GKL narrows 2Q net loss to US$15.5mln as sales jump

Aug 12, 2021 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck  

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Grand Korea Leisure Ltd (GKL), a South Korean operator of foreigner-only casinos, reported a second-quarter net loss of KRW18.06 billion (US$15.5 million), compared with a loss of nearly KRW23.56 billion in the prior-year period. The company had reported a net loss of about KRW37.43 billion in the first quarter of 2021.

Second-quarter sales at GKL soared by 41.8 percent year-on-year to about KRW32.98 billion, the firm said in a Thursday filing with its unaudited quarterly results to the Korea Exchange. It was a 525.8-percent increase from the first three months of 2021, when the company’s casino venues were closed for extended periods.

The company reported an operating loss of approximately KRW25.90 billion for the three months to June 30, compared with an operating loss of just above KRW32.10 billion a year earlier.

GKL is a subsidiary of the Korea Tourism Organization, which in turn is affiliated to South Korea’s 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 a filing to the Korean bourse last week, GKL said its July casino sales fell by 48.5 percent month-on-month, to KRW7.57 billion.

The company paused casino operations at its two Seoul properties a few times during July, as a pandemic countermeasure.

In the first seven months of 2021, Grand Korea Leisure’s casino sales were just under KRW47.86 billion, a dip of 67.5 percent from a year earlier.

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