Paradise Co Ltd and Grand Korea Leisure Co Ltd (GKL) operators of foreigner-only casinos in South Korea, each saw in April a month-on-month and year-on-year increase in casino revenue, according to their respective financial statements filed to the Korea Exchange on Wednesday.
Paradise Co’s April casino revenue rose by 216.2 percent year-on-year, to approximately KRW54.49 billion (US$40.7 million). The result was also up by 30.1 percent month-on-month.
Paradise Co’s April table games revenue jumped by 239.8 percent year-on-year, to nearly KRW50.67 billion. Compared to March’s result, it rose by 32.5 percent. April gaming machine revenue was up 64.9 percent year-on-year and 5.3 percent sequentially, to KRW3.82 billion.
The latest monthly updates put Paradise Co’s aggregate casino revenue for the first four months of this year to approximately KRW188.86 billion, up 166.0 percent from the prior-year period.
Paradise Co’s table drop – the amount of cash exchanged for chips by customers at the table – for the first four months of 2023 rose 268.9 percent year-on-year, to just over KRW1.78 trillion. In April, the firm’s casino table drop was close to KRW516.8 billion, a 21.5-percent improvement month-on-month and a jump of 318.1 percent from the prior-year period.
Paradise Co’s latest casino figures are based on the results of four venues it operates in its casino business division. They are: Walkerhill 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.
Market rival Grand Korea Leisure saw April casino sales grow by 689.9 percent year-on-year to nearly KRW45.61 billion. The latest monthly tally was up 17.9 percent month-on-month.
In the latest reporting month, Grand Korea Leisure’s table-game sales were approximately KRW42.22 billion, up 1,027.2 percent from the prior-year period, and up 18.0-percent sequentially. April machine-game sales were just over KRW3.38 billion, up 66.8 percent from a year ago, and 15.8-percent higher month-on-month.
Grand Korea Leisure’s latest monthly data push the firm’s aggregate casino sales for the first four months to KRW153.16 billion, up 194.2 percent from the prior-year period.
Grand Korea Leisure’s casino table drop for the first four months reached KRW1.05 trillion, a rise of 166.8 percent year-on-year. In April, the firm’s casino table drop was close to KRW296.3 billion, a 9.0-percent improvement month-on-month and a jump of 182.1 percent from the prior-year period.
The company runs three foreigner-only Seven Luck-branded casinos: two in the capital Seoul, including in Gangnam, and one in Busan. The company is a subsidiary of the Korea Tourism Organization, which in turn is affiliated to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
