S.Korea op GKL casino sales reach US$304mln in 2023

Jan 03, 2024 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck  

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Grand Korea Leisure Co Ltd (GKL), an operator in South Korea of foreigner-only casinos, reported casino sales of KRW397.35 billion (US$303.8 million) for calendar year 2023. That was up 49.8 percent from the previous year, according to a Wednesday filing to the Korea Exchange.

Table-game sales were approximately KRW360.25 billion, up 50.8 percent from the prior year. Machine-game sales were just above KRW37.10 billion, 41.3-percent higher from 2022.

The company’s cumulative amount of “drop” – money paid by customers to purchase gaming chips for table games and slots – stood just above KRW3.39 trillion for full-year 2023, up 70.8 percent year-on-year, according to the firm’s filing.

Grand Korea Leisure runs three foreigner-only Seven Luck-branded casinos: two in the capital Seoul, including in Gangnam, and one in the southeastern port city of Busan. The company is a subsidiary of the Korea Tourism Organization, which in turn is affiliated to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

In December, casino sales rose by 25.3 percent month-on-month, to KRW34.95 billion. The latest monthly tally was up 14.4 percent from the prior-year period.

Table-game sales for the last month of 2023 were approximately KRW31.97 billion, up 28.5 percent sequentially, and a 12.7-percent increase from a year ago. Machine-game sales in December were just above KRW2.98 billion, 1.0-percent lower from November, but up 36.7 percent from a year earlier.

The company gave no commentary on the reasons for either change.

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