Kangwon Land Inc, the only casino firm in South Korea authorised to let locals gamble, has been ordered to slim the daily opening hours of its gaming venue at Kangwon Land, its sole resort, from April 1, the firm said in a Thursday filing to the Korea Exchange.
Starting from April 1, the casino at the property will be opened to public from 10am to 4am of the following day. The casino at Kangwon Land (pictured) currently operates from 10am to 6am of the following day.
The firm had announced in December that the South Korean government ordered it to reduce the number of opening hours of its gaming venue from 20 hours per day to 18 hours per day. The timing of the opening hours adjustment had however not yet been decided.
Kangwon Land Inc was also ordered at the time to reduce the number of mass tables at Kangwon Land, from a maximum 180 to a maximum 160, starting January 1, 2018.
Brokerage JP Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Ltd said in a January note that the changes in opening hours of the casino “should have some direct [revenue] impact (up to 10 percent, if we simply assume Kangwon Land’s revenue is evenly split during operating hours).”
JP Morgan added at the time, referring to some analysis on the company it published in December: “Our read on the government’s Gambling Industry Reform Plan points to further regulatory tightening and increasing oversight of local gambling, possibly throughout this [central government] administration, and we believe Kangwon Land has no choice but to keep curbing its revenues to avoid further scrutiny for a (good) while.”
Kangwon Land – based in a remote upland area 150 kms (93 miles) from the South Korean capital Seoul – posted a 10-percent decline in revenue for the July to September period.
