Owner of Ha Long's largest casino suffers heavy losses due to lack of Chinese tourists

RIC, the largest casino operator in Ha Long, lost 6.6 times more in the third quarter than the same period last year due to a sharp decline in Chinese visitors.

The recent financial report of Royal International Joint Stock Company (RIC) shows that the revenue of the last quarter decreased by about one-third compared to the same period in 2022, to more than 30 billion VND. Both main business segments recorded a decline in revenue, but the hotel and villa segment decreased by 5 times while the casino segment decreased by 32%. Accommodation services had a gross loss of nearly 12 billion VND in the third quarter, while entertainment and betting services had a gross loss of 6.5 billion VND.

Financial revenue also declined by about 40% due to a decrease in exchange rate differences. Financial expenses doubled as outstanding loans increased along with interest rates. RIC currently has nearly VND180 billion in financial debt, 14% higher than the same period last year.

In total, the owner of the largest casino in Ha Long lost nearly VND18.5 billion, 6.6 times higher than in the third quarter of 2022. This company has been operating below cost price continuously since the fourth quarter of 2019. To date, RIC's accumulated loss has increased to nearly VND530 billion.

The company's management said the main reason was that the general economic situation, and the tourism market in particular, were still facing many difficulties, so domestic people limited their travel. The company's international visitors were mainly Chinese people coming to Ha Long through border gates in Quang Ninh province. However, in the third quarter, this country still applied a policy of restricting people from traveling abroad. Therefore, the number of Chinese visitors to RIC decreased sharply, affecting the revenue of all business segments.

At the annual meeting in April, the company said that there would be many positive signs of a strong recovery in the tourism industry. In addition, RIC has been operating the Royal International Convention Palace since July 2022, so it is expected to create a new source of revenue. From there, the board of directors set a target of VND 10.5 billion in revenue and VND 1.5 billion in profit. After 9 months, the company exceeded this revenue target by 8 times but is currently losing more than VND 54 billion.

This year, RIC is focusing on finding and exploiting customer sources with airlines and travel agents. The company is also preparing to promote investment in a 5-star twin-tower hotel project on the land in front of the Royal Ha Long Hotel. Staff reduction is also one of RIC's major strategies this year. The company said it will only retain highly skilled workers. By the end of September, RIC had laid off 70 people, leaving the company with 465 employees.

From 2016 to now, the casino owner in Ha Long has only made a profit in 2018. According to the leader, due to the special business category, winning or losing depends entirely on luck. In addition, neighboring countries such as Cambodia, the Philippines, Myanmar... all have more casinos, causing the source of customers to be dispersed and the market share to be smaller.

Royal International was established in 1994 with a charter capital of 15 million USD, aiming to build and operate a 5-star hotel in Ha Long. Eight years later, the company increased its capital to 22 million USD and was granted a license to operate games with prizes for foreigners. The company was listed on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HoSE) in 2007. In May 2022, RIC shares were forced to be delisted from HoSE due to three consecutive years of losses.

Siddhartha

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