MGM again delays opening of Macau casino
MGM Resorts International has pushed back the opening of its Cotai casino in Macau for at least the third time following the worst typhoon to strike southern China in decades.
The company now plans to open the property on Jan. 29 ahead of the Chinese New Year that begins on Feb. 16, MGM said in a Hong Kong Stock Exchange filing Thursday.
Cotai was battered last month by Typhoon Hato, the first Signal 10 typhoon to touch down on the island in two decades. The storm shut transportation, flooded streets and damanged casino properties.
MGM has been forced to develop “a revised schedule for completing repair works and processing governmental inspections necessary for obtaining relevant licenses to operate MGM Cotai,” the company said in the filing.
The Las Vegas-based hotel operator had originally expected to open the property in 2016. That was then pushed back to the first half of 2017 and then to the second half of 2017.
The company now expects the cost of the Cotai property to reach $3.4 billion, excluding capitalized interest and land costs. MGM earlier this year said it expected the price to come in at about $3.1 billion.
Contact Todd Prince at tprince@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0386. Follow @toddprincetv on Twitter.
