Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment posts $8.3m loss for 2Q22
The company attributed the loss to interest expenses related to Inspire Korea.
South Korea.- Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment (MGE) has shared its financial results for the second quarter of the year. It’s reported a net loss of $8.3m. The company mainly attributed the loss to interest expenses related to the development of the integrated resort Inspire Korea.
Mohegan was granted a $545m credit facility for the South Korean project. Of that, $183m was borrowed at a variable coupon rate of 5.40 per cent until November 29, 2025. Another Inspire Korea line of credit – $74m – was borrowed at a variable coupon rate of 7 per cent until November 29, 2025.
The company was also granted a loan of $287m available at a fixed coupon of 17 per cent through June 24, 2027.
Inspire Korea is expected to feature 150 gaming tables, 700 electronic gaming machines, close to 1,250 hotel rooms, a 15,000-seat arena and a 19,000-square metre conference space. The company resumed work in February after completing financing last November. It’s expected to open in 2023.
James Gessner Jr, chairman of The Mohegan Tribe and MGE Management Board, stated last November: “We have a proven track record in developing and operating leading integrated entertainment resorts. We look forward to taking this success abroad as the first American IR launched in Korea.”
The IR is being developed in Yeongjong Island’s Free Economic Zone in Incheon. In June, Mohegan signed a commercial agreement with Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Futurenet to supply LED digital signage systems and jointly invest and develop an immersive media art showroom at the resort.
The property also has a strategic retail development partnership agreement with South Korea’s Luxury Business Institute in order to attract lifestyle and luxury boutiques and launch a differentiated retail platform that will provide domestic and foreign tourists and casino customers with a combination of tourism, shopping and entertainment services.
South Korea to allow visa-free entry from Japan, Taiwan and Macau
Authorities have announced that visitors with travel documents issued by Japan, Taiwan or Macau will be granted visa-free entry to the country. According to Yonhap News Agency, travellers must apply online for permission to enter through the Korea Electronic Travel Authorization website at least 72 hours before their return flight.
In 2021, South Korean casino revenue was KRW1.18tn (US$975.39m), compared to KRW1.04tn in 2020. However, the growth was mainly attributed to Kangwon Land, the only casino in South Korea open to locals. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of arrivals in South Korea was 212,767 in 2020 and 48,278 in 2021.
In June, the country resumed issuing short-term tourist visas for individual tourists and tour groups after inbound tourism was halted at the height of the Covid-19 epidemic.
