Profit at Kangwon Land Inc, operator of South Korea’s only casino resort open to locals, rose by 2.9 percent year-on-year in 2016 according to a filing on Wednesday to the Korea Exchange.
It amounted to KRW454.59 billion (US$398.2 million), on total annual sales that were up 3.8 percent, to nearly KRW1.70 trillion.
But profit for the final quarter of the year fell 31.4 percent, to KRW63.75 billion, compared to KRW92.97 billion in the prior-year period. The filing gave no commentary on the reason for the year-on-year dip in fourth-quarter profit.
Annual operating income for Kangwon Land was KRW618.62 billion, an increase of 3.9 percent on 2015.
In the fourth quarter-only, sales rose 1 percent from the prior-year period, to nearly KRW410.03 billion.
South Korea currently has 17 casinos, with an 18th due to open in April; but the country’s nationals are only allowed to gamble at Kangwon Land casino resort (pictured) in an upland area of Kangwon province – 150 kilometres (93 miles) from Seoul.
