S.Korea op GKL’s May sales fell 45 pct year-over-year to $19 mln

Casino sales at Grand Korea Leisure (GKL), which operates foreigner-only casinos, fell 44.5% month-on-month in May to slightly over 25.32 billion won, according to data submitted to the Korea Exchange on Monday. The latest monthly tally rose 39.0% year-on-year.

Table game sales fell 48.2 percent sequentially in the month of May, just under W21.86 billion, but were up 35.1 percent from a year ago. Machine game sales were W3.46 billion, up 2.4 percent from the previous month, and up 70.6 percent from a year ago.

The company did not comment on the two reasons for the changes.

The company operates three foreigner-only, seven-luck-branded casinos: two in the capital city of Seoul, including Gangnam, and one in the southeastern port city of Busan. The company is a subsidiary of the Korea Tourism Organization under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

In the first five months of this year, Grand Korea Leisure's casino sales totaled 178.48 billion won, up 154.0% year-on-year.

Table game sales edged below 163.24 billion won in the five months to May 31, up 165.5 percent year-on-year, while machine game sales edged below 15.25 billion won, up 73.3 percent.

According to the results released in May, Grand Korea Leisure posted a net profit of nearly 21.6 billion won in the first quarter of this year.

"The recovery in South Korean casino operations in the second half of 2023 should help Chinese visitors, especially customers in the mass market, return home," Brokerage NH Investment & Securities said in a note in late May.

BY: 슬롯머신