March 31 was the biggest since property officially reopened, which occurred during the 3rd quarter of 2021, when restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic eased, according to GGRAsia.

Relatedly, in its premium VIP section, the average rolling volume per day was just over US$1.16bln, an increase of 19.3% compared to the former year. According to quarterly GGR, premium VIP saw an increase of 24.3%, to US$35.5m, compared to 2023.

In this regard, NagaCorp commented: “The average daily rollings in first-quarter 2024 have exceeded the average business volumes recorded in the financial year ended 31 December 2019, the year before the onset of the pandemic.”

For the referral VIP segment, the average rolling volume per day was US$351.3m, a decrease of 9.3% compared to the first quarter of the previous year. However, the section’s GGR amounted to US$17.4m for the period of 3 months leading to March 31, an increase of 47.5% compared to the previous year.

Furthermore, in the aforementioned filing, the operator stated that the group’s overall bank and cash balances further grew to US$414.3m from March 31.

On a related note, the firm said: “The company intends to draw down the loan extended by the controlling shareholder of the company of up to US$80 million … so as to discharge part of the outstanding 7.95-percent senior notes issued by the company of US$472.2 million, upon their maturity on 6 July 2024.”

The firm also published net income of US$177m for the entire previous year, an increase of 65.7% compared to 2022. That income was on income that grew by 15.7%, to US$533.2m, compared to the previous year.

NagaCorp’s management commented during February that it wanted to decrease the budget and scope of its expansion project called Naga 3 at NagaWorld, to decrease capital spending. The reason for this is the need for excess cash flow, potentially to pay dividends.