Paradise Co Ltd, an operator in South Korea of foreigner-only casinos, reported casino sales of KRW19.02 billion (US$15.6 million) for March, up 11.8 percent sequentially. Such revenue was however down 15.8 percent from the prior-year period.
Market rival Grand Korea Leisure Co Ltd (GKL), also an operator of foreigner-only casinos, said casino sales stood at KRW29.73 billion in March, up 334.3 percent sequentially. Such revenue increased by nearly 400 percent from a year ago, said the company in a Tuesday filing.
Paradise Co’s table-game sales last month were up 10.4 sequentially from February, but down 17.7 percent year-on-year, at KRW16.90 billion, according to a Tuesday filing to the Korea Exchange.
Machine-game sales rose by 24.8 percent month-on-month, to nearly KRW2.12 billion. Such sales increased by 2.8 percent in year-on-year terms.
The firm reported casino revenue of KRW54.17 billion in the first three months of 2022, down 20.4 percent from the prior-year period.
The figures are based on the group’s casino business division, covering Walkerhill in Seoul, Jeju Grand on Jeju island, Paradise City at Incheon – run via a venture with Japan’s Sega Sammy Holdings Inc – and the firm’s Busan casino.
As for GKL, the firm’s table game sales for March rose by 408.5 percent month-on-month to nearly KRW27.93 billion. Such sales went up by 460.7 percent from the prior-year period.
Machine-game sales for March increased by 33.3 percent relative to February, and 85.5 percent year-on-year, to KRW1.80 billion.
GKL reported aggregate casino sales of KRW46.29 billion for the first quarter of 2022, up 616.7 percent from a year earlier.
Operations at GKL’s venues had been temporarily suspended from November 24, 2020 as a Covid-19 countermeasure. Its Busan casino resumed operations on February 15, 2021, but the Seoul casinos only reopened in mid-March 2021.
The casino-operating entity runs three foreigner-only casinos in South Korea under the Seven Luck brand: two in the capital Seoul, and one in the southern port city of Busan.
Grand Korea Leisure is a subsidiary of the Korea Tourism Organization, which in turn is affiliated to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
