The manufacturer of Hanoi Vodka said the loss in the first half of the year, unabated since 2015, takes the accumulated losses of the firm (Halico) to VND376 billion ($16.27 million).

Given its net revenue target for this year is VND173 billion ($7.49 million) and pre-tax loss target is VND60 billion ($2.6 million), Halico has only achieved 41 percent of the former but already nearly 62 percent of the projected loss.

The management said the company's sales are decreasing as Vietnamese consumer tastes shift to imported beer and foreign liquor, but admitted that Halico has failed to capture younger consumer segments. Low demand means production is much below capacity and production cost per unit is high.

Halico was originally a Hanoi winery founded in 1898 and equitized in 2004 with a charter capital of nearly VND50 billion ($2.16 million).

Vietnam's second largest brewery Habeco has a 54.29 percent stake in Halico while Diageo, the world’s biggest liquor company, owning famous brands such as Johnnie Walker, Bailey and Smirnoff, owns 45.5 percent.