Kangwon Land to reduce hours due to Covid-19 countermeasures

Amid a new rise in Covid-19 cases due to the Omicron variant, Kangwon Land will reduce its operating hours from December 18 to January 2.

South Korea.- The South Korean casino Kangwon Land has told GGRAsia that its gaming venue will operate at reduced hours, from 10am to 10pm every day, from December 18 to January 2. The measure was taken following new Covid-19 countermeasures imposed by the government due to an increase in new cases and fears surrounding the Omicron variant.

Only people who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 will be allowed to enter. People will need to show a vaccine pass as proof. The South Korean Ministry of Health has reported 7,435 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours.

Kangwon Land to recover by 2023, analysts say

J.P. Morgan has predicted that the South Korean government’s decision to “live with Covid-19” could help the casino operator revenues return to pre-pandemic levels by 2023.

Analysts said: “Strong pent-up demand and expanded operating hours/capacity allow us to stay hopeful on a full recovery by some point in late 2022,” while they also highlighted Kangwon Land Inc’s profits could return to pre-pandemic levels in 2023.

The South Korean casino reported net profit for the third quarter of the year declined 2.4 per cent quarter-on-quarter to KRW20.42bn (US$17.3m). GGR for the quarter was up 15.8 per cent from KRW203.8bn to KRW235.90bn, which was also a rise of 272.4 per cent when compared to Q3 2020.

Meanwhile, JP Morgan said that Paradise Co‘s recovery may take longer, sometime towards the end of Fiscal Year 2023 as long as the country continues easing travel restrictions.