Saipan casino operator Imperial Pacific International Holdings (IPI) saw its profits fall more than one-third in 2017 despite revenue more than doubling year-on-year.

On Thursday, IPI informed the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that its net revenue hit HK$8.15b (US$1.04b) in calendar 2017, just over twice the sum generated in 2016. Gross profit more than doubled to just under HK$7b but profit fell 32% to HK$637m.

IPI’s profits were undone by the company’s rising bad debt provisions, reflecting IPI’s risky strategy of avoiding junket operators and offering credit directly to VIP gamblers. Total trade receivables – outstanding VIP gambling debts – stood at HK$8.5b at the end of 2017, up from HK$5.3b in 2016. Of this sum, 8% was owed by IPI’s single biggest gambling whale.

Despite IPI’s insistence that the company “seeks to maintain strict control” over its receivables, the company booked impairment losses of HK$4.75b on its VIP markers last year, a nearly nine-fold increase on the HK$547m the company booked in 2016.