Paradise Co Ltd, an operator of foreigner-only casinos in South Korea, reported net profit attributable to shareholders of KRW6.99 billion (US$5.3 million) for the first quarter, according to a Wednesday filing to the Korea Exchange. That was an improvement on the KRW4.05-billion loss in the previous three months, and on the KRW28.58-billion loss in the first quarter of last year.
The casino firm reported first-quarter sales of almost KRW191.52 billion, down 0.9 percent sequentially, and a 92.0-percent increase from the prior-year period.
In a separate presentation published on Wednesday, the company said “casino sales” in the first three months of 2023 increased 19.7 percent quarter-on-quarter, to just below KRW70.97 billion. They were up almost 129.0 percent from a year earlier.
“Casino sales” referred to the three casino venues Paradise Co runs directly: Walkerhill in Seoul; Paradise Jeju on Jeju island; and a property in the port city of Busan.
Sales from “integrated resort” operations – from its venture with Japan’s Sega Sammy Holdings Inc at the Paradise City resort (pictured) at Incheon – declined 9.5 percent quarter-on-quarter, to just above KRW91.26 billion. Judged year-on-year, such sales doubled.
The integrated resort sales figure incorporates casino, hotel and theme park sales at Paradise City.
Group-wide cost of sales in the three months to March 31 were KRW156.05 billion, down by less than 1.1 percent sequentially, but jumping by 37.7 percent in year-on-year terms.
Cost of sales for the Paradise Sega Sammy combined venture went up 62.0 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, to KRW74.06 billion. Such cost had stood at approximately KRW77.98 billion in the final three months of 2022.
Paradise Co’s operating income for the reporting period was KRW19.02 billion, up 4.3 percent from the preceding quarter. It compared with an operating loss of KRW25.53 billion in the first quarter of 2022.
