Casino sales at Grand Korea Leisure Co Ltd (GKL) declined by 19.9 percent month-on-month in August, to nearly KRW22.91 billion (US$16.7 million), the firm said in a Monday filing to the Korea Exchange.
In the latest reporting month, table-game sales were KRW20.35 billion, down 22.0 percent sequentially. Machine-game sales were just below KRW2.56 billion, up 1.5 percent month-on-month.
Judged year-on-year, casino sales in August this year rose by 160.2 percent, said the company. Table-game sales increased by 182.3 percent from August 2021, and machine-game sales were up 60.4 percent.
The firm gave no commentary on the reasons for either change.
Cumulative casino sales for the calendar year to August 31 were KRW146.25 billion, an increase of 158.1 percent year-on-year.
South Korea has eased entry formalities for foreigners from certain places, as the nation’s tourism market seeks to recover from Covid-19 related disruption.
Grand Korea Leisure is a subsidiary of the Korea Tourism Organization, which in turn is affiliated to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
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.
In August, GKL reported a second-quarter net loss of KRW7.99 billion, slimmed from the KRW10.78-billion net loss in the previous quarter, and the KRW18.06-billion net loss in the prior-year period.
