Paradise Co Ltd, an operator of foreigner-only casinos in South Korea, reported net income of KRW31.13 billion (US$22.1 million) for the first quarter of 2025, a 20.0-percent increase from a year earlier.
Revenue for the first three months of 2025 rose by 7.0 percent year-on-year, to KRW283.31 billion, according to a Monday filing to the Korea Exchange
First-quarter earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 11.7 percent year-on-year to nearly KRW76.05 billion. Measured sequentially, they were up 97.8 percent.
Group-wide casino sales in the reporting quarter amounted to nearly KRW115.55 billion, up 13.0 percent from a year ago, and a 11.0-percent increase sequentially.
Paradise Co attributed the higher casino sales to a “higher hold rate”, up 2.0 percentage points 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.
Walkerhill continued to be a main contributor to Paradise Co’s overall casino sales, with casino sales in the first quarter amounting to about KRW95.0 billion, according to a separate presentation deck on Monday.
The company said sales from “integrated resort” operations – from its venture with Japan’s Sega Sammy Holdings Inc at the Paradise City resort (pictured) at Incheon – increased 5.2 percent from the prior-year period, to about KRW139.18 billion.
The bulk of the sales were generated from casino operations. Such sales in the reporting quarter amounted to just under KRW110.10 billion, up 7.3 percent year-on-year.
Paradise City saw an increase in both the drop amount and hold rate in the opening quarter of 2025, stated the company.
Paradise City’s third-quarter EBITDA reached KRW42.45 billion, a 4.0-percent year-on-year increase.
In mid-March Paradise Co announced a plan to invest KRW575.0 billion to build a new hotel in eastern Seoul’s Jangchung neighbourhood. The aim is for the new hotel to open in 2028.
The casino firm also said it plans to increase its revenue “by more than 10 percent” annually through to 2027. That is part of its “plan to increase corporate value” for investors – also referred to by Paradise Co as its “Value Up” plan, according to a statement issued by the casino group.
