South Korea's foreign-only casino operator Paradise Inc.'s casino revenue rose 9.0 percent sequentially in October from September, data showed Tuesday on the Korea Exchange.
Casino income in October was 22.36 billion won ($19.7 million), just under 20.51 billion won in September.
However, judging from the same month last year, the October tally this year was down 72.2 percent from 80.56 billion won achieved in October 2019. The drop has resulted in a significant drop in inbound travel to South Korea due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Paradise's gaming operations are operated at Walkerhill in Seoul, Jeju Grand in Jeju Island, Busan Casino in the southern port city of Busan, and Paradise City in Incheon (pictured).
In September, Paradise City Casino closed from Sept. 1 after several employees tested positive for COVID-19. It reopened on Sept. 9.
Paradise Group's table gaming revenue in October this year was close to 20.41 billion won, or 91.3 percent of the group's total monthly casino revenue. Results were up 9.1 percent compared to 18.71 billion won in September, but down 73.4 percent on 76.58 billion won in October 2019.
Paradise's October sales of game consoles reached W1.95 billion, up 8.6 percent from nearly W1.88 billion in September. Compared to the same period last year, October sales of game consoles dropped 50.9 percent, close to W3.98 billion.
The October figures show Paradise's total casino revenue in the first 10 months of the year was nearly 283.3 billion won, down 56.3% year-on-year from 647.72 billion won in the same period in 2019.
Calendar sales through Oct. 31 were 261.61 billion won, down 57.1% from 610.19 billion won a year earlier.
Machinery sales through the end of October 2020 were nearly 21.69 billion won, down 42.4% from nearly 37.53 billion won in the first October of 2019.
TABLE DROP – The amount of cash exchanged for chips by customers at the company's game table fell 7.7% month-over-month in October, and 77.4% year-over-year.
Table decline in October 2020 was 125.54 billion won, compared with 135.98 billion won in September, compared to nearly 556.25 billion won in October 2019.
The table drop in the first 10 months of 2020 was nearly 2.4 trillion won, down 62.9% from nearly 5.49 trillion won achieved in the first 10 months of 2019.