Kangwon Land Inc slot machine business racks up US$11mln loss in six years: report
The slot machine manufacturing business of South Korean casino operator Kangwon Land Inc accumulated losses of KRW14.81 billion (US$11.0 million) over the six years to 2025, according to data submitted to the country’s National Assembly. The business, operated under the KL Saberi brand, has recorde…
The slot machine manufacturing business of South Korean casino operator Kangwon Land Inc accumulated losses of KRW14.81 billion (US$11.0 million) over the six years to 2025, according to data submitted to the country’s National Assembly. The business, operated under the KL Saberi brand, has recorded a loss every year since 2020, reported the Seoul Economic Daily, citing information provided by Kangwon Land Inc to a lawmaker of South Korea’s People Power Party. The annual loss stood at KRW1.40 billion in 2020, and widened to approximately KRW3.4 billion last year, according to separate South Korean media reports. The report also raised questions about the performance of Kangwon Land Inc’s sales office in the Philippines, established in 2022 as part of efforts to expand the group’s overseas slot machine business. The casino group spent about KRW700 million on office, housing and vehicle leases in the Philippines through August this year, according to the Seoul Economic Daily. Sales in the Philippine market totalled 20 machines in 2023 and 42 in 2024, but no sales were recorded in 2025. Six units had been sold in the Philippine market so far this year, per the report. Philippine sales represented 88.3 percent of the 77 KL Saberi machines sold worldwide since the opening of the office in the Philippines. Kangwon Land Inc entered the slot machine manufacturing business in 2017. The company had projected annual production of 10,000 units from 2031, with KRW500 billion in revenue and KRW200 billion in net profit, according to the Seoul Economic Daily. GGRAsia reported in 2024 that KL Saberi was seeking to expand beyond South Korea, including targeting the Macau market. The brand had also achieved sales in the Philippines and entered South America with a 40-machine installation in Montevideo, Uruguay. Kangwon Land Inc operates the country’s only casino resort where South Korean nationals are permitted to gamble. The company recently established a committee to review major strategic initiatives and organisational matters under its new chief executive, Kim Do-gyun.