GGRAsia – S. Korean casino op GKL sees 1Q profit slide 51pct

S. Korean casino op GKL sees 1Q profit slide 51pct

May 09, 2019 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck

First-quarter net income at Grand Korea Leisure Ltd (GKL), a South Korean operator of foreigner-only casinos, fell by 51.3 percent year-on-year, to just under KRW8.46 billion (US$7.16 million), compared to KRW17.35 billion in the prior-year period.

First-quarter sales at GKL slipped by 10.5 percent year on-year, the firm said in a Thursday filing to the Korea Exchange.

Such sales for the three months to March 31 were nearly KRW109.2 billion, compared to KRW121.9 billion in the same period in 2018.

The firm didn’t give information on the reason for the wide difference between the relatively modest year-on-year decline in first-quarter sales, versus the decline in net income for the period.

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.

Operating income for the group in the first three months of 2019 was down 47.3 percent, at KRW16.55 billion, compared KRW31.39 billion in the same period in 2018.

Net profit before income tax, from continuing operations, was down 51.9 percent year-on-year, at just under KRW11.09 billion.

Also on Thursday, GKL filed its April operating numbers to the South Korean bourse.

They showed that casino sales overall were down 0.4 percent year-on-year at just under KRW39.35 billion, but this figure was down 5.7 percent judged month-on-month. April table game sales were KRW34.57 billion, a dip of 6.8 percent compared to March but up 0.9 percent year-on-year. Machine game sales were actually up 3.3 percent sequentially in April, although down 9.3 percent judged year-on-year, at KRW4.77 billion.

For the first four months of 2019, casino sales were down 8.6 percent year-on-year, at just under KRW147.6 billion. Table game sales slipped 9.4 percent, to about KRW128.7 billion, while machine game sales for the calendar year to April 30 were down 2.6 percent, at just below KRW18.86 billion.