South Korean foreigner-only casino operators Grand Korea Leisure (GKL) and Paradise Co continued their recovery through February, booking significant increases over the prior year period according to information filed with the Korea Exchange.
February saw GKL book casino revenue of KRW36.8 billion (US$28.4 million), representing a 437% year-on-year increase and 14.6% higher than January. This was driven by an 18.1% increase in table games revenue to KRW34.3 billion (US$26.5 million) – enough to overcome an 18.6% decline in machine revenue to KRW2.46 billion (US$1.9 million).
For the first two months of 2023 combined, casino revenue is 316% higher than the corresponding period last year at KRW68.9 billion (US$53.2 million).
GKL, which runs three casinos in Seoul and Busan under the Seven Luck brand, reported a 23.1% decline in table drop to KRW209.6 billion (US$162 million) in February when compared with January although the figure was 153% higher than February 2022.
At Paradise Co, operator of Paradise City in Incheon plus Paradise Walkerhill in Seoul, Jeju Grand and Busan Casino Paradise, February casino revenue fell by 7.2% on January to KRW44.7 billion (US$34.5 million) although this was still 163% higher year-on-year. Table games revenue was down 5.1% sequentially to KRW42.3 billion (US$32.6 million) and machine revenue by 33.2% to KRW2.36 billion (US$1.8 million).
February table drop of KRW362.4 billion (US$280 million) was also down 23.9% on January although table drop for January and February combined was 267% higher year-on-year.
Likewise, Paradise reported combined casino revenue for the first two months of 2023 of KRW92.8 billion (US$71.6 million) – an increase of 164% over the same period in 2022.