South Korea’s foreigners-only casino operator Paradise Co. Ltd. saw its casino revenue slide by 9.5 percent in the first three months of the year.
Paradise Co informed the Korea Stock Exchange on Wednesday that its casino revenue for the first quarter stood at approximately KRW124.93 billion (US$ 110.34 million). The figure was lower than the KRW137.97 billion ($121.86 million) it posted in the prior-year period.
Casino drop, the amount of cash exchanged for chips by customers at tables, was down 2.8 percent to KRW1.20 trillion ($1.06 billion) in the first three months of 2017, compared to KRW1.23 trillion ($1.09 billion) a year earlier.
In March, Paradise’s casino operator dropped 10.8 percent to KRW 39.26 billion ($34.67 million) versus KRW44.03 billion ($38.89 million) in the prior-year period.
Table revenue plunged 11.9 percent year-on-year to KRW36.36 billion ($32.13 million). In March 2016, Paradise’s table revenue was KRW41.28 billion ($36.48 million).
On the other hand, machine revenue in March 2017 grew 5.2 percent to KRW2.89 billion ($2.6 million) from KRW2.75 billion ($2.43 million).
Paradise Co’s operates the Walkerhill casino in the capital Seoul, Jeju Grand on Jeju Island, Incheon Casino outside Seoul, and Busan Casino in the southern port city of Busan. Paradise is set to open its new Paradise City integrated resort on April 20.
Earlier this year, Shinhan Investment Corp. predicted that Paradise City would fuel Paradise’s revenue in 2017, boosting company revenue by as much as 35.3 percent.
“Paradise Co as a whole is forecast to post sales of KRW938.6 billion [US$805.3 million] in 2017,” said Shinhan, a subsidiary of Shinhan Financial Group Co Ltd that provides security brokerage and investment banking services in South Korea.
