A strong relationship with the government and a new direction for the Crown Macau is upholding the confidence of Melco PBL Entertainment’s CEO, Lawrence Ho, in the company’s future in Asia’s Las Vegas.

Earlier this month Melco PBL announced a USD142 million loss for the nine months ending September 30. The third quarter saw the company lose USD45.2 million, five times the loss sustained in the same period last year.

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Posted in City of Dreams, Cotai Strip, Crown Macau, Lawrence Ho, Melco Crown, Theatre of Dreams No Comments »

Melco PBL Entertainment (Macau) Limited, a developer and owner of casino gaming and entertainment resort facilities focused exclusively on the Macau market, today reported financial results for the third quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2007. Lawrence Ho, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Chairman of Melco PBL Entertainment, commented, “The third quarter was a transitional period for Crown Macau as the property became fully activated from late July.

Hold adjusted property EBITDA has grown each month during the third quarter, and we are excited by our continued progress in expanding the business. VIP rolling chip volume has shown excellent growth, progressing from US$1.375 billion in July to over US$2.5 billion for the month of October. Based on our estimation for the month of October, Crown Macau’s combined VIP and mass table game market share of the whole market was approximately 8%, continuing the positive growth trend and despite the introduction of a major new entrant into the market.

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Posted in City of Dreams, Crown Macau, James Packer, Lawrence Ho, Macau Casino, Melco Crown, Theatre of Dreams 1 Comment »

Melco PBL Entertainment (Macau) Limited, a developer and owner of casino gaming and entertainment resort facilities focused exclusively on the Macau market, has today provided the following update on its City of Dreams casino development in Cotai.

Land Concession
Our subsidiaries Melco PBL (COD) Developments Limited (“MPBL (COD) Developments”) and Melco PBL Gaming (Macau) Limited (“MPBL Gaming”) recently received an offer letter from the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (“DSSOPT”) of the Macau Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China (“Macau SAR”) for a land lease agreement to be entered into with the Macau SAR for the two adjacent land parcels on Cotai that comprise the City of Dreams site.

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Posted in City of Dreams, Cotai Strip, Lawrence Ho, Macau Business, Macau Casino, Melco Crown No Comments »

Melco PBL ’s casino joint venture has fallen at least $US130 million short in its latest capital raising in the US amid pessimism about the gambling sector.

Melco PBL yesterday announced it had raised another $US581 million in the US, $219 million less than the $US800 million it had hoped to raise. The banks managing the share sale — Deutsche Bank, UBS and Citigroup — have an option to buy $86 million stock in the next 30 days.

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Posted in City of Dreams, Crown Macau, Macau Business, Melco Crown 1 Comment »

As expected costs of the City of Dreams casino project continue to blowout, now by a whopping $US600 million! The estimated outlay is now $US2.1 billion compared with the previously reported $US1.85 billion in June and $US1.5 billion last December. We can foresee further cost overruns happening prior to the expected opening in  the middle of 2008.

By now James Packer must surely call this the ‘City of Nightmares’.

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Posted in City of Dreams, Construction, Cotai Strip, Design & Construction, James Packer, Lawrence Ho, Macau Business, Macau Property, Melco Crown No Comments »

It was straight to business from the get-go at this year’s Macao International Trade & Investment Fair (MIF), with Macau and Zhuhai signing a US$4 billion deal to build a Japanese theme park in Zhuhai on Thursday, October 18.

Destination Macau has learned that Japanese movie production company, Micott & Basara Inc. are partnering with another major Japanese company to open a theme park in Zhuhai. The location and name of the “famous” Japanese partner has yet to be announced.

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Posted in City of Dreams, Economy & Business, Entertainment, Macau Events, Macau General, Macau Investment, Macau Tourism No Comments »

James Packer’s third Macau casino, Trinity, is expected to cost at least $US675 million ($767 million) and open in late 2010, according to investor presentations to analysts by Melco PBL Entertainment in Macau.

Trinity Macau

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Posted in City of Dreams, Cotai Strip, Crown Macau, James Packer, Lawrence Ho, Macau Casino, Melco Crown, Trinity Macau No Comments »

The financing of Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd’s (PBL) Macau casino joint venture has been restructured as a consequence of the global credit crunch.Melco PBL Entertainment Ltd (MPEL) says it has signed a $US1.75 billion senior debt facility with a syndicate of six major international banks rather than the original $US2.75 billion finance deal announced in June.

“The recent adverse change in credit market conditions in the United States resulted in a restructuring of the $US2,750,000,000 commitment secured by MPBL Gaming in June 2007 into the facilities as announced today,” MPEL said in a statement.

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Posted in City of Dreams, Cotai Strip, Melco Crown No Comments »