SJM is to spend $3.9bn on building its first resort in Macau’s Cotai area - more than planned because of higher construction and labour costs.

Cotai

SJM broke ground this week on Lisboa Palace, which will have 700 gaming tables and 1,200 slot machines. Scheduled to open in 2017, it will have three hotels with more than 2,500 rooms, including a luxury hotel in partnership with Italian fashion house Versace.

The company founded by Macau tycoon Stanley Ho is expanding in Cotai to catch up with companies including Sands China and Galaxy Entertainment that have resorts there.

SJM, which runs 20 of Macau’s 35 casinos, is the last of the Chinese city’s six operators to get government approval to build on Cotai.