Paradise Co Ltd, an operator of foreigner-only casinos in South Korea, reported a net loss attributable to shareholders of KRW5.30 billion (US$3.97 million) for the three months to December 31, according to a filing published on Thursday. That compared to a KRW35.26-billion profit in the preceding quarter, and a KRW4.05-billion loss a year earlier.
The casino firm had fourth-quarter aggregate sales of almost KRW241.81 billion, down 15.3 percent sequentially, but a 25.2-percent increase from the prior-year period.
Paradise Co reported operating profit of KRW14.73 billion for the final three months of 2023, down 74.2 percent quarter-on-quarter. The figure was a 19.2-percent decline from a year earlier. The firm had generated its “highest ever quarterly operating profit” in the three months to September 30.
The firm said its fourth-quarter operating profit fell mainly because of “heightened cost pressures due to an increasing number of visitors” during the reporting period. Cost of sales for the period stood at KRW208.58 billion, up 1.1 percent sequentially, and a 32.2-percent increase from a year ago.
The company stated that its aggregate casino sales in the October to December period declined by 19.0 percent quarter-on-quarter, to KRW93.84 billion. They were up 58.2 percent from a year earlier.
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.
Paradise Co reported fourth-quarter earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) of just above KRW34.70 billion, down 55.0 percent sequentially. The EBITDA figure was down 17.4 percent from a year ago.
Sales from “integrated resort” operations – from its venture with Japan’s Sega Sammy Holdings Inc at the Paradise City resort (pictured) at Incheon – decreased 13.0 percent quarter-on-quarter, to about KRW115.39 billion. Judged year-on-year, such sales increased 14.5 percent.
The integrated resort sales figure incorporates casino, hotel and theme park sales at Paradise City. Casino sales at Paradise City stood at KRW84.55 billion in the three months to December 31, down 13.6 percent sequentially, but a 17.6-percent increase from the prior-year period.
The Paradise City property generated EBITDA of KRW15.56 billion, down 56.5 percent quarter-on-quarter, and a decrease of 43.8 percent year-on-year.
For full-year 2023, overall sales stood at nearly KRW994.20 billion, up 69.2 percent from the prior year. Casino sales rose 117.8 percent year-on-year, to KRW415.01 billion.
Paradise Co reported full-year EBITDA of KRW228.77 billion, up 23.0 percent from the prior year, and net profit of KRW66.36 billion, a 164.3-percent increase year-on-year.
