Casino sales at Grand Korea Leisure Co Ltd (GKL), an operator in South Korea of foreigner-only casinos, rose by 437.2 percent year-on-year in February, to just above KRW36.77 billion (US$28.3 million), the firm said in a Friday filing to the Korea Exchange. The latest monthly tally was up 14.6 percent month-on-month.
In the latest reporting month, table-game sales were nearly KRW34.32 billion, up 524.8 percent from the prior-year period, and a 18.1-percent increase sequentially. Machine-game sales were just below KRW2.46 billion, up 81.7 percent from a year ago, but down 18.6 percent month-on-month.
The firm gave no commentary on the reasons for either change.
The company runs three foreigner-only Seven Luck-branded casinos: two in the capital Seoul, including in Gangnam (pictured), and one in the southeastern port city of Busan.
In February, the firm’s casino table ‘drop’ – the amount paid by customers to purchase chips – reached KRW209.57 billion, up 153.3 percent from a year earlier, though down 23.1 percent month-on-month.
Grand Korea Leisure’s casino sales for full-year 2022 rose by 196.0 percent year-on-year, to nearly KRW265.17 billion.
The casino operator reported a net loss of KRW22.74 billion for full-year 2022, compared to a KRW113.27-billion loss in 2021. That was on a full-year sales tally that rose 208.1 percent year-on-year, to KRW262.11 billion.
