Casino sales in January at Grand Korea Leisure Co Ltd (GKL), an operator in South Korea of foreigner-only casinos, declined by 11.3 percent sequentially to KRW34.34 billion (US$23.5 million), according to an update filed to the Korea Exchange on Tuesday.
Judged year-on-year, Grand Korea Leisure’s January casino sales were up 75.3 percent.
In the reporting period, table-game sales were KRW31.41 billion, down 11.9 percent sequentially, but 90.3-percent higher than a year earlier.
Machine-game sales in January were KRW2.93 billion, down 4.3 percent from December last year and lower 5.1 percent from a year ago.
Grand Korea Leisure runs three foreigner-only, Seven Luck-branded, casinos. Two are in the capital Seoul, including one at Gangnam (pictured in a file photo). Its third is in the southeastern port city of Busan.
The company is a subsidiary of the Korea Tourism Organization, which in turn is affiliated to the country’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
In January, Grand Korea Leisure’s three casinos reported aggregate casino drop of KRW266.71 billion, a decline of 3.2 percent sequentially and 12.1 percent lower than a year ago, said the company in its Tuesday filing.
Rival firm Paradise Co Ltd, also an operator in South Korea of foreigner-only casinos, announced its January performance figures on Monday. Casino revenue went up 1.0 percent sequentially, to KRW70.42 billion, the firm said in a filing to the Korea Exchange. But January’s casino revenue declined 2.3 percent from the same month in 2024.
Paradise Co controls outright three casino venues: Paradise Walkerhill in Seoul; Paradise Jeju on Jeju island; and a property in the port city of Busan. It also has a venture with Japan’s Sega Sammy Holdings Inc for the Paradise City casino resort at Incheon, near South Korea’s main airport.
Lotte Tour Development Co Ltd – that promotes the Jeju Dream Tower casino resort on Jeju island – had also disclosed performance figures on Monday. It said casino net revenue at the property rose 23.2 percent year-on-year, to KRW29.42 billion. Such revenue was up 24.8 percent sequentially.
