Foreigner-only casino businesses Paradise Co Ltd and Grand Korea Leisure Co Ltd (GKL), operating from South Korea, each reported on Tuesday their March and first-quarter performance. GKL also confirmed in a separate filing on Monday to the Korea Exchange, shareholder approval for its 2023 final cash dividend of KRW353 (US$0.26) per share.
Paradise Co’s first-quarter casino revenue was just under KRW208.83 billion, up 55.4 percent year-on-year. First-quarter table drop amount was just under KRW1.73 trillion, a rise of 36.8 percent on the same period in 2023.
The firm reported March casino revenue at KRW54.98 billion, up 31.3 percent year-on-year, but down 31.5 percent month-on-month.
Its March table game revenue was KRW50.92 billion, up 33.1 percent from a year earlier, but down 32.8 percent sequentially. Machine game revenue was KRW4.06 billion, up 11.9 percent year-on-year, but smaller by 10.2 percent compared to February.
Paradise Co directly operates three venues: Walkerhill in Seoul; Paradise Jeju on Jeju island; and a property in the port city of Busan. It also has a venture with Japan’s Sega Sammy Holdings Inc, for the Paradise City casino resort at Incheon, near South Korea’s main airport.
GKL saw its casino revenue for the three months to March 31 fall 12.9 percent year-on-year, to just under KRW93.67 billion. Its first-quarter casino drop was KRW916.04 billion, up 21.5 percent from the same period in 2023.
For March this year, its casino revenue was KRW40.39 billion, up 19.9 percent sequentially, and a rise of 4.4 percent year-on-year,
GKL’s monthly table game revenue was just under KRW37.33 billion, a gain of 19.7 percent month-on-month, and up 4.3 percent on March 2023.
This March’s machine game revenue was KRW3.06 billion, up 22.7 percent sequentially, and a rise of 4.8 percent year-on-year.
GKL operates three foreigner-only Seven Luck-branded casinos. Two are in the capital Seoul, and one is in the southeastern port city of Busan.
The company is a subsidiary of the Korea Tourism Organization, which is affiliated with South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
