Corona Phu Quoc's Owner Is VND6.19tn in the Red and Local Access Has Not Helped

Vietnam's first casino allowed to admit its own citizens narrowed its first-half loss to VND211bn, but accumulated losses stand at about $238m, liabilities have jumped to VND51.67tn and interest cover is 0.62. The government removed the end date on the locals pilot in November. The locals, the industry says, have not come.

• Phu Quoc Tourism Development and Investment JSC, operator of Corona Resort & Casino Phu Quoc, reported an after-tax loss of more than VND211bn for the first half of 2026, an improvement on the VND564bn lost in the same period of 2025, according to VietTimes as reported by World Casino Directory
• Full-year losses of more than VND917bn in 2025 and VND725bn in 2024 have taken accumulated losses to about VND6.19tn, roughly $238m, at 30 June 2026; the figures cover the company's resort, tourism and entertainment operations as well as the casino
• Shareholders lifted registered capital from VND7.5tn to VND10tn during the half, leaving equity of about VND3.81tn, while total liabilities rose from VND40.69tn to about VND51.67tn, of which more than VND43.9tn is "other liabilities" including customer advances; bonds outstanding are about VND7.48tn and the interest coverage ratio is 0.62
• Corona opened in January 2019 as the first casino in the government's pilot allowing eligible Vietnamese citizens to gamble; Resolution 8/2025/NQ-CP in November 2025 extended that access from 26 November with no fixed end date and approved five-year trials at Ho Tram and Van Don
• Royal International, operator of Royal Ha Long Casino, also lost more than VND1.7bn after tax in the half on revenue of VND76.853bn, with an accumulated deficit approaching VND600bn; it is targeting 2026 revenue above $7.5m and profit above $509,000

The Loss Is Smaller, the Hole Is Deeper

The company behind Corona Resort & Casino Phu Quoc, the only Vietnamese casino to have run the country's locals-access pilot from the start, remained loss-making in the first half of 2026, according to financial figures reported by VietTimes and carried by World Casino Directory. Phu Quoc Tourism Development and Investment JSC posted an after-tax loss of more than VND211bn for the six months, a substantial improvement on the VND564bn lost in the first half of 2025, but still an average of more than VND1.1bn a day. After a full-year loss exceeding VND917bn in 2025 and VND725bn in 2024, accumulated losses reached about VND6.19tn, roughly $238m, at 30 June. The results cover the company's wider resort, tourism and entertainment businesses on the island as well as the casino.

The balance sheet moved more than the income statement. Shareholders injected capital during the half, taking registered capital from VND7.5tn to VND10tn and leaving equity of about VND3.81tn at the end of June. Total liabilities rose from VND40.69tn to about VND51.67tn, most of it in the "other liabilities" category, which stood at more than VND43.9tn and includes customer advances and other short- and long-term payables. Bank borrowings were VND283bn and outstanding bonds about VND7.48tn. Liquidity weakened: the current ratio slipped from 1.3 to 1.1, the quick ratio from 1.26 to 1, and the interest coverage ratio was 0.62, meaning operating earnings covered less than two-thirds of the interest bill. The company, formerly a subsidiary of Vingroup, which fully divested in 2022, is also developing the Hon Doi Moi project and the Bai Vong convention centre, hotel and villa scheme.

Corona opened in January 2019 as the first casino permitted to admit eligible Vietnamese residents under a government pilot, the test case for whether a domestic market could support integrated resorts that had previously been reserved for foreigners. In November 2025 the government issued Resolution 8/2025/NQ-CP, allowing eligible citizens to continue gambling at the Phu Quoc property from 26 November without a fixed end date, and approving five-year local-access trials at Ho Tram and at Van Don, the latter to begin once that property receives its casino operating licence.

Demand That Has Not Arrived

The expanded access has yet to produce the domestic demand it was meant to unlock, according to industry commentary cited by World Casino Directory. Scott Choi, head of external marketing at Lion Club, said in March that strong local demand had not appeared following wider access at Corona and Ho Tram, and pointed to accommodation costs and limited room availability during Corona's earlier trials, with connectivity to the island a further constraint.

Royal International Corporation, which runs Royal Ha Long Casino, also ended the half in the red. Revenue rose slightly year on year to VND76.853bn, but cost of sales grew faster and gross profit fell 2% to VND23.323bn, leaving an after-tax loss of more than VND1.7bn. The company returned to profit in 2025 after several loss-making years, but its accumulated deficit still approached VND600bn at the end of the second quarter; total assets were VND932bn and borrowings exceeded VND170bn. Royal International is targeting 2026 revenue above $7.5m, about VND195bn, and after-tax profit above $509,000, and says fuel prices and long-haul travel costs are the risks to international visitor demand this year. It plans to seek new visitor markets and work with airlines and travel businesses inside and outside Vietnam.

The Pilot Was Meant to Answer a Question. Seven Years On, It Has

Vietnam let its citizens into Corona in 2019 to find out whether a domestic gambling market could carry a resort. The answer, on the operator's own accounts, is that it has not yet: losses in each of the periods reported, VND6.19tn accumulated, and a shareholder recapitalisation to hold equity up while liabilities climb. Removing the end date in November was the government's way of saying the experiment continues, but an open-ended pilot with no demand is not a policy, it is a holding pattern. Ho Tram and Van Don are now being offered the same five-year trial. Corona's numbers are the prospectus they will be judged against.

The Liabilities Line Is the One to Watch

A company whose total liabilities rose by VND11tn in six months to VND51.67tn, with VND43.9tn of that in "other liabilities" against equity of VND3.81tn, is being carried by something other than its casino. The category includes customer advances, which in a Vietnamese property developer usually means deposits on villas and hotel units not yet delivered. That makes Corona's casino a small part of a large real-estate balance sheet, and the resort's viability a function of Phu Quoc property demand rather than table drop. It also means a casino regulator looking at whether local access works is reading the wrong set of numbers, because the operator's fate is being decided elsewhere.

Vietnam's Gaming Reform Is Arriving in the Wrong Order

The government is proposing to raise the football betting limit and to widen local casino access, which are demand-side measures. Corona's figures suggest the constraint is supply-side: rooms, flights and the cost of getting to an island resort, the things Lion Club's Choi named in March. Opening the door wider does not help if the road to the door is the problem. The industry has said so for a year. The accounts now say it in numbers.

Vietnam removed the deadline on its casino experiment. The operator's ledger is still keeping count.