NagaCorp’s New Shopping Complex To Open In Cambodia

Hong Kong based NagaCorp is in the process of developing its NagaCity Walk, a shopping complex in Phnom Penh, Cambodia which will connect the NagaWorld casino with the new Naga2 project. The NagaCity Walk complex is expected to open during the second half of this year.

Analysts from brokerage firm Daiwa Securities Group Inc. have reported that the shopping complex is likely to be launched in August 2016. The Naga2 project is said to feature over 1,000 hotel rooms and a gaming room offering up to 300 gaming tables and 500 electronic gaming machines

NagaWorld has been registering strong growth consistently in its gaming revenues and a significant amount of that growth is due to the performance of its VIP gambling sector. While Macau’s casino industry has continued its downward spiral and VIP gambling has fallen significantly, neighbouring countries such as the Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia have benefited from Macau’s casino slump.

Morgan Stanley released a report which has predicted that the VIP segment in Macau will continue record an overall decline for the whole year but regions other than Macau will see growth in VIP revenue. The report has predicted that Cambodia will post the highest VIP revenue growth of around 39 percent for the year 2016.

Union Gaming has however dropped its forecast for this year’s annual revenue for NagaCorp from US$249 million to US$242 million as a result of lower-than- anticipated revenue in the first quarter. The brokerage firm said that the risk for rest of the year was lower. The brokerage firm highlighted that the casino’s volumes for the first quarter was robust with VIP rolling chip volume growing at 65 percent, slot/electronic gaming machine growing at 32 percent and mass table drop showing a 15 percent hike. Overall gross gaming revenue growth was at 35 percent year-on- year for the company.

The country’s casino industry has been anticipating the approval of the new gaming bill aimed at structuring the industry for attracting more investment and visitors. In a statement, Grant Govertsen analyst Union Gaming said

We believe the bill will ultimately serve two purposes: to establish a proper gaming regulatory environment; and to establish a GGR tax. With respect to a GGR tax it is possible there won’t be any movement this year, although we believe the ultimate tax rate is likely to be lower than 5 percent, which will be critical to allow Naga to remain competitive regionally.

Govertsen however said that there was currently no firm timeline for the release of the new gaming bill.