GGRAsia – Paradise Co casino sales fall 61pct amid S.Korea virus fear

Paradise Co casino sales fall 61pct amid S.Korea virus fear

Apr 03, 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 60.5 percent year-on-year in March, the firm said in a Thursday filing to the Korea Exchange. Such revenue was nearly KRW19.73 billion (US$16.1 million), compared to KRW49.94 billion in March 2019.

The casino revenue tally for March was down 69.2 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.

In March, table revenue was just below KRW18.60 billion, down 60.3 percent from the prior-year period. Gaming machine revenue was down 63.0 percent year-on-year, at KRW1.13 billion.

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 – have also been closed, while hotel operations remain open, despite the widespread restrictions regionally and globally on travel and tourism.

Paradise City’s official website has since carried a posting to say that several of the resort’s non-gaming facilities – the Wonderbox theme park and the Cimer spa – will stay shuttered until May 1. The club Chroma will remain closed until further notice.

South Korea confirmed 89 new cases of the Covid-19 infection as of Thursday, according to data from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It brought the total number of infections in the nation up to that point to 9,976.

Paradise Co’s accumulated casino revenue for the first three months of 2020 stood at KRW155.23 billion, down 3.8 percent from a year earlier.

Accumulated table revenue in the first quarter declined 2.4 percent year-on-year, to KRW146.35 billion. The running total for gaming machine revenue was KRW8.88 billion, down 22.4 percent from the first quarter of 2019.