Chinese sports lottery operator MelcoLot Limited, a company controlled by local gaming entrepreneur Lawrence Ho Yau Lung, said the second phase public tender for a gaming project near Barcelona in Spain that it is eyeing will open soon. Last year, a wholly-owned subsidiary of MelcoLot- Instant Glory Holdings Limited, formed a 50-50 joint venture called BCN Integrated Resorts 2 SA with Spanish company Veremonte España SL. in order to submit an application for a gaming licence for the large-scale entertainment complex project BCN World in the European country. Approved by the Spanish Government for its first phase application last year, MelcoLot said in the filing submitted to Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Monday that ‘it is expected that the second phase public tender will commence shortly. Our planning process has been continuing.’ Meanwhile, the company said its plan to launch a high-end casino project in the Republic of Georgia is also progressing. ‘Although it has taken longer than originally anticipated to settle the terms of the casino premises lease, that process is now in its final stage,’ it wrote. ‘These ongoing international projects and existing PRC opportunities leverage on our corporate expertise in the gaming and entertainment industry, and diversify our business to support our goal of maximizing long-term shareholders’ value,’ the company added. The company also announced in its Monday filing that it had posted a loss of HK$19.3 million (US$2.4 million) for the first half of the year, which has narrowed from the HK$20.8 million loss it registered a year ago. In addition, MelcoLot generated revenue of HK$24 million during the six months, a year-on-year increase of 6.7 per cent from HK$22.5 million. According to the company, the distribution of its sports lottery on the Mainland made up 79 per cent of its total revenue.
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