Improving relations between China and Korea was the key contributing factor in Hong Kong-listed New Silkroad Culturaltainment Ltd recording an 11.9% increase in gaming revenue in 2018 to HK$103.6 million, the company said on Wednesday.
New Silkroad, which only last week received formal development approval from the Governor of Korea’s Jeju Province to kick off phase one development of a new integrated resort project, Glorious Hill, operates MegaLuck Casino at Jeju KAL Hotel.
Pointing to an influx of tourism to the holiday island in late 2018, Silkroad said it had effectively grown its VIP gaming market throughout the year, with gross profit of the casino business up 78.5% to HK$22.9 million and gross profit margin rising 8.3 percentage points to 22.1%.
“Such increases were mainly driven by the growth of the VIP gaming operation managed by our house team which has a higher gross profit margin than that of the agent team,” it stated.
Gaming comprised 22.5% of the group’s revenue in 2018, however development of Glorious Hill in the coming years will see “the embedded value of the group’s asset in Korea increase accordingly.”
Glorious Hill will feature a casino, five-star hotels, commercial and residential real estates, a boutique shopping center, theme park and golf course.