GGRAsia – S. Korea casino op GKL sees 4Q 2018 net income halved

S. Korea casino op GKL sees 4Q 2018 net income halved

Feb 11, 2019 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck

South Korea’s Grand Korea Leisure Co Ltd (GKL), an operator of foreigner-only casinos in that country, said its fourth-quarter net income fell by 51.8 percent year-on-year to approximately KRW6.85 billion (US$6.1 million).

The firm stated net income for full calendar-year 2018 declined by 3.5 percent to KRW77.74 billion.

Aggregate revenue for the final three months of 2018 stood at KRW111.84 billion, down 12.4 percent from the prior-year period. The firm’s operating income in the period was KRW8.09 billion, representing a 55.9 percent year-on-year decrease.

The firm did not give commentary on the quarterly results filed with the Korea Exchange on Monday.

GKL is a subsidiary of the Korea Tourism Organization, which in turn is affiliated to South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The casino operating entity runs three foreigner-only casinos in South Korea under the Seven Luck brand: two in the capital Seoul and one in the southern port city of Busan.

GKL appointed in June Yoo Tae-Yeol as its new chief executive.

Last week the firm said it had recorded for last month casino sales of approximately KRW34.71 billion, down 23.7 percent from the prior-year period. Judged month-on-month, January casino sales declined 3.8 percent compared to December.

The year-on-year decrease in casino sales was largely due to a 26.1-percent decline in table game sales during the month of January, to nearly KRW29.95 billion. Machine game sales also decreased, by 4.4 percent year-on-year, to about KRW4.77 billion, the firm said in a filing to the Korea Exchange.