[Edaily Reporter Park Sun-Yeop ] While the Macau casino market showed a sluggish trend in June, LOTTE TOUR DEVELOPMENT CO., LTD(032350)posted earnings that outperformed the market. With both visitor numbers and drop volume at the Jeju Dream Tower Casino increasing, expectations are rising for strong performance during the peak season in July.
Choi Yong-hyun, an analyst at KB Securities, stated in a report on the 1st, “Macau’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) in June fell 12.1% year-over-year and 18.1% month-over-month,” adding, “It is estimated that betting demand declined due to the impact of the World Cup.” In contrast, he analyzed that LOTTE TOUR DEVELOPMENT CO., LTD.’s June revenue increased by 36.1% year-over-year, showing a trend opposite to that of the Macau market.

According to KB Securities, Macau’s GGR for June stood at 18.522 billion Macau patacas (MOP). This represents a decline of more than 18% from May’s figure of 22.611 billion MOP.
During the same period, LOTTE TOUR DEVELOPMENT CO., LTD’s revenue totaled 48.7 billion won. While this represented a 1.4% decrease from the previous month, it marked a 36.1% increase compared to the same month last year. Drop volume reached 266.2 billion won, up 10.1% year-over-year and 3.7% month-over-month. Drop volume refers to the amount of money customers exchange for chips at the casino.
The number of visitors also continued to rise. LOTTE TOUR DEVELOPMENT CO., LTD’s visitor count for June was 61,146, an 18.7% increase compared to the same month last year. Considering that the growth rate of inbound tourists to Jeju Island was 8.1% during the same month, this indicates that casino visitors are increasing at a faster pace than the overall recovery of Jeju’s tourism sector.
The hold rate, a key profitability indicator, was also strong. The June hold rate stood at 18.3%, an improvement compared to the same month last year. Analyst Choi explained, “LOTTE TOUR DEVELOPMENT CO., LTD continues to outperform the market,” adding, “The revenue growth rate exceeded Macau’s GGR, and the growth rate in visitor numbers also surpassed the growth rate of inbound tourists to Jeju Island.”
However, he noted that per-person drop is trending slightly lower year-over-year due to the increase in mass-market customers. Nevertheless, he believes a rebound is possible once the effects of the strategy to expand rolling tables and the increase in minimum bet amounts take hold.
Expectations for July’s performance were also raised. The assessment is that casino revenue could reach an all-time high as the summer peak season effect takes full hold. Analyst Choi said, “July revenue is highly likely to reach an all-time high as the peak season effect takes full hold.”