Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | April 2008 40 recoup its start up costs by December, said Mr Dewhurst. He declined to predict when City of Dreams would break even, but he said the industry expectation for projects of such size was typically three to four years, assuming pure gaming income amounting to 85% to 90% of total revenue—the current average split on IR revenue in Macau. City of Dreams is due to be fully operational in the second half of next year, although the first phase, including the casino, restaurants, retail boutiques and Crown Towers hotel should be completed during the first half of 2009. The finished resort will feature a 420,000 square foot casino, with more then 550 gaming tables and 1,500 gaming machines. There will also be a Hard Rock Hotel and Grand Hyatt hotel as well as the Crown Towers, offering a total of 2,200 rooms. Jobs Mr Dewhurst said MPEL would begin recruiting this summer for the first of the 12,000 staff needed to run the new venue. Mr Lawrence Ho, Co-chairman and CEO of Melco PBL Entertainment, at the City of Dreams podium-top out ceremony Hong Kong-listed Melco International Development Ltd, one of MPEL’s parents, recently reported a 5% fall in net profit in its annual results. For the financial year ended December 31, 2007, Melco International posted net profit of HK$2.69 billion, down slightly from HK$2.84 billion in 2006. Revenue increased 27% to HK$1.02 billion from HK$801 million and the company declared a final dividend of 1 HK cent—unchanged from the previous year. Exceptional Mr Ho attributed the slight fall in 2007 to the exceptional gain of HK$3.1 billion recorded in 2006, when MPEL listed on New York’s Nasdaq index. Mr Packer recently reorganised Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd—the Australian conglomerate he inherited from his father—by spinning off two separately listed companies, Crown Ltd and Consolidated Media Holdings Ltd. The Crown business is managing Mr Packer’s Australian and overseas gaming interests and has a 38% share in MPEL. Feature