Grand Korea Leisure Co. Ltd (GKL), Korea’s government run, foreigners-only casino operator, has reported a 5.3% fall in casino sales for the first six months of 2019 to KRW226 billion (US$191.2 million), impacted by a slow start to the year.
The results come on the back of a 6.5% decline in table game sales to KRW196.2 billion (US$166 million), which more than offset a slight 3.3% improvement in EGM sales to KRW29.8 billion. Notably, table drop for the six month period actually grew 28.9% to KRW2.2 trillion (US$1.86 billion) but didn’t translate to a similar boost in sales.
As previously reported by Inside Asian Gaming, GKL had also booked a significant increase in table drop in 1Q19 but still saw revenue fall by 10% due to the company’s overly aggressive VIP and premium mass promotion strategy which analysts said boosted drop but also negatively impacted hold and margins.
For the month of June, GKL saw casino sales rise 6.6% to KRW39.0 billion, with table game sales up 5.0% to KRW33.7 billion and EGM sales rising 17.5% to KRW5.3 billion.
GKL, a subsidiary of the Korea Tourism Organization, operates two casinos in Seoul and one in Busan under its Seven Luck brand.