Leading Japanese pachinko hall operator Okura Holdings has flagged expected losses of at least JPY300 million (US$2.6 million) for the six months to 31 December 2021, impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The loss continues a downward trend for Okura, which recorded a slight JPY36 million (US$312,000) profit in the prior year period.
The company said Monday that its recent loss was mainly attributable to impairment losses on its property, plant and equipment, intangible assets and right-of-use assets, “taking into account the adverse market conditions of the pachinko industry and the continuing uncertainty in the business performance of the Group’s pachinko halls caused by the prolonged impact of COVID-19 and its new variants in Japan.”
There were also losses on the fair value of financial assets due to market fluctuations, partially offset by gains on the release of lease liabilities after Okura closed down three of its pachinko halls from 31 August 2021.
The company announced last year that its “Big Apple. Dazaifu” hall in Fukuoka, “Big Apple. Sumiyoshi” hall in Nagasaki and Monaco Sumiyoshi Honten hall in Nagasaki would cease operations due to poor performance, having shown “deteriorating operating and financial performance since the outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 in Japan in January 2020 and the resulting low overall customer traffic since early 2020.”
Final results for the six months to 31 December 2021 will be published by the end of February, Okura said.