South Korean casino operator Paradise Co saw its casino revenue plummet by 45.2% year-on-year for the first six months of 2021 to KRW112.72 billion (US$99.7 million), impacted by the nation’s border closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The decline included a 47.3% fall in table game revenue to KRW100.96 billion (US$89.3 million) and a 16.5% fall in machine revenue to KRW11.76 billion (US$10.4 million).
For the month of June, casino revenue was KRW 16.05 billion (US$14.2 million) – 16.1% higher than both June 2020 and May 2021 when casino revenue coincidentally reached the exact same amount in both months, KRW13.83 billion (US$12.2 million).
Despite the June improvement, the result continues Paradise Co’s run of subdued results since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the company having reported a loss of KRW109.85 billion (US$98.4 million) in 2020 and a loss of KRW18.20 billion (US$16.1 million) in 1Q21.
It is hoped that those results might start to see some incremental improvement in the coming months with South Korea having launched a travel bubble with the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands from 1 July and discussions ongoing about a similar bubble with Singapore.
Paradise operates four casinos nationwide – Paradise Walkerhill, Busan Casino, Jeju Grand and integrated resort Paradise City in Incheon. The company said recently that two Paradise City attractions – European-inspired art spa CIMER and indoor theme park Wonderbox – will reopen on 16 July after undergoing remodelling during their pandemic-forced closure.
Despite the slow recovery, June’s results at least showed a more substantial rise in table drop which grew 63.2% year-on-year and 43.1% versus May 2021 to KRW194.77 billion (US$172.3 million). For the first six months of 2021, table drop is down 42.7% year-on-year to KRW873.85 billion (US$772.8 million).
