Lady Luck smiled on South Korean casino operator Grand Korea Leisure Ltd. in the second quarter of 2018 as the company’s net income jumped 76.2 percent.
In a disclosure to the Korea Exchange, GKL reported net income of KRW27.2 billion (US$24.2 million) in the three months ending June 30, 2018, higher than the KRW15.42 billion ($13.76 million) bottomline it registered in the same period last year.
GKL’s Q2 revenue rose 5.9 percent to KRW116.1 billion ($103.63 million) from KRW109.7 billion ($97.9 million) in Q2 2017. However, GKL’s Q2 revenue was 4.7 percent lower than it registered in the first three months of 2018.
Operating income almost doubled to KRW34.7 billion ($30.97 million) year-on-year, according to GKL’s financial statement.
For the first half of 2018, GKL’s net income climbed 35.1 percent to KRW44.5 billion ($39.72 million) while its revenue inched up by 1.3 percent to KRW238.1 billion ($212.53 million) year-on-year.
GKL, which runs three foreigner-only casinos in South Korea under the Seven Luck brand, earlier reported that its casino sales reached KRW238.62 billion ($214.2 million) in the first six months of the year, higher than the KRW229.42 billion ($205.2 million) it posted during the same period in 2017.
Table games remain robust in GKL casinos, growing by as much as 7.4 percent to KRW209.75 billion ($187.71 million). However, GKL’s earnings from slot machines fell by 14.9 percent to KRW28.86 billion ($25.83 million).
South Korea’s second largest foreigners-only casino operator did not provide any explanation why its net income accelerated in the second quarter of 2018. However, investors believed that the rise had to do with a lower base comparison from last year.
GKL’s Q2 2017 was battered by Beijing’s decision to restrict Chinese group tours to Korea to protest the deployment of a US missile system on Korean soil.
Meanwhile, GKL also announced that its July casino sales dropped 25.4 percent to nearly KRW36.9 billion ($32.93 million).
