Paradise Co, a foreigner-only casino operator in Korea, continues to show strong performance, particularly in its Japan VIP and mass gaming segments.
However, the company’s efforts to grow its VIP business have resulted in higher compensation costs. The company’s financial results for the second quarter of 2024 revealed a 50.5percent year-on-year decrease in net profit for controlling interests, amounting to KRW14.5 billion ($10.6 million), with a 43.9 percent drop compared to the previous quarter.
Despite this, casino sales across its Seoul, Jeju, and Busan properties rose by 9.5 percent sequentially, reaching KRW112.0 billion ($82 million), though this marked a 16.7 percent decline year-on-year.
At Paradise City in Incheon, an integrated resort and joint venture with Sega Sammy Holdings (55 percent owned by Paradise), total sales increased by 20.1 percent year-on-year to KRW131.4 billion ($96.3 million).
This growth was driven by a 24.7 percent rise in casino sales to KRW102.5 billion ($75.1 million). Despite the increased sales, the property’s EBITDA dropped by 11.5 percent to KRW25.1 billion ($18.4 million), and net profit fell by 59.3 percent to KRW6.25 billion ($4.58 million).
Paradise Co reported continued strong performance in Japan and mass segments, with drop amounts from Japan VIPs up 31.9 percent compared to pre-COVID levels and mass drop up 52.5 percent.
In May 2024, the company recorded its highest-ever monthly soft drop, which refers to the amount of cash exchanged for chips by customers at the table. Group-wide, casino sales were 12.8 percent higher than in the second quarter of 2019, although VIP business has yet to fully recover, standing at 78.2 percent of pre-pandemic levels.
