KRA Nears Profit Turnaround After 3 Years... Jeong Gi-hwan Predicts Net Profit of 100 Billion Won

Jeong Gi-hwan, President of Korea Racing Authority

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Kim Hyewon] Korea Racing Authority (KRA) is on the verge of turning a profit for the first time in three years, overcoming the biggest management crisis since its founding.

On the 14th, KRA Chairman Jeong Ki-hwan met with reporters in Sejong and stated, "We expect to achieve a net profit of approximately 100 billion KRW this year."

KRA posted a net profit of 144.9 billion KRW in 2019, but due to COVID-19 social distancing measures restricting access to racetracks, it recorded net losses of 436.8 billion KRW and 348 billion KRW in 2020 and last year, respectively. Revenue was 7.3937 trillion KRW in 2019 but sharply declined to 1.1018 trillion KRW in 2020 and 1.0614 trillion KRW last year following the COVID-19 outbreak.

However, with the lifting of COVID-19 social distancing in April this year, racetrack attendance has normalized, recovering to about 87% of 2019 revenue levels. Chairman Jeong said, "In the second half of this year, we reduced operating expenses by 12.8% and made efforts to cut budgets and improve execution efficiency," adding, "Next year, operating expenses (-3%) and business promotion expenses (-10%) will also be reduced compared to this year."

KRA plans to announce the 'Vision for Enhancing Racehorse Welfare' with related racing organizations on the 18th and will establish a total of 10 billion KRW in racehorse welfare funds over the next five years. Next year, measures to stabilize horse racing and enhance public interest will be prepared.

Donations will increase from 6.7 billion KRW this year to 7.8 billion KRW next year, and the ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) Committee will be expanded. Prize money for international races (Korea Cup and Sprint) will also increase from 2 billion KRW this year to 3 billion KRW next year.

Chairman Jeong said, "Based on this year's achievements, we will continue to work tirelessly to become a public enterprise leading innovation in the public sector next year as well."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.