Hong Kong-listed hotel, gaming and leisure firm NagaCorp has reported significant increases in its latest financial report, as the firm comments on the potential impact coronavirus could have in the year ahead.

Gross gaming revenue for the firm came to $1.75bn (2018: $1.47bn) for the year ending December 31, 2019, with the firm lauding the significant appeal of the NagaWorld complex amid the continuation of a strong showing since the debut of Naga 2 a little over two years ago.

The operator of the Phnom Penh located integrated casino resort complex also reported a net profit increase of 33 per cent to $521.3m (2018: $390.5m) as EBITDA also jumped 31 per cent to $671.7m.

Furthermore, NagaCorp also reported increases across the VIP and mass market segments, which it partially aligned to increasing visitation numbers within the country.

Reporting an overall tourism increase of eight per cent to 5.9 million, China continues to be the leading source of visitation to Cambodia, growing by 20 per cent to 2.2 million, with visits from both Indonesia and Thailand growing 22 per cent and 25 per cent respectively.

The company stated: “The increase in foreign direct investments, strong domestic business activities and business travel helped drive visitation to NagaWorld, resulting in increased business volume. 

“Furthermore, the much-anticipated casino law is expected to be promulgated within 2020, further strengthening the regulatory environment which has been improving in recent years. 

“The group is confident that it will continue to enjoy the benefits of long-term win-win private public partnership initiative which further fuels the growth of tourism to Cambodia.”

The company also commented on the Coronavirus pandemic, commenting that “despite such challenging times” it remains “confident that even [if] its financial performance may be impacted by such unexpected event in the next 6 months of operations and beyond, the long-term prospects of the company remain good.” Adding an opinion that the outbreak “will be short-lived”.

NagaCorp also provided an update to its ongoing Naga 3 project, for which it has added Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings & Merrill to co-operate with current Las Vegas-based architect planner Steelman Partners in “evaluating and refining the existing conceptual designs”.

The project is to move forward with a design featuring three towers, one of 75-stories and two of 61-stories and linked by an upper podium, as opposed to a previous expressed five tower ambition.