Korea’s leading foreigner-only casino operator, Paradise Co, reported a 68.1% decline in sales for the three months to 30 June 2020 to KRW74.64 billion (US$62.9 million).
The quarter was heavily impacted by the temporary suspension of casino operations to halt the spread of COVID-19, with Paradise closing Paradise City, Paradise Walkerhill, Busan Casino and Jeju Grand on 23 March before reopening Jeju Grand on 13 April and the remaining three on 20 April.
It also pre-dated some signs of recovery in July, with Paradise having earlier this month reported a 26.3% sequential improvement in casino revenue to KRW17.36 billion (US$14.6 million) compared with June.
For the second quarter of 2020, Paradise Co saw its loss attributable to shareholders increase by almost 1,500% year-on-year to KRW31.88 billion (US$26.9 million), comprising the majority of the company’s KRW34.34 billion (US$29.0 million) loss since the start of the year.
Operating income fell to a loss of KRW44.51 billion (US$37.5 million) in 2Q20 versus an operating profit of KRW4.70 billion (US$4.0 million) in the same period last year.
The Paradise results show a similar trend to fellow foreigner-only casino operator Grand Korea Leisure, which this week reported an 80.2% decline in sales in 2Q20 to KRW23.26 billion (US$19.6 million).