Lotte Tour Development posted its highest first-quarter revenue on record, as casino visitors and hotel guests at Jeju Dream Tower both increased, pushing sales past 150 billion won. While revenue climbed 28.1%, operating expenses rose only 17%, more than doubling operating profit from a year earlier.
Lotte Tour Development said in a quarterly report filed Wednesday that it recorded consolidated first-quarter revenue of 156.2 billion won and operating profit of 28.8 billion won. Revenue rose 28.1% from a year earlier, while operating profit jumped 121% from 13 billion won in the first quarter of last year. It was the first time first-quarter revenue exceeded 150 billion won.
Profitability also improved sharply. The first-quarter operating margin rose to 18.4% this year, up from 8.3% in 2024 and 10.7% in 2025. While revenue grew 28.1% year-on-year, operating expenses increased just 17%, leaving a larger share of sales as operating profit.
The casino segment led the earnings improvement. First-quarter revenue at Jeju Dream Tower Casino reached 118.63 billion won, up 40.3% year-on-year. The number of casino visitors rose 37.3% to 150,553, while table drop reached 573.87 billion won, up 36.7%. Both visitor traffic and actual gaming volume increased, lifting revenue.
The table hold rate, a key profitability indicator, also improved. The first-quarter hold rate stood at 19.7%, up 0.7 percentage point from 19.0% a year earlier. The hold rate refers to the portion of customer wagers that remains as casino revenue. With visitors, drop and hold rate all rising, the casino segment's contribution to earnings expanded.
The hotel segment also posted growth. Hotel revenue, led by Grand Hyatt Jeju, rose 20.2% year-on-year to 38.14 billion won. Room sales increased 37.1% to 109,233 rooms, and the occupancy rate jumped from 55.3% in the first quarter of last year to 75.9% this year. That means three out of four rooms were sold even during the first quarter, traditionally an off-season for Jeju tourism.
The share of foreign guests also rose. Foreign guest share at Grand Hyatt Jeju climbed to 73.5% this year from 66.8% in the first quarter of last year. With a growing share of foreign customers using both the casino and the hotel, foreign demand is seen as having a larger impact on Jeju Dream Tower's performance.
The food and beverage segment also improved in line with higher room sales. First-quarter F&B customers totaled 280,530, up 14.5% year-on-year, while revenue rose 24.1% to 9.54 billion won.
Net losses continued, but the deficit narrowed sharply. Lotte Tour Development's consolidated net loss for the first quarter was 7.5 billion won, a 16.2 billion won improvement from the 23.7 billion won loss a year earlier. Despite the sharp rise in operating profit, non-operating burdens such as financial costs kept the company from turning to a net profit.
"The first quarter is traditionally an off-season, but we posted record-high revenue and a significant improvement in profit," a Lotte Tour Development official said. "Once the peak tourism season begins in earnest, we expect the improvement in annual earnings to continue."
