South Korea’s leading foreigner-only casino operator, Paradise Co, has reported a 441% increase in net profit to KRW84.7 billion (US$63.6 million) and a 118% increase in EBITDA to KRW228.8 billion (US$171.9 million) in 2023, aided by the performance of its casino operations.
That’s despite falling to a KRW5.70 billion (US$4.3 million) loss in 4Q23 – down from a profit of KRW43.7 billion (US$32.8 million) – on substantially higher costs.
Releasing its financial results for both the December 2023 quarter and FY23 on Thursday, Paradise revealed that casino sales jumped by 118% last year to KRW415.0 billion (US$311.8 million) while integrated resort sales climbed by 65.8% to KRW448.7 billion (US$337.1 million).
These included casino sales of KRW93.8 billion (US$70.5 million) in Q4, up 58.2% year-on-year but down 19.0% versus the September 2023 quarter. Integrates resort sales in Q4 grew by 14.5% year-on-year but declined by 13.0% sequentially to KRW115.4 billion (US$86.7 million). EBITDA in the December quarter fell by 17.4% year-on-year and by 55.0% sequentially to KRW34.7 billion (US$26.1 million).
In its 4Q earnings deck, Paradise said that cost of sales had grown by 32.2% year-on-year to KRW208.6 billion (US$156.7 million).
At the company’s 55%-owned integrated resort Paradise City in Incheon – a joint venture with Japan’s Sega Sammy Holdings – casino sales grew by 17.6% year-on-year but fell by 3.6% sequentially to KRW84.6 billion (US$63.6 million) in Q4. The property saw EBITDA drop by 43.8% year-on-year to KRW15.6 billion (US$11.7 million) while it fell to a net loss of KRW3.89 billion (US$2.9 million) for the quarter, reversing a KRW3.52 billion (US$2.6 million) gain in 4Q22.
Paradise noted, however, that 2023 operating profit of KRW4.69 billion (US$3.5 million) was an all-time high, while drop from both mass gaming and from Japanese VIPs – and hotel revenue of KRW100.4 billion (US$75.4 million) – also reached new highs.
Likewise, casino sales at the company’s fully-owned casinos in Seoul, Busan and Jeju grew by 58.2% year-on-year but fell by 19.0% sequentially to KRW93.8 billion (US$70.5 million). EBITDA grew by 70.7% year-on-year to KRW13.9 billion (US$10.4 million) while net loss narrowed by 18.3% to KRW7.54 billion (US$5.7 million). Paradise said that drop from mass gaming and from Japanese VIPs were both better than pre-COVID.
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