Gateway Casinos, a major Canadian gaming and entertainment company, has released an update on its state after the recent cyberattack. Several days ago, the operator’s Ontarian business suffered a devastating security breach. As a result, it was forced to temporarily shut down its properties and reschedule planned events.

The company, which operates 14 venues in the province, announced the emergency shutdown on April 16, blaming what it called an IT outrage. In later updates, the company kept interested parties updated on what was happening, confirming that it had become the target of ransomware attacks.

The fourteen properties that were directly affected by the hackers include the casinos in the following cities:

• Clinton
• Innisfil
• London
• North Bay
• Sarnia
• Sault Ste. Marie
• Sudbury
• Thunder Bay
• Woodstock

While not all Ontarian casinos were directly hit in the attacks, the company shut down all its properties, leading to the temporary closures of Casino Rama Resort, Cascades Casino Chatham, Playtime Casino Hanover, Playtime Casino Wasaga Beach and Starlight Casino Point Edward.

The shutdown of Casino Rama is an especially hard hit for the company, considering that it is one of the most popular gambling destinations in Canada. This left many clients disappointed with the news. However, Gateway Casinos noted that the Casino Rama Hotel and the Weirs restaurant will remain functional in spite of the ongoing situation.

Gateway Casinos’ Comeback Is Looming

Luckily, Gateway Casinos is working hard on recovering its business and, according to one of the latest announcements, will begin reopening its properties very soon. While the planned recovery will go through several stages, Gateway hopes to begin the process this week.

In a recent interview, Rob Mitchell, Gateway’s communications and public affairs director, addressed the matter. He said that the company continues testing its IT systems to see if everything is up to standard. The reopening, according to him, will depend on the results of these tests, as well as on the approval of the relevant regulators.

The ransomware attack likely saw Gateway Casinos extorted for money. Even if that is the case, the casino operator did not disclose the details and didn’t confirm whether it paid a ransom or not.

Ransomware groups usually target big corporate entities such as Gateway Casinos, since many of them would pay the ransom just to get back to business. Gateway Casinos is owned by The Catalyst Capital Group and is one of the most influential gambling companies in Western Canada. It currently employs over 3,000 workers.

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NagaCorp Ltd, a company incorporated in the Cayman Islands with limited liability and operator of NagaWorld integrated casino resort in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, published its full-year 2022 financial results, posting a net profit.

Positive Financial Results

For the twelve months ended December 31, 2022, NagaCorp generated revenue of $460.7 million, more than doubling its 2021 reading of $225.9 million. Compared to 2019 ($1.755 billion), 2022 revenue is down by 73.8%, casting aside any notion of pre-pandemic recovery.

Turning to the company’s shareholders, Timothy Patrick McNally, chairman of NagaCorp, highlighted the positive operational and financial results of the business that was impacted by the pandemic in the previous two years.

“The gradual recovery of our business and resiliency of our earnings in the face of major market disruptions placed NagaCorp as only one of the two regional gaming companies to achieve profitability during the period,” McNally stated.

Gross profit for the largest hotel, gaming and leisure operator in Cambodia was $376 million, up 162% on the previous year but down 55.6% compared to the pre-pandemic 2019.  50% of it, or $189.8 million, came from mass market table gaming, mass market electronic gaming machines contributed an additional 28%, or $103.9 million.

EBITDA for the twelve months at the gaming and hospitality operator listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong came at $245.4 million. In 2021, EBITDA was just $15.6 million. The huge increase in EBITDA allowed NagaCorp to register a net profit of $107.3 million for the year as compared to a loss of $147 million in 2021.

ASEAN Reopening, Cost Control

The stable financial results were attributed to the gradual reopening in ASEAN and continued stringent cost control measures which resulted in a higher profit margin. The recovery of Cambodia tourism and visitations to NagaWorld also contributed to the bottom line of the operator.

NagaCorp reported that the average daily business volumes for its mass market and premium market segments in the year have recovered by 76.8% and 66.7%, respectively, compared to the pre-pandemic peaks in 2019. Both mass market and premium market gaming contributed about 94% of NagaCorp’s total gaming revenue.

The company’s non-mass referral VIP business declined during the year but as the number of direct flights to Phnom Penh continued to increase, the average daily numbers posted stable growth.

Non-gaming revenue of the company increased significantly year-over-year positively impacted by the reopening of business operations and the easing of travel policies in Cambodia and other countries in the region that increased footfall and occupancy rates.

“We believe that the long-term prospects and outlook of the Company are favourable, with the return of tourism and continued investment in the local Cambodian economy,” concluded McNally on the company’s future outlook, expressing the Board’s appreciation to employees, shareholders, customers and suppliers.

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