NagaCorp's Nine-Month Gaming Revenue Falls 21.5% as VIP Play Collapses and Mass Tables Turn Down

NagaWorld's operator says gross gaming revenue for the first nine months of 2026 fell to $417.9 million, with VIP rollings down by more than half. Set against its half-year results, the figures imply a third quarter about 43% weaker than a year ago, and this time the mass market fell too.

• NagaCorp reported unaudited gross gaming revenue (GGR) of $417.9 million for the nine months to 30 September 2026, down 21.5% from $532.2 million, in a voluntary announcement to the Hong Kong stock exchange on 2 October
• Premium VIP rollings fell 55.4% to $2.09 billion and referral VIP rollings 75.6% to $500.3 million, while mass market table buy-ins fell 12.9% and electronic gaming machine bills-in rose 9.7%
• Deducting the half-year figures NagaCorp published in August implies third-quarter GGR of about $114 million, down roughly 43%, with mass market GGR down about 26% after rising 2.7% in the first half
• The announcement carries no commentary; in August the company blamed scam-related perceptions of Cambodia, higher airfares and fewer direct flights for the VIP slump, and the World Cup for a slower second quarter
• The figures arrive as Cambodia ends casino-based online gambling, with 24 casinos confirmed shut down, and as the IMF presses for tougher vetting of casino owners

NagaWorld's Revenue Falls Back to 2024 Levels

NagaCorp, which operates the NagaWorld integrated resort in Phnom Penh, published the unaudited operational highlights of its gaming business for the nine months ended 30 September 2026 on Friday evening, under stock code 3918. GGR fell 21.5% to $417.9 million and net gaming revenue 16.7% to $388.7 million. The company stresses that the figures are based on internal records and management accounts that have not been reviewed by its auditor, are "for illustrative purposes only" and are not profit numbers. It offers no explanation for the decline.

The fall erases last year's gains. GGR for the first nine months of 2025 had risen 29.6% to $532.2 million, according to NagaCorp's announcement a year ago, driven by a 77.7% rise in premium VIP rollings. This year's $417.9 million is 1.7% above the $410.8 million reported for the first nine months of 2024.

VIP Business More Than Halves

The VIP segments account for most of the decline. Premium VIP rollings fell 55.4% to $2.09 billion and premium VIP GGR 40.1% to $65.8 million. Referral VIP fell further: rollings dropped 75.6% to $500.3 million and GGR 72.5% to $15.9 million. Together the two VIP segments lost about $86 million of GGR, roughly three quarters of the $114.4 million total decline.

The mass market held up better but did not escape. Public floor table buy-ins fell 12.9% to $981.7 million and table GGR 10.0% to $232.7 million. Electronic gaming machines took 9.7% more in bills-in, at $2.37 billion, but their GGR slipped 2.5% to $103.4 million. Mass market GGR, at about $336.1 million, made up roughly 80% of the total.

The Third Quarter Was the Weakest

The quarterly pattern is sharper than the nine-month totals. In April, NagaCorp reported first-quarter GGR up 2.1%, with mass table GGR up 23.9%. In its interim results on 24 August it reported first-half GGR of $303.7 million, down 8.6%, with mass market GGR up 2.7% to $238.3 million and VIP GGR down 34.8% to $65.3 million. Subtracting those rounded half-year figures from the nine-month totals, on our calculation, leaves third-quarter GGR of about $114.2 million against about $199.9 million a year earlier, a fall of about 43%. Third-quarter mass market GGR comes out at about $97.8 million, down roughly 26%, and VIP GGR at about $16.4 million, down roughly 76%. NagaCorp does not publish quarterly figures itself, so these derived numbers are approximate.

The interim results explained the first half. Management said the VIP downturn was in line with a 53.6% fall in leisure and business travellers from the Asia Pacific region, and cited "negative international perceptions associated with online scam activities in Cambodia", higher airfares from rising jet fuel prices and fewer international direct flights. It attributed a second-quarter slowdown on the mass floor to the FIFA World Cup, whose match schedules coincided with the casino's peak hours. The World Cup ended in July; the mass market weakened further in the third quarter.

Cambodia's wider travel data points the same way. The Ministry of Tourism reported 2.25 million international arrivals from January to August, down 44.4% from 4.05 million a year earlier, according to Vietnam+, citing figures released on 23 September. NagaCorp entered the period with no borrowings after repaying a $70 million shareholder loan in May, and $416.3 million in cash at the end of June.

The Mass Market Was the Defence, and It Has Now Given Way

NagaCorp's case through the first half was that the mass market, which it calls the cornerstone of its revenue, could absorb the loss of VIP volume. In the first half it did: mass GGR rose and margins improved, because the mass segments earn a gross profit margin of 89.8% net of gaming tax, according to the company. The third quarter breaks that argument. A fall of about a quarter in mass GGR, after the World Cup excuse had expired, suggests the problem is visitation rather than scheduling, and the 44.4% fall in international arrivals is the obvious explanation. Rising machine bills-in alongside lower machine GGR also implies a lower hold on the machines, though the announcement gives no hold rates. The full-year results will show whether the higher-margin mass mix protected profit as it did in the first half; on these numbers it is unlikely to have protected it fully.

Cambodia's Clean-Up Is Aimed at Others but Lands on the Whole Market

Nothing in the government's crackdown targets NagaWorld directly. The company describes itself as the only integrated resort in Phnom Penh, its accounts record a casino licence with exclusivity to the end of 2045, and its reported segments include no online gambling of the kind now being removed from casinos in Preah Sihanouk, Banteay Meanchey and Svay Rieng. But NagaCorp has itself named the scam economy's reputational damage as a reason high-end visitors stay away. The same crackdown that is cutting the number of casinos is meant to repair that reputation, and an IMF review has called the vetting of casino owners deficient. In the short term the enforcement headlines add to the perception problem; in the longer term a credible clean-up is the precondition for the VIP traffic NagaCorp needs to return.

NagaCorp has a strong balance sheet and a protected licence. What it does not have is control over whether visitors come back to Cambodia, and its third quarter shows how much that matters.