South Korea casino operator GKL 2Q profit dips 60pct q-o-q

Aug 08, 2023 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck  

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Grand Korea Leisure Co Ltd (GKL), an operator in South Korea of foreigner-only casinos, posted in the second quarter a 60.3 percent sequential decline in net profit attributable to the shareholders.

Such profit for the three months to June 30 was KRW8.58 billion (US$6.5 million), compared to KRW21.60 billion in the first quarter. Measured year-on-year, second-quarter profit was up 7.6 percent.

For the whole of the first half, such profit was KRW30.18 billion, versus a net loss of KRW18.77 billion in the prior-year period, according to a Tuesday filing to the Korea Exchange.

The firm did not give commentary on the reasons for the overall second quarter performance.

Grand Korea Leisure 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.

The group is a subsidiary of the Korea Tourism Organization, which in turn is affiliated to South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Second-quarter sales for Grand Korea Leisure were KRW100.23 billion, down 8.2 percent sequentially, but up 108.5 percent year-on-year.

Table-game sales in the three months to June 30 dipped 8.6 percent sequentially, to KRW90.62 billion. The figure was up 115.3 percent from a year earlier.

Second-quarter slot sales rose 17.5 percent sequentially, to KRW9.87 billion. Such sales were up 55.2 percent from second-quarter 2022.

The total amount of casino drop – for table games and slot machine games combined – for the second quarter was actually up 10.9 percent sequentially, at KRW836.01 billion.  Combined drop increased by 116.1 percent year-on-year.

Second-quarter table drop was KRW757.11 billion, a sequential gain of 11.4 percent on the first quarter, and 126.0-percent higher than a year ago.

Most of the second-quarter table drop – a total of KRW580.43 billion – was from VIP play. The single largest VIP segment was Japanese players, accounting for KRW236.14 billion in table drop. Chinese players contributed KRW159.06 billion of second-quarter table drop.

Second-quarter mass-market table drop was KRW176.68 billion, up 6.8 percent sequentially from the first quarter.

In a separate presentation published on Tuesday, Grand Korea Leisure said it planned to boost its efforts to attract more “overseas VIP casino customers” during the second half this year. That included strengthening its marketing activities in the Japanese cities of Tokyo and Osaka, as well as expanding its marketing efforts in Taiwan, Mongolia, and Southeast Asia.

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