Casino operator reports losses for 4th year in a row

By Tat Dat February 24, 2023 | 04:44 pm PT

Inside Royal Casino operated by Royal International Corp. (RIC) in the northern province of Quang Ninh. Photo courtesy of RIC

Royal International Corp., which runs the country’s biggest casino in the northern province of Quang Ninh, has reported losses for a fourth straight year in 2022.

It lost over VND61 billion (US$2.6 million) as its casino lost VND62 billion and hotel and resort division made marginal profits as fewer foreign visitors came amid Covid.

Its revenues were up 60% to VND119 billion but represented a fall from 2020.

Its revenues from financial activities rose by 4.5 times, mainly thanks to exchange rate gains, but expenses were up 1.5 times due to rising loan interest.

Royal International laid off nearly 100 employees last year.

Quang Ninh received 11.6 million domestic and foreign visitors last year, an increase of 165% from 2021. But international arrivals were only 300,000 as against 5.7 million in 2019.

In the last 10 years Royal International, established in 1994, has been in the black only in 2015 and 2018.

Its shares were delisted from the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange last May.