GKL financial results show slight recovery

The company managed to increase casino sales last month, although numbers remain low compared to last year.

South Korea.- Grand Korea Leisure (GKL) has reported a 65.5 per cent year-on-year decline in casino sales to KRW14.19 billion (US$11.9 million) for July.

The figure shows a slight recovery on the previous month, climbing 13.7 per cent from June.

Table game sales reached nearly KRW11.67 billion (US$9.8 million), up 11.6 per cent from June while down 67.9 per cent from July 2019. Machine game sales totalled KRW2.53 billion (US$2.1 million), 24.5 per cent more than in June and 46.9 per cent down year-on-year.

The firm operates foreigner-only casinos, which went through a 43-day lockdown due to Covid-19. They were allowed to reopen in early May but travel restrictions in South Korea are still impacting the business.

GKL is not the only casino heavily impacted. Four out of eight casinos on Jeju Island remain closed as foreign visits dropped almost 99 per cent since last year. Monthly gross sales for those that are partially operating show an average 30 per cent drop year-on-year.

Analysts recently suggested the slump could propel South Korea to abandon its foreigner-only gambling policy.