# Naga Corp insulated from China proxy battle

Cambodia's Phnom Penh casino market, which is monopolized by Hong Kong-listed Naga Corp Ltd, is the "most insulated" market from "China-related volatility," a note from brokerage Union Gaming Securities Asia Ltd suggested on Wednesday.


This isolation was driven in part by close ties between China and Cambodia, the broker said.

The agency said "China-related volatility" was a reference to what Chinese authorities said was aimed at Chinese players in game operations across the Asia-Pacific region, and that business had "decreased" in other "proxy betting/online crackdowns" in the region, as Union Gaming put it.

Earlier this week, Nagakov said it posted $616.3 million in gaming net sales for the nine months ended Sept. 30, up 28.5% from a year earlier. Nagakov said its large market table buy-in rose 37.9% to $1.22 billion during the period, while its bill tally for electronic game consoles rose 27.9% to $2.05 billion.

According to Nagakov, the casino company posted a 49% year-over-year increase in bulk market table volume in the third quarter through Sept. 30, Union Gaming noted. "… There is significant growth in the broader Phnom Penh economy with Naga2, which was previously considered an attractive destination for the customer segment that would have avoided travel to Cambodia."

Union Gaming analysts Grant Gobsen and John DeCree said in a note from the broker on Wednesday, "... We see [Nagakov's] high-yield mass table business as the most visible given the close ties between China and Cambodia (which also gives some comfort when it comes to ongoing VIP performance compared to our local peers)."

Proxy betting, which allows gamblers who are not physically present in casinos to communicate via phone or internet connection, has been effectively banned in the Macau market since May 2016. However, state media recently claimed that one of Macau's leading junket brands, Suncity Group, is promoting "online" play at local casinos outside Macau, which is understood to refer to proxy betting. The junket brand has denied such activity.

Nagakov's senior executive told a company event in Hong Kong in July that there was no "material exposure" to proxy bets in Cambodia's business.

The Macau government recently said it was tightening rules on sharing Macau players and other Macau game-related data with outside Macau agencies.

In September, CGS-CIMB Research Pte Ltd expected Nagakov to achieve 30% VIP sales growth in its Cambodian business this year, compared with a likely "mid-teens" decline in the Macau market.

BY: **[릴게임사이트](https://www.reelgame.site)**