Korea’s Kangwon Land casino struggles in Q3, rebounds in October

South Korea’s largest casino operator Kangwon Land posted another quarter of losses in the double-digit millions although it was a slightly smaller loss than the previous quarter.

On Tuesday, Kangwon Land released its financial report for the three months ending September 30, during which the casino operator booked a net loss of KRW40.9b (US$36.6m) versus a profit of KRW128.6b in the same period last year (and KRW4.6b better than Q2’s loss).

Of course, last year didn’t feature a global pandemic that resulted in South Korea’s largest casino – and the only one legally permitted to welcome local residents on its gaming floor – shutting down not once, but twice due to the country’s struggles to lower its COVID-19 infection rate.

Revenue totaled KRW76.6b in Q3, down more than four-fifths from Q3 2019 but more than twice the sum generated in Q2, during which it was forced to close on August 23. For the first nine months of 2020, sales are off nearly 70% to KRW347.3b, while net losses totaled KRW242.5b versus a KRW282b profit in the first three quarters of 2019.