The only casino in South Korea that allows locals to hit the action saw a considerable slide in its profit during the last quarter of 2018. Kangwon Land Inc. said in a filing with the Korea Exchange that profit fell 75.8% year-on-year, driven by a decline in gaming revenue. Kangwon took in $69.43 million in the fourth quarter of 2017, but only $16.9 million during the same period last year.
Operating income at the casino resort dropped 31.1% year-on-year, settling at $58.26 million. Sales for the quarter were $311.7 million, a decline of 8.6% from the same quarter in 2017. That figure includes gaming revenue, which dropped 9.5% year-on-year to $276.37 million.
Across the board, all segments dropped at Kangwon Land. The mass table segment fell 8.8% to $137.56 million and slot revenue dripped 7.3% to $116.65 million. Sales from the resort’s Membership Club only produced revenue of $49.96 million, a drop of 13.6% year-on-year. Even non-gaming revenue saw a slight dip, dropping 1.2% to $35.34 million.
While the company didn’t expand on the quarterly results, it did note that the aggregate number of customers fell by 12.8% to 680,737. It also reported an increase in the cost of sales of 4% to $199.51 million.
Full-year aggregate revenue was $1.275 billion, a drop of 7.1% compared to the $1.373 billion it took in 2017. Gaming revenue for the year dropped 8.3% to $1.125 billion, while non-gaming revenue increased 3.6% to $145.57 million. Kangwon added that its full-year net profit dropped a massive 32.1% year-on-year to around $2.63 billion.
Kangwon Land may not be solely to blame for the decreases. It has been under political pressure to moderate the growth of its revenue and has reduced its hours of operation since last April after being ordered to do so by the country’s government. It also saw a reduction in the number of mass gaming tables it offers after the government ordered it to scale back from 180 to 160 as of January 1, 2018.
However, a number of scandals have also contributed to its decline. Several former executives have been embroiled in corruption drama, including former CEOs Ham Seung-hee and Choi Hung-jib. The latter was found guilty of corruption this past January and was ordered to pass the next three years in prison.
