S. Korea’s Paradise Co casino sales down 12 pct in 1Q

Apr 07, 2015 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck  

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South Korean gaming operator Paradise Co Ltd said sales from its casino business division decreased 11.6 percent in the first quarter of 2015 compared with the prior-year period, to KRW133.3 billion (US$122.2 million).

The drop was caused by sales from table games, which were down 12.9 percent year-on-year, to KRW124.6 billion, the firm said in a regulatory filing on Monday, quoting preliminary figures.

Paradise Co did not provide a reason for the decrease in sales from table games.

Sales from machine games jumped 12.2 percent during the same period, but from a modest base, reaching KRW8.8 billion.

Paradise Co’s casino business division includes the Walkerhill (pictured), Jeju Grand and Incheon casino properties. The company operates two other gaming venues: Paradise Casino Busan and Paradise Casino Jeju Lotte. The five properties, all within the country, are only permitted to host foreign gamblers.

Table drop – defined by the company as “the amount of cash exchanged for chips by customers at the table” – decreased by 22.7 percent year-on-year in the first three months of 2015, to KRW1.1 trillion, Paradise Co said.

The casino operator broke ground in November at the site of its planned US$1.7 billion Paradise City scheme at Incheon, to be developed in partnership with Japan’s Sega Sammy Holdings Inc.

Paradise Co posted a 4.2-percent profit drop in 2014 from a year earlier, despite an 8.7 percent increase in revenue that was fuelled, it said, by Chinese high rollers.

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