Paradise Co posts sharp Nov casino revenue decline

Dec 03, 2020 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck  

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Paradise Co Ltd, an operator in South Korea of foreigner-only casinos, said in a Wednesday filing that its November casino revenue declined 56.4 percent judged month-on-month. Measured year-on-year, such revenue fell 85.4 percent.

The group’s November casino revenue was just under KRW9.75 billion (US$8.9 million), a decrease on the KRW22.35 billion achieved in October this year, and a even larger decline versus the almost KRW66.71 billion achieved in November 2019.

Paradise Co’s gaming operations are at: Walkerhill in Seoul; Jeju Grand on Jeju Island; Busan Casino in the southern port city of Busan; and Paradise City, in Incheon, near the main international airport serving the country’s capital Seoul.

As a result of an increase in Covid-19 cases in South Korea – and particularly in Seoul – the country’s Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters decided in the second half of November to tighten so-called social distancing protocols nationwide, with measures considered more stringent than hitherto, being applied to Seoul and the surrounding region.

The tightening in measures to counter Covid-19 in South Korea has impacted casino businesses across the country. Foreigner-only operator Grand Korea Leisure Co Ltd temporarily closed all its three casinos in South Korea.

November’s table game revenue at Paradise Co was down 61.1 percent sequentially, at nearly KRW7.95 billion. It was down 87.3 percent year-on-year, compared to the just above KRW62.77 billion in November 2019.

Machine game revenue for last month was down 7.8 percent month-on-month, at nearly KRW1.80 billion. Judged year-on-year, such November revenue slipped 54.2 percent.

The latest monthly data took Paradise Co’s accumulated casino revenue for the calendar year to November 30 to just above KRW293.03 billion, which was 59.0 percent down from the prior-year period.

Accumulated table revenue for January to November inclusive was KRW269.55 billion, down 59.9 percent year-on-year, while aggregate machine game revenue was just above KRW23.49 billion for the first 11 months of this year, a decline of 43.4 percent from a year earlier.

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