It seems NagaCorp had a bountiful 2019 and this makes it one of the few entertainment companies that enjoyed some good progress last year.
The figures for the 2019 financial year that were released on Monday, showed that its 2019 profits went up by one-third year on year.
However, the gaming company expressed concern that the figures would go down this year as a consequence of the coronavirus epidemic.
NagaCorp operates NagaWorld, which is the only major integrated resort casino in Cambodia. The report showed that the gaming venue performed strongly across all gaming spots.
The gross gaming revenue in 2019 hit the $1.75 billion mark, one fifth higher than the previous year. According to an indebt report that one writer at the CalvinAyre.com shares, the operating profit was $571.8 million, a 36.5% increment while the after-tax profit was $521.3 million, a 33.4% increase from 2018.
The VIP turnover went up by 31% to hit 46.6 billion, while the VIP revenue increased by 16% to $1.24 billion. However, the win rate went outright down by 0.3% to 2.7%. The encouraging VIP figures were attributed to the extra junket operator partners that were added in 2019 as well as the higher table limits at Naga2, a gaming venue under NagaWorld.
Revenue from mass table gaming increased by 31% to $476.4 million while the revenue from mass market electronic gaming machine went up by 22% to $158 million. The boost in mass market gaming was attributed to the increased number of tourists visiting the country, an 8% increase in the first 11 months. Despite the boost in gaming revenue, NagaWorld experienced some shortfalls. Its nongaming revenue went down by 10% to $36 million, despite an increase in daily occupancy rates.
During the press release, NagaCorp addressed the current coronavirus crisis saying that it was a huge nightmare to the global economy, it included. They hope it will not last long. It was recommended that 80% of the profits be used to pay out dividends to its shareholders.
That will, however, have to wait till April 24 during its AGM for approval or rejection.
NagaCorp has been planning to build five hotel towers. However, there has been a change of plans after a new team was added to evaluate and redesign the existing designs. The Naga3 project, as it will be named, will feature 3 hotel towers, one 75-storey while the other two will be 61-storey. Regarding its Naga Vladivostok project in Russia, NagaCorp said that they were on schedule, in control and hoped that the first phase will be opened this year. Same thing they said last year regarding the project.
Earlier in the year, some workers at NagaCorp had down their tools, demanding for better pay. After a few days, they resumed work, with rumors surfacing that their demands had been met. NagaCorp denied this saying they had returned with no pay increase. NagaCorp did not address this issue during the press release.
