GGRAsia – S. Korea’s Paradise Co full 2016 casino revenue up 6 pct

S. Korea’s Paradise Co full 2016 casino revenue up 6 pct

Jan 05, 2017 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck

Casino revenue at South Korean casino operator Paradise Co Ltd rose 6.2 percent in full-year 2016, the firm said in a filing on Thursday to the Korea Exchange.

Such revenue was KRW603.13 billion (US$505.9 million) compared to KRW567.88 billion in full-year 2015.

The annual improvement in casino revenue was supported by a 7.2-percent rise in table game revenue in 2016, to KRW567.67 billion. Machine game revenue however fell 7.3 percent to approximately KRW35.94 billion in full-year 2016.

Table drop – defined by the company as “the amount of cash exchanged for chips by the customers at the table” – was KRW4.83 trillion in 2016, up by 3.1 percent compared with the previous year, the firm said.

Casino revenue in December at Paradise Co went up 10.3 percent in year-on-year terms, to KRW43.74 billion.

Paradise Co’s figures are based on the results of four venues it operates, all foreigner-only casinos, namely: Walkerhill in Seoul; Incheon Casino at Incheon; Jeju Grand on Jeju Island; and Busan Casino in the southern port city of Busan.

Paradise Co is currently constructing a foreigner-only casino resort called Paradise City, in Incheon, near the main international airport serving the country’s capital Seoul. Paradise City is a joint venture project between the South Korean casino operator and Japanese pachinko operator Sega Sammy Holdings Inc.

The scheme broke ground in 2014 and is scheduled to open in April 2017, Paradise Co announced in June.

Paradise Co reported profit of approximately KRW10.46 billion for the three months to September 30, down 14.8 percent from the prior-year period.