Paradise Co Ltd is likely to have a soft opening on March 8 next year for a hotel wing of the Grand Hyatt Incheon the casino company is in the process of acquiring.
That is according to an English-language report in Chosun Biz, a South Korean news outlet.
Paradise Co, an operator of foreigner-only casinos in South Korea, said in September that one of its units would pay KRW210.0 billion (US$142.5 million currently) to acquire the West Wing of the Grand Hyatt Incheon hotel (pictured). Subsequently, the casino group said the closure of the deal might be delayed to December.
Grand Hyatt Incheon is near the Paradise City casino resort, a joint venture between Paradise Co and Japan’s Sega Sammy Holdings Inc, near Incheon International Airport.
Paradise Co also runs gaming at Walkerhill, Seoul, as well as in the southern port city of Busan, and at a venue on the semi-autonomous holiday island of Jeju.
Hanwha Investment & Securities Co Ltd stated in a Monday memo, reported in Chosun Biz, that the addition of the Incheon hotel infrastructure to the group’s business, would in likelihood see a boost to the gaming firm’s casino-drop amount, i.e., the money that clients exchange for chips to play.
Park Su-young, an analyst at Hanwha, stated: “After the Hyatt [facility] opens, the capacity for comps will expand.” That was a reference to complimentary or in-kind services offered by casino operators as incentives to gamblers.
She added: “By easing the criteria for hotel comps… compared with before, it can drive solid growth in casino drop… and revenue.”
The analyst further noted that any “business expansion effect” would be “confirmed in May next year, when Japan’s Golden Week” holiday season “and China’s Labour Day” holiday period “coincide”.
She was also cited as saying regarding forecasts for Paradise Co’s fourth-quarter performance: “Considering one-off expense issues such as the temporary recognition of deferred annual labour cost increases in the fourth quarter and one-time marketing expenses, it is still hard to have high expectations for fourth-quarter operating profit.”
Nonetheless, reported Chosun Biz, citing the institution, “solid top line results are expected, including partial recovery in Japanese indicators and the inflow of new Chinese VIPs”.
Earlier this month, Paradise Co said it was pledging some shares it holds in Paradise SegaSammy Co Ltd, the operating entity of the Paradise City resort, as collateral for a KRW100-billion loan from five South Korean banks.
