Paradise’s April figures slide at Korean casinos
The operator of the only foreigner-only casinos in South Korea has said its monthly casino revenue fell more than a third in April.
GGR Asia reports that Paradise Co reported a 34.4 per cent drop in revenue in April to US$13.2 million.
The April 2021 number was still 86.3 per cent higher than the figure achieved at the same time in 2020.
Foreigner-only casino operations in South Korea continue to face headwinds as a result of measures to counter COVID-19 across the country.
Steps include so-called social distancing protocols nationwide and restrictions on inbound travel applicable to non-nationals or non-residents.
Paradise CO’s gaming operations are at Walkerhill in Seoul, Jeju Grand on Jeju Island, Busan Casino in the city of Busan and Paradise City at Incheon, near the main international airport serving the country’s capital Seoul.
In April, the firm saw its table revenue down 36.5 per cent compared to March.
That tally was still 88 per cent higher than April 2020.
This April’s machine game revenue was down 13.7 per cent on March, though 74.4 per cent up on the April 2020 figure.
The April figures took the casino revenue tally for the calendar year to April 30 to a 48.9 per cent loss compared to the first four months of 2020.
Paradise struggles in 2020
The casino group reported a US$24.3 million loss for 2020, saying the result was significantly affected by the COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent travel protocols.
Paradise Entertainment managing director and chairman Jay Chun was quoted as saying that Macau’s gaming market was “significantly disrupted” as the pandemic brought the global travel and tourism industry “almost to a standstill”.
The group’s 2020 loss was on revenue that fell 70.2 per cent.
Macau’s overall real money casino gross gaming revenue shrank 79.3 per cent year-on-year in 2020.
The group said a factor in weaker 2020 performance was absence of revenue from casino management services after it ceased on February 29, 2020 to manage casino operations at Casino Waldo, a so-called satellite venue in Macau under the licence of Macau concessionaire Galaxy Entertainment Group.
Paradise Entertainment still runs casino operations at Casino Kam Pek Paradise, under the licence of Macau concessionaire SJM Holdings.
At Casino Kam Pek Paradise, GGR declined 56.2 per cent year-on-year.
In addition, the games makers saw its 2020 income from the sale of electronic gaming equipment and systems fall 85.8 per cent.
Paradise Entertainment sold 23 slot machines overseas and 20 terminals of its electronic table game product series Live Multi Game in Macau, while providing upgrade services for 438 LMG terminals in Macau.
The operator of South Korea foreigner-only casinos said that its sales declined by more than one third in January, with year-on-year sales down almost two-thirds.
The group’s January casino revenue amounted to US$24.5 million, a decrease on the US$38.2 billion achieved in December and down further than the US$63.9 billion achieved last January.
Machine-game sales for January were up 28.7 per cent compared to December, but down more than 54 per cent compared to the prior year.
Paradise Co’s gaming operators include Walkerhill in Seoul, Jeju Grand on Jeju Island, Busan Casino in Busan and Paradise City in Incheon, near the company’s main international airport.
