GGRAsia – Paradise Co casino rev falls 86pct amid Covid-19 ops closure

Paradise Co casino rev falls 86pct amid Covid-19 ops closure

May 07, 2020 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck

Casino revenue at Paradise Co Ltd, a South Korean operator of foreigner-only casinos, fell 86.1 percent year-on-year in April, the firm said in a Thursday filing to the Korea Exchange. Such revenue was approximately KRW7.93 billion (US$6.5 million), compared to KRW57.13 billion in April 2019.

The casino revenue tally for April was down 57.8 percent when judged month-on-month, said the operator.

Paradise Co’s gaming operations are at: Walkerhill in Seoul; Jeju Grand on Jeju Island; Busan Casino in the southern port city of Busan; and Paradise City (pictured), in Incheon, near the main international airport serving the country’s capital Seoul.

Paradise Co had said it was closing down on March 24 its four casino sites for two weeks, in line with the country’s effort at curbing the further spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. Some of the company’s non-gaming offerings – such as entertainment venues – were also closed.

The firm reopened its casino on Jeju island on April 13. It resumed operations at its remaining three gaming venues on April 20.

In April, table revenue at Paradise Co was below KRW6.91 billion, down 87.1 percent from the prior-year period. Gaming machine revenue was down 71.7 percent year-on-year, at KRW1.02 billion.

Paradise Co’s accumulated casino revenue for the first four months of 2020 stood at KRW162.24 billion, down 25.8 percent from a year earlier.

Accumulated table revenue in the January to April period declined 25.1 percent year-on-year, to KRW152.34 billion. The running total for gaming machine revenue was KRW9.90 billion, down 34.2 percent from the prior-year period.

South Korea is praised by international experts as one of the first countries in the world to bring a major Covid-19 outbreak under control. New cases in the country peaked at 909 on February 28 and have gradually diminished since. According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of the start of Thursday, South Korea had recorded only two new cases in the previous 24 hours.