Challenging Initial quarter for Paradise Company Limited

South Korean casino operator Paradise Company Limited has reportedly released its financial results for the first quarter of 2018 showing that it experienced a massive 61.6% year-on-year decline in net income for the period to approximately US$2.9 million.

According to a report from GGRAsia, the Seoul-listed firm also revealed an over 37.5% decrease year-on-year in its first-quarter operating profit to about US$4.5 million despite reporting a 26% increase in total revenues to in excess of US$168.2 million as casino takings rose by some 19.9% to hit around US$139.9 million.

The largest casino operator in South Korea, Paradise Company Limited reportedly runs gambling facilities in the cities of Busan, Jeju and Seoul while last year saw it inaugurate its US$1.7 billion Paradise City integrated casino resort on a 10.6-acre plot of land adjacent to Incheon International Airport. The firm purportedly gave no explanation for the first-quarter year-on-year declines but did release a later statement in which it forecast that total sales for the year would reach at least $805.6 million with earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of nearly US$89 million.

GGRAsia reported that a subsequent third statement from Paradise Company Limited declared that casino sales in April had fallen by around 0.7% year-on-year to almost US$36 million although the figure for the initial four months of 2018 had risen by 14.5% to stand at US$175.2 million. Regarding last month’s casino sales, the operator purportedly stated that table games had accounted for nearly 92.9% of this amount at US$33.4 million, which represented a decline of 0.1%, while gaming machines had contributed 8% less at approximately US$2.5 million.