Melco's Macau casino draws $1.94 bln bets in first mth

HONG KONG, July 3 (Reuters) - Casino operator Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd (MPEL.O) generated about $1.94 billion in total rolling chip volume in June, with 1.2 million players visiting its new Macau resort City of Dreams, said parent company Melco International Development Ltd (0200.HK).

Visitors averaged 41,000 per day, while the average number of rolling chip or VIP gaming tables in operation stood at 127.

The casino resort recorded a mass-market table drop of about $100 million in the month, with the weekly total rising by 12 percent in the last week of June compared with the first, and an average of 376 mass-market gaming tables in operation.

Gaming machines generated about $81 million, with about 1,320 gaming machines in operation on average, the Hong Kong-listed company said in a statement.

For full statement, click here

Shares of Hong Kong-listed Melco International fell more than 5 percent to HK$3.96 in late morning trade. Credit Suisse earlier cut its rating on the stock, as well as on its 34.06 percent owned Melco Crown to "underperform" from "neutral" following the weaker-than-expected debut of its new casino in Macau.

Melco Crown's City of Dreams only won 0.8 percent of the bets in the first month, compared with an expected win rate of 2.85 percent.

"Even having adjusted for the high-roller win percentage, City of Dreams' market share in June would have been 6.9 percent, still below A street expectation of 8-10 percent," Credit Suisse analyst Gabriel Chan said, cutting the target price on the stock to HK$3.40 from HK$6. (Reporting by Nerilyn Tenorio; additional reporting by Parvathy Ullatil; Editing by Chris Lewis)