South Korea casino Kangwon Land managed to boost revenue despite a sharp decrease in tourism following an infectious disease outbreak.

Kangwon Land, the only one of South Korea’s 17 casinos that allows local residents to gamble, reported revenue up 9.3% year-on-year to KRW 389b (US $328.2m) in the three months ending June 30. All but KRW 10.2b of the property’s revenue came from gaming. Operating profit rose 19.7% to KRW 148b but net profit fell 3.2% to KRW 97.4b ($82.2m).

Profits were undone by KRW 23b in non-operating costs, a nearly tenfold increase year-on-year. Slightly less than half this sum came via additional tax costs following a tax probe at the end of last year, the result of which the company has appealed.

Apart from these one-offs, casino metrics were solid, with casino visits up 4% year-on-year to 723k, the third straight quarter of increased traffic. Table drop was up 7.3%, drop per customer rose 3.2% and hold rate improved 0.2 points to 23.2%. All gaming segments posted gains, with slots up 13.8%, VIP gaming up 13.5% and mass market tables up 3%.