Galaxy to pour us$ 962 million into Macau casino project

For the remainder of the year, Galaxy will allocate another us$ 289 million on the project located on Macau’s Cotai strip, chief financial officer Nigel Morrison said Tuesday. Capital expenditure budgeted for 2008 and 2009 amounts to us$ 445.4 million and us$ 227.8 million, respectively. As at the end of May, the company had a net cash position of us$ 857 million- enough to meet its funding needs, Morrison said.

GalaxyWorld Resort will be built in two phases. The first phase - to be completed by 2008 - will consist of two towers. The first tower containing 1,500 rooms will be managed by the company while management of the second phase will be outsourced to two other operators, with contracts to be awarded by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, the company is set to expand StarWorld, its existing casino in Macau, by adding 32 VIP tables, 35 mass tables and 150 slot machines in August, said chief operating officer David Banks. At end-May, StarWorld had 47 VIP tables and 154 mass tables.

Asked about the new restriction on individual travelers from Guangdong province, Morrison admitted it would have some impact on the firm but added, "we haven’t felt the impact till now."

Chairman Lui believes the curbs will help cool the overheated gaming sector, allowing more healthy development of the industry. Galaxy Entertainment shares fell 0.52 percent to us$ 0.97 Tuesday.