Melco PBL continues to lose favour with investors, having lost 50 per cent of its value in the past three months. The slide continued in the US, when the shares fell a further 3.8 per cent to close at $US9.95, slightly above a record low $US9.49 last Tuesday.

The fall has been attributed to various factors including uncertainty surrounding predicted earnings due to a flurry of casino and hotel openings squeezing revenues, a $US400 million ($452 million) shortfall in development funds, and fears of Chinese authorities changing gambling policies arbitrarily, according to the Sydney Morning Herald yesterday. Melco PBL has also delayed the final purchase of the land for the third project on the Macau Peninsula, Trinity, and says it is unlikely to secure the land until the middle of this year.

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Posted in City of Dreams, Crown Macau, James Packer, Macau Business, Melco Crown No Comments »

A decision to change where some of Macau’s top junket operators bring their big-spending customers could be troublesome for Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Wynn Resorts Ltd.

Ten Macau gambling representatives signed a new agreement this month to take their high rollers to the Crown Macau, which opened in May. The casino is operated by Melco PBL, a joint venture between Australian tycoon James Packer and Hong Kong businessman Lawrence Ho, son of Macau casino pioneer Stanley Ho.

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Posted in Cotai Strip, Crown Macau, Macau Casino, Venetian Macao, Wynn Macau No Comments »

Gaming giant MGM Mirage on Tuesday raised the curtain on its only casino resort outside the United States with a glitzy opening ceremony in the world’s biggest gambling hub of Macau.

MGM Grand Macau, half-owned by MGM Mirage and half by Pansy Ho, daughter of the original Macau casino mogul Stanley Ho, joins its rivals in trying to attract the hordes of Chinese gamblers from across the border.

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Posted in Asia Casinos, MGM Grand Macau, MGM Grand Paradise, MGM Mirage, Macau Business, Macau Casino No Comments »

Shares of Melco PBL Entertainment Ltd. slipped Friday after an agent that planned to steer more business to the casino operator was unable to raise cash to expand its business.A-Max runs a company that packages deals on travel fare and hotel rooms into “junkets,” or paid trips that businesses offer clients. The company has an exclusive deal to offer junkets that send customers to Melco PBL’s Crown Macau casino and was poised to raise $375 million in financing Thursday night, analysts said.

That deal fell through, analysts say. Deutsche Bank analyst Karen Tang in a research report estimated the additional junkets A-Max would bring Melco through the expansion would have added $3 to $4 to Melco’s stock price.

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Posted in Macau Business, Melco Crown No Comments »

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 ’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 »