GKL Reports Operating Profit of 13.2 Billion KRW in Q2, Up 20% YoY

Increase in Marketing Expenses... Operating Profit Down 29.2% in First Half
Interim Dividends Resumed After COVID-19

Grand Korea Leisure (GKL), which operates the foreigner-only casino Seven Luck, saw a slight improvement in operating profit for the second quarter of this year compared to the same period last year due to an increase in visitors and drop amount (casino customers' chip purchases). However, marketing expenses increased, resulting in a sluggish performance for the first half of the year.

Grand Korea Leisure (GKL) Headquarters
[Photo by GKL]

GKL announced on the 12th that its consolidated operating profit for the second quarter of this year was tentatively estimated at 13.2 billion KRW, a 20% increase compared to the same period last year. During the same period, sales decreased by 1.4% to 98.8 billion KRW, while net profit rose by 31.9% to 11.3 billion KRW.

Including the first quarter, GKL's consolidated operating profit for the first half of this year was 27.1 billion KRW, down 29.2% from the same period last year. Sales also declined by 6% to 196.8 billion KRW. The company analyzed that although the number of visitors and drop amount at the three Seven Luck branches operated in COEX, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Seoul Dragon City in Yongsan, and Busan Lotte all increased compared to last year, marketing expenses for the first half of this year rose by 22.1% to 31.6 billion KRW from 25.9 billion KRW in the same period last year, impacting profitability.

In fact, the cumulative number of visitors at these three branches in the first half of the year was 447,941, a 38.3% increase compared to the same period last year, and the cumulative drop amount during the same period was 1.857 trillion KRW, up 16.8%.

Meanwhile, GKL decided on the same day to pay an interim dividend of 60 KRW per common share, totaling 3.7 billion KRW. The dividend record date for the second quarter is June 30, and the payment date is July 10. This marks GKL's resumption of interim dividends for the first time in over four years since before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019.

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