Paradise Co Ltd, an operator of foreigner-only casinos in South Korea, reported net income attributable to shareholders of nearly KRW25.94 billion (US$19.0 million) for the first quarter of 2024, according to a filing published on Thursday.
Such income was up 271.1 percent from the prior-year period, and compared with a net loss of KRW9.10 billion in the final quarter of 2023.
The casino firm had first-quarter aggregate sales of KRW264.77 billion, up 38.2 percent from a year earlier, and a 9.5-percent increase quarter-on-quarter.
Paradise Co reported operating profit of KRW48.40 billion for the opening quarter of 2024, up 154.5 percent year-on-year. The figure was 228.7-percent higher from the preceding quarter.
The casino firm reported first-quarter earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) of just under KRW68.13 billion, up 62.4 percent from a year ago. The EBITDA figure rose by 96.3 percent sequentially.
The company stated that its aggregate casino sales in the three months to March 31 rose by 44.1 percent year-on-year, to KRW102.27 billion. They were up 9.0 percent from the final quarter of 2023.
Casino-sales numbers were for the three gaming venues Paradise Co runs directly: Walkerhill in Seoul; Paradise Jeju, on Jeju island; and a property in the port city of Busan.
The company said in a separate presentation deck on Thursday that it achieved in the first three months of 2024, the “highest ever” quarterly table drop.
Table drop in its mass-market segment and by Japanese VIP patrons – the latter an important source of players for Paradise Co – were “better than” pre-Covid levels, it added.
Sales from “integrated resort” operations – from its venture with Japan’s Sega Sammy Holdings Inc at the Paradise City resort (pictured) at Incheon – increased 45.0 percent from the prior-year period, to about KRW132.32 billion. Judged quarter-on-quarter, such sales grew by 14.7 percent.
The integrated resort sales figure incorporates casino, hotel and theme park sales at Paradise City. Casino sales at Paradise City stood at KRW102.58 billion in the three months to March 31, up 61.8 percent year-on-year, and a 21.3-percent increase sequentially.
The Paradise City property generated EBITDA of KRW43.07 billion, up 78.4 percent from a year earlier, and an increase of 176.7 percent quarter-on-quarter.
In March, Paradise Co said its shareholders approved its planned delisting from the country’s KOSDAQ stock index, and relocation to the main bourse, KOSPI.
