Revenues were up 9 percent year-on-year at VND130 billion, almost all of it from retail sales, with film production and book publishing contributing 1 percent.

But the company still lost due to high costs.

It recorded VND570 billion in revenue and VND6 billion in pre-tax profit last year, down 16 percent and 63 percent.

It blamed the steep fall in sales and profits to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and fierce competition from online book retailers and foreign-owned bookstores.