GGRAsia – S.Korea’s Paradise Co 1H casino revenue down 21pct

S.Korea’s Paradise Co 1H casino revenue down 21pct

Jul 05, 2017 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck

South Korean casino operator Paradise Co Ltd saw its casino revenue fall 20.7 percent year-on-year in the six months to June 30.

Paradise Co’s casino revenue for the first half of 2017 reached approximately KRW241.7 billion (US$210.3 million), compared to the nearly KRW304.7 billion in the prior-year period, the company said in a filing to the Korea Exchange on Wednesday.

Table game sales in the reporting period fell 21.6 percent year-on-year to approximately KRW224.8 billion, from nearly KRW286.8 billion in first half of 2016. Machine game sales declined 5.4 percent in the first six months of this year to just over KRW16.9 billion.

Paradise Co’s casino figures are based on the results of four venues it operates, all foreigner-only casinos, namely: Walkerhill (pictured) in Seoul; Jeju Grand on Jeju Island; Busan Casino in the southern port city of Busan; and Paradise City, in Incheon, near the main international airport serving the country’s capital Seoul.

The first phase of Paradise City – a venture between Paradise Co and Japanese pachinko operator Sega Sammy Holdings Inc – opened on April 20.

In the first six months of 2017, casino drop – measured as the amount of cash exchanged for chips by customers at casino tables – was down 4.5 percent year-on-year, at nearly KRW2.32 trillion, said Paradise Co.

For the month of June, casino revenue fell 27.6 percent year-on-year, to KRW36.9 billion. The company reported revenue of approximately KRW34 billion from table game sales, down 29.0 percent from the prior-year period. Revenue from machine game sales declined 5.7 percent last month to nearly KRW3.1 billion.

Paradise Co in May reported profit of approximately KRW1.27 billion for the three months ended March 31, down 92 percent from the prior-year period.