Kangwon Land Inc – operator of Kangwon Land, a resort with the only casino in South Korea permitted to serve local players – saw the company’s net loss at KRW11.0 billion (US$9.2 million) in the fourth quarter to December 31, 2021, relative to the net profit at KRW20.4 billion in the previous quarter.
The latest quarterly net loss at Kangwon Land did however narrow from the KRW33.3-billion net in the same period a year ago.
The data issued on Thursday to the Korea Exchange, took the casino operator’s full-year 2021 net loss to KRW10.6 billion, a reduction of 96.2 percent when compared to 2020’s net loss at just under KRW275.9 billion. That is according to the unaudited financial statement for fiscal year 2021, filed by the company on Thursday.
Kangwon Land saw an operating loss of KRW20.0 billion in the fourth quarter, narrowed from the operating loss of KRW76.1 billion in the prior-year period. The company’s full-year 2021 operating loss was KRW52.7 billion, as compared to the operating loss of KRW431.6 billion in 2020.
The casino operator’s fourth-quarter sales reached nearly KRW242.1 billion, down 1.3 percent sequentially, but up 84.4 percent from KRW131.3-billion a year ago. The company achieved KRW788.4 billion in sales for the whole of 2021, up 64.7 percent year-on-year.
Gaming sales in the fourth quarter were KRW214.8 billion, up by 83.3 percent from KRW117.2 billion in the prior-year period. Measured sequentially, fourth-quarter gaming sales were only up by 0.8 percent. Kangwon Land’s gaming sales for 2021 reached KRW697.0 billion, up by 72.4 percent year-on-year.
Gross gaming revenue (GGR) for the fourth quarter was KRW236.9 billion. That was flat relative to the previous quarter, but up 87.5 percent from the prior-year period.
Of the fourth-quarter GGR, a total of KRW98.1 billion came from mass gaming tables, and another KRW96.1 billion came from slot machines. The property’s ‘Membership Club’ – a reference to a facility for premium players – generated KRW42.8 billion for the fourth quarter. Except for GGR generated from the membership facility, both the mass gaming table segment and the slot machine segment saw sequential growth.
Fourth-quarter non-gaming sales were KRW27.3 billion, down by 15.3 percent sequentially but up by 93.6 percent when compared to the prior-year quarter. Full-year 2021 non-gaming sales reached KRW91.4 billion, representing a 23.1-percent rise year-on-year.
During the fourth quarter, Kangwon Land received 303,341 visitors, up by 147.6 percent year-on-year, and by 19.3 percent sequentially, according to the firm’s results release. Kangwon Land’s visitors were mostly locals.
