South Korean foreigner-only casino operator Paradise Co saw its casino revenue soar by 125% sequentially in October, seemingly boosted by a significant run of good luck.
According to the company’s financial statements, casino sales reached KRW21.35 billion in October compared with September sales of KRW9.49 billion. That’s despite table drop of KRW108.70 billion being only slightly higher than September’s KRW102.27 billion.
October sales were 4.5% lower than during the same month in 2020.
Table games accounted for the vast majority of casino revenue in October at KRW19.65 billion, up 153% month-on-month, while machine sales of KRW1.7 billion were 1% down on September numbers.
For the first 10 months of 2021 combined, sales at Paradise Co’s casinos – Paradise Walkerhill in Seoul, Jeju Grand, Busan Casino Paradise and Paradise City in Incheon – are down 25.7% year-on-year to KRW209.99 billion, negatively impacted by COVID-19 border closures that have kept international visitors away.
There seems to finally be some light at the end the tunnel however, with new “living with COVID-19” rules having come into effect across South Korea on Monday. Although there are no moves yet to open international borders, an array of restrictions around most businesses have now been eased with the government citing plans to drop all domestic restrictions by early 2022.