Korea’s Paradise, GKL finish 2022 on a high as casino sales surge in December
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South Korea’s leading foreigner-only casino operators, Paradise Co and Grand Korea Leisure (GKL), have this week reported major gains in casino revenue for FY22 – aided by a strong finish to the year in December.
In separate filings with the Korea Exchange, Paradise reported casino revenue of KRW350.7 billion (US$274 million) for the year to 31 December 2022, representing a 40.5% increase over the previous year.
The improvement included a 60.7% year-on-year increase in revenue in December to KRW47.9 billion (US$37.5 million), up 21.6% on November, of which table games revenue grew 61% year-on-year to KRW44.9 billion (US$35 million).
Table drop in December was 27.4% higher than in November at KRW467.7 billion (US$366 million) while FY22 drop increased 68.5% over 2021 to KRW2.88 trillion (US$2.25 billion).
Paradise operates Paradise Walkerhill in Seoul, Jeju Grand, Busan Casino Paradise and Paradise City in Incheon.
At GKL, which operates three casinos in Seoul and Busan, FY22 sales climbed 196% year-on-year to KRW265.2 billion on the back of a 163.6% increase in drop amount to KRW1.99 trillion.
It also booked improved results in December, with casino revenue rising 201.4% year-on-year and 8.3% sequentially to KRW30.5 billion.
Both GKL and Paradise finished 2022 strongly after authorities dropped a mandatory hotel quarantine requirement for unvaccinated international visitors from 8 June 2022 and resumed the issuance of tourist visas for the first time in more than two years on 1 June 2022.
