Kangwon Land extends closure, ups expected loss

Mar 16, 2020 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck  

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Kangwon Land, the only casino resort in South Korea where the country’s nationals are allowed to gamble, has decided to extend – for a fourth time – the temporary closure of its gaming venue. It now says it will reopen at 6am on March 23.

The original closure was described by the resort’s promoter, Kangwon Land Inc, as a precautionary measure related to an outbreak of Covid-19 infections in that country. Non-gaming facilities at Kangwon Land (pictured) will also be closed until March 22, according to a Friday filing to the Korea Exchange.

The Covid-19 virus outbreak – recorded first in mainland China – has now been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, with infections across the Asia-Pacific region and the globe.

Kangwon Land Inc had originally announced a temporary closure of the casino from noon on February 23 until 6am on February 26, and then extended that on three consecutive occasions, the latest extension running until Monday (March 16).

The firm said in Friday’s filing – at the time it flagged the fourth extension to the closure – that it was anticipating its lost casino sales to amount to KRW106.6 billion (US$88.0 million) from the start of the casino closure on February 23. The estimate was based on Kangwon Land’s daily casino revenue in full-year 2019, added the scheme’s promoter.

The company said that non-gaming operation losses for March 2 until March 22 were expected to amount to an additional KRW11.0 billion.

As of Sunday, South Korea had recorded 8,162 case of coronavirus-related infection and 75 deaths, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As new cases are continuing to emerge in small clusters across South Korea, the body called for “stronger prevention measures,” especially in “public spaces and facilities used by many people,” according to a Sunday statement.

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