South Korea’s only casino at which locals are permitted to gamble, Kangwon Land, reported gross gaming revenue of KRW305.4 billion (US$220 million) in the three months to 30 June 2024, up 3.8% year-on-year but down 3.4% compared with Q1.
The year-on-year improvement was derived from Kangwon Land’s VIP Membership Club, where GGR grew by 91.5% to KRW51.0 billion (US$36.7 million). By comparison, mass tables declined by 7.5% to KRW146.5 billion (US$105 million) and slot machines by 1.2% to KRW133.6 billion (US$96.2 million).
Total drop amount of KRW1.35 trillion (US$972 million) was down 5.1% and largely in line with the 5.2% decline in casino visitors to 546,187.
Compared with the March 2024 quarter, Membership Club GGR was up 9.2%, mass tables down 9.1% and slot machines down 3.3%.
Kangwon Land reported a net profit of KRW149.8 billion (US$108 million) for the quarter, up 59.5% year-on-year.
The company’s 2Q24 results come with Kangwon Land preparing to embark on a comprehensive KRW2.5 trillion (US$1.9 billion) renovation and expansion project that will include a new luxury casino, a hotel and additional leisure facilities.
The project will see KRW1.8 trillion (US$1.34 billion) of the total investment spent on developing a new casino and a cultural complex and KRW270 billion (US$201 million) on a new hotel. Kangwon Land will also expand its non-gaming facilities by revamping walking trails around the casino complex, building a wellness center and developing a luxury pool villa, among other amenities.
As part of the expansion project, gaming space at Kangwon Land will increase from 15,486 square meters presently to 49,500 square meters with the goal of “addressing the current chronic shortage of [player] seats in the venue,” as per recent comments from interim CEO Choi Cheol-Gyu.
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