Macao casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd said Thursday that it will open on May 15 its HK$15 billion ($1.9 billion) new resort, which is expected to attract 35,000 visitors a day.

One of six companies licensed to operate casinos in the world's largest gaming market, Galaxy Entertainment's 550,000 square meter complex, Galaxy Macau, is expected to be the "only new resort destination to open in Macao" until the end of this year, Galaxy Entertainment said in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Thursday.

Galaxy Entertainment made an additional investment last year to speed up construction of the resort in Macao's Cotai strip to tap a gambling boom. Casino gambling revenue in the city climbed 58 percent in 2010 to about $23.5 billion, more than four times the value for the Las Vegas Strip, according to Macao government data.

However, Galaxy Entertainment expects gaming revenue growth in Macao to slow in 2011 from last year.

Gaming revenue in the city would likely rise about 20 percent this year, Deputy Chairman Francis Lui said on Thursday in Hong Kong when briefing the media about Galaxy Entertainment's plans for the opening of the new resort.

The new resort is expected to attract about 35,000 visitors a day, Deutsche Bank AG analyst Karen Tang wrote in a report Thursday, citing company management. This compares with about 100,000 at Sands China Ltd's Venetian Macao Resort Hotel, a competing resort in Cotai.

The new resort, described as "Asian-centric" in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, will have a sky-top wave pool and a nine-screen multi-purpose cinema.

The Galaxy Macau plans to hire as many as 8,000 workers this year after the opening of the casino resort, Chief Financial Officer Robert Drake said last month.

The 2,200-room Galaxy Macau resort will have three hotels operated by Japan's Okura Hotels & Resorts Ltd, Singapore-based Banyan Tree Holdings Ltd and Galaxy's own hotel unit. Banyan Tree and Okura will make up about a third of Galaxy Macau's hotel rooms, with the gaming company holding the remaining 1,500 rooms.

Analysts said the opening was unlikely to take significant market share from other operators, with SJM expected to continue to dominate the market despite an ongoing public spat between octogenarian tycoon Stanley Ho and his extended family.

"I think for the first three or four months, first-timers will want to get in there and try it out. I think that is where the major impact is going to be," said RBS analyst Philip Tulk in Hong Kong. "I feel that all operators to some degree will feel the impact for the first few months."

Galaxy's Hong Kong-listed shares have nearly tripled in value over the past 12 months, outperforming casino magnate Sheldon Adelson's Sands China Ltd, Steve Wynn's Wynn Macau Ltd, and Stanley Ho's SJM Holdings Ltd.

Valued at around $6 billion, Galaxy already has two casinos in Macao. It's third property, Galaxy Macau, will open next to Adelson's Venetian property on the Cotai strip.

Reuters - Bloomberg

(HK Edition 03/11/2011 page3)