Donaco wrestles with online gambling costs, Chinese mafia

Asian casino operator Donaco International says its new online gambling operation is producing “small amounts” of revenue but the company is working hard to grow the business.

On Thursday, the Australian-listed Donaco held its annual general meeting and issued a trading update for the first four months of its current fiscal year, which began June 30. Donaco is coming off a AU$125m loss in fiscal 2018 and the company cautioned that fiscal 2019 has gotten off to a “soft start.”

Star Vegas, Donaco’s primary casino in Poipet, Cambodia, saw VIP gaming turnover more than double in the first four months of FY19, but VIP win rate fell to 2.47% compared to 3.65% in the same period last year. However, the November win rate shot up to 4.4%, and Donaco expects this will smooth out the five-month average.

Slot machine revenue was down 22% despite the property’s average daily visitation shooting up 38% thanks to increased marketing. Donaco has booked new market tour groups from China and Korea in the hopes of further boosting foot-traffic, some of whom will hopefully gamble.