Leading South Korean foreigner-only casino operators Paradise Co and Grand Korea Leisure both reported strong casino revenue growth in June, suggesting the industry is still riding the wave of a post-COVID recovery.
In a filing to the Korea Exchange on Monday, Paradise – which operates the Paradise City integrated resort in Incheon plus casinos in Seoul, Busan and Jeju – reported casino sales of KRW95.6 billion (US$72.6 million) in June, up 39.5% month-on-month and by far the highest monthly tally since the start of the pandemic in 2020.
The June figure was also 634% higher than the same month last year.
Paradise appeared to play lucky, with table drop of KRW532.9 billion (US$405 million) only 1.4% higher than in May, but it was enough to take the company’s casino revenue for the first half of 2023 combined to KRW352.4 billion (US$268 million) – up 249% year-on-year.
At GKL, operator of three casinos in Seoul and Busan under the Seven Luck brand, casino revenues grew by 16.7% month-on-month and 20.8% year-on-year to KRW29.6 billion (US$22.5 million) in June.
This was despite table drop falling by 12.3% on May to KRW252.2 billion (US$192 million).
Casino sales for the first six months of the year is now up 120% to KRW208.0 billion (US$158 million).
The impressive June results come after analysts recently said the recovery of Korea’s foreigner-only casino industry would sustain throughout 2023 due to the return of Chinese “general VIPs” and mass market customers.
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