Vietnamese casino operator NagaCorp reported a 17% increase in gross gaming revenue to $381.4 million on the strength of VIP betting volume increasing 35% to $6.2 billion.
The company that operates Cambodia’s biggest casino, NagaWorld, takes full advantage of Macau’s gambling slowdown, especially among VIPs and high rollers who are beginning to explore other gaming venues in the region. To its credit, NagaCorp isn’t wasting any time trying to attract these gamblers out of Macau and into Cambodia.
“The downturn in gaming in Macau offers opportunities for the Group to further penetrate the Chinese gaming market in both the VIP and Mass Gaming segments, by offering better commercial terms to junket operators and agents as a result of NagaWorld’s low cost structure,” the company said in its financial statement.
An important part of the company’s success has been attributed to these junket operators, who routinely fly in VIPs to play in their casino partners in exchange for a commission. With Macau junkets becoming more receptive to sending their clients to neighboring casinos, NagaCorp takes the predictable yet important step of signing up more of these junkets to come to NagaWorld in Cambodia instead.
“The 35% increase in VIP rollings in 2014 demonstrates NagaWorld’s incentive program’s success in promoting NagaWorld to a wider range of operators and players, particularly from China,” the company added.
This plan of offering higher incentives to junket operators comes with a cost. Despite the sharp increase in gross gaming revenue, NagaCorp’s net profit only grew nine percent to $136 million.
Meanwhile, Macau casino operator Success Universe Group Ltd. isn’t sweating the downturn in business over in Macau. On the contrary, the company is actually setting its sights on bidding for a new gaming license in the event the government decides to follow through on rumors that it will issue one gaming license to a local enterprise to break the dominance of Chinese and US-owned casinos in the world’s largest gambling hub.