May sales at Grand Korea Leisure Co Ltd (GKL), an operator in South Korea of foreigner-only casinos, fell 9.2 percent month-on-month, to approximately KRW29.45 billion (US$21.47 million). A market rival in the foreigner-only sector, Paradise Co Ltd, reported May casino revenue of nearly KRW78.67 billion, a 5.2-percent decline from April.
GKL’s casino sales in May were up by 16.3 percent year-on-year. The firm’s table-game sales in May were just above KRW26.61 billion, down 9.6 percent sequentially and up 21.7 percent year-on-year.
Machine-game sales were down 5.5 percent sequentially to KRW2.84 billion, a decline by 17.9 percent from a year ago.
For the first five calendar months of 2024, overall casino sales at GKL were almost KRW155.55 billion, down 12.8 percent year-on-year. No commentary was given on the reasons for the deterioration in sales.
May’s casino table drop – money exchanged for chips – was KRW325.25 billion, up 1.8 percent sequentially and 13.1 percent year-on-year. The May tally took the casino drop for the for the first five months this year to approximately KRW1.56 trillion, an increase of 16.7 percent year-on-year.
GKL operates three foreigner-only Seven Luck-branded casinos. Two are in the capital Seoul, and one is in the southeastern port city of Busan. The company is a subsidiary of the Korea Tourism Organization, which is affiliated with South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
For Paradise Co, May casino revenue – which stood at nearly KRW78.67 billion – was down 5.2 percent sequentially, and rose by 14.8 percent from a year earlier.
Table game revenue in May was nearly KRW74.56 billion, down by 4.6 percent month-on-month, but up by 16.3 percent from a year ago. Machine game revenue in May was KRW4.11 billion, down 14.6 percent sequentially and also down by 7.3 percent from a year ago.
No commentary is provided in the company’s monthly updates, on factors affecting revenue variations.
The latest reported numbers took Paradise Co’s aggregate casino revenue for the first five months of this year to nearly KRW368.45 billion, an increase of 43.4 percent year-on-year.
Paradise Co’s latest casino figures are based on the results of four venues it operates in its casino business division. They are: Walkerhill (pictured) 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.
Paradise Co’s May table drop ws just over KRW605.60 billion, up by 7.0 percent sequentially and by 15.2 percent year-on-year. The latest monthly tally took the firm’s table drop for the January to May period to KRW2.90 trillion, up by 25.8 percent year-on-year.
