Phnom Penh Post
A man walks near NagaWorld Hotel in Phnom Penh. Its parent company posted record profits. Photograph: Pha Lina/Phnom Penh Post
Nagacorp, which owns Cambodia’s biggest casino, raked in a record $113.1 million net profit last year, 23 per cent higher than in 2011,
Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.
Some 1.8 million people last year streamed through the doors of
Nagaworld, the integrated gaming and entertainment hotel complex in
Phnom Penh owned by NagaCorp.
Forty per cent of the casino’s clientele came from Vietnam, while 25
per cent were Cambodians with valid passports, NagaCorp chairman Timothy
McNally said in a Bloomberg interview dated February 6.
Of the company’s $278.8 million revenue, gambling tables contributed
62 per cent, electronic game machines 32 per cent, and hotel profits six
per cent.
The growth in revenue was due to increased numbers of tourists
passing through Phnom Penh, as well as Cambodia’s “stable political
environment, [and] a very warm and welcoming environment,” McNally said.
Despite an influx of Chinese tourists visiting the country, McNally
said NagaCorp’s focus is primarily elsewhere. “We are not a
Chinese-centric business – less than 10 per cent of our revenue stream
comes from our Chinese customers.
We are an Indochina-based casino,” he said.
Responding to the company’s profits, an opposition legislator said the company should pay increased taxes to the government.
Last year, 3.9 per cent of NagaCorp’s net profit – or about $373,000
per month – was paid to the Cambodian Ministry of Economy and Finance.
But Yim Sovann of the Sam Rainsy Party said the casino’s taxes should
be raised to 50 per cent of net profits, which is comparable to what
casinos in Macau and Las Vegas pay.
Casinos have “very high [negative] consequences on society”, and
people have robbed to pay off debts, or even committed suicide, Sovann
said, adding that he believes a 50 per cent tax would be “okay for the
casino owner, as [its profits are] still a lot of money”.
NagaCorp currently pays a fixed monthly tax, irrespective of revenue.
Under an agreement with the government, the tax would rise 12.5 per
cent annually until 2018, Macau Business magazine said last year.
The ruling Cambodian People’s Party has rejected Sovann’s proposal.
In a televised speech last August, Prime Minister Hun Sen said, “I
don’t like casinos, but the biggest goal for giving permission to build
casinos is to protect the border.”
“One can remove border markers, but one can’t remove five-storey
hotels. Don’t be stupid,” he said, responding to lawmakers who have been
vocal critics of Cambodia’s casinos.
Cambodia’s borders with Thailand and Vietnam are dotted with casinos and hotels.
NagaCorp holds exclusive gaming operational rights within a
200-kilometre radius of Phnom Penh until 2035, and its casino licence is
valid until 2065.
The firm is in the midst of constructing Naga2, a new complex
including hotels, restaurants and entertainment located 200 metres from
NagaWorld.
To contact the reporter on this story: Low Wei Xiang at
lowweixiang@live.com
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