GKL reports US$20mln loss in 2Q due to pandemic

Aug 10, 2020 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 nearly KRW23.56 billion (US$19.8 million), compared with net income of just under KRW14.72 billion in the previous quarter. The company had reported net income of KRW20.05 billion in the second quarter of 2019.

Second-quarter sales at GKL decreased by 80.2 percent year-on-year to KRW23.26 billion, the firm said in a Monday filing with its unaudited quarterly results to the Korea Exchange. Aggregate sales for the first half of 2020 stood at nearly KRW134.77 billion, down 40.5 percent from the prior-year period.

The company recorded a net loss of KRW8.84 billion for the first six months of 2020, compared with a net profit of just below KRW28.80 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.

The company experienced a 43-day shutdown of its casino operations, from March 24 until May 6, as part of South Korea’s countermeasures against the local spread of Covid-19.

Since April 1, travellers to South Korea have been required to undergo a 14-day quarantine on arrival, according to a dedicated Covid-19 information website maintained by the national government. According to industry commentary, some of the players at the country’s foreigner-only casinos are South Korean nationals that hold at least one other passport.

In a filing to the Korean bourse last week, GKL said its accumulated casino sales for the calendar year to July 31 were down 44.9 percent to KRW147.26 billion, compared to KRW267.11 billion in the first seven months of 2019.

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