Kangwon Land sees Q4 2018 profits slip

The only casino in South Korea that allows locals to hit the action saw a considerable slide in its profit during the last quarter of 2018. Kangwon Land Inc. said in a filing with the Korea Exchange yesterday that profit fell 75.8% year-on-year, driven by a decline in gaming revenue. Kangwon took in $69.43 million in the fourth quarter of 2017, but only $16.9 million during the same period last year.

Operating income at the casino resort dropped 31.1% year-on-year, settling at $58.26 million. Sales for the quarter were $311.7 million, a decline of 8.6% from the same quarter in 2017. That figure includes gaming revenue, which dropped 9.5% year-on-year to $276.37 million.

Across the board, all segments dropped at Kangwon Land. The mass table segment fell 8.8% to $137.56 million and slot revenue dripped 7.3% to $116.65 million. Sales from the resort’s Membership Club only produced revenue of $49.96 million, a drop of 13.6% year-on-year. Even non-gaming revenue saw a slight dip, dropping 1.2% to $35.34 million.

While the company didn’t expand on the quarterly results, it did note that the aggregate number of customers fell by 12.8% to 680,737. It also reported an increase in the cost of sales of 4% to $199.51 million.