Nagacorp eyes ties with N. Asia junkets

Nagacorp said it’s eyeing the North Asian market and seeks to build new junket ties with the region to grow and diversify its revenue base. The company, which set up an overseas junket incentive program in March last year, has established a marketing office in Macau to help it achieve its aims.

In its interim report, Nagacorp said that the junket program had enabled it to increase its VIP table limits while managing volatility and credit risk.

Total VIP rollings increased by 20 percent to $2.4 billion and the overall win rate improved significantly from 2.6 percent to 3.6 percent. VIP gaming revenue surged 61 percent.

Gross gambling revenue in the first half rose 27.3 percent to $180.3 million, while net profit was $67.6 million, up 8 percent from a year ago.

A rewards program, the Golden Edge Rewards Club, has attracted 42,000 members since its launch in January 2012.

Nagacorp, which expressed confidence in the growth of the Cambodian economy and tourism in the report, also said it has taken on an external consultant to review internal controls, with a view in particular to anti-money laundering and the results will be reported in the full annual report for the year.

Meanwhile, it has also commissioned a report from Political and Economic Risk Consultancy, Ltd. to assess investment risks in Cambodia. The group assigned the country a 5.85 risk, with 10 being the highest risk and 0 the lowest.

The Cambodian Ministry of Economy and Finance expects Cambodian gross domestic product to grow at 7.0 percent (in real terms) in 2014. However, the Asian Development Bank says political tensions and labour unrest are likely to dampen economic growth in 2014 before recovering again in 2015.

Nagacorp also gave an update on its planned $350 million project in Vladivostok. It says it expects to receive all necessary permits within a year and for the project to be completed within four years of that date.

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