Macau operator to finish 1.8-billion-dollar resort: report

(AFP PHOTO/MIKE CLARKE)

Macau casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group plans to complete a 1.8-billion-dollar flagship resort, a report said Wednesday, after it was delayed last year due to the sagging economy.

The complex, which will have 600 gambling tables and more than 2,000 hotel rooms, will open in the first quarter of 2011, said Vice-Chairman Francis Lui, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

Galaxy also announced that third-quarter earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) climbed 181 percent year-on-year to 278 million Hong Kong dollars (36 million dollars US).

Galaxy credited an economic turnaround and the loosening of restrictions on visitors from mainland China for its decision to push ahead with the project. Rival Sands China Ltd. has also said it will restart work on hotels and casino complexes that were put on hold last year.

Macau, the only Chinese city that allows casino gambling, has leapfrogged Las Vegas in gaming revenue after opening up its market to overseas operators in 2002.