Aug. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Melco International Development Ltd., part owner of a Macau casino venture, jumped the most in 17 months in Hong Kong as investors disregarded the venture's widening second-quarter loss.

Melco PBL Entertainment (Macau) Ltd., a venture between Australia's richest man and billionaire Stanley Ho's son, posted a net loss of $69.2 million, or 5.7 cents a share, on the costs of opening its first casino. The loss widened from $5.2 million, or 1 cent, a year earlier, Melco International said in a statement to Hong Kong's stock exchange yesterday. Sales rose to $45.1 million from $5.5 million.

Nasdaq-listed Melco PBL opened the $500 million-Crown Macau casino on May 12. The venture between James Packer's Publishing & Broadcasting Ltd. and Lawrence Ho's Melco competes against Stanley Ho and U.S. operators including Stephen Wynn and Las Vegas Sands Corp.'s Chairman Sheldon Adelson.

The widening loss ``is irrelevant as Crown only fully opened from mid-July,'' Karen Tang, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Deutsche Bank, wrote in a report today. ``Investors should focus on latest trends in July-August to determine whether Crown can become a successful VIP property. Our conclusion is yes.''

Hong Kong-listed Melco International jumped 12 percent to HK$10.84 at 11:31 a.m. local time, after surging as much as 14 percent earlier. The company is heading for its biggest daily gain since March 10, 2006. Melco-PBL rose 14 percent to $11.48 on Aug. 17.

To contact the reporter on this story: Clare Cheung in Hong Kong at scheung4@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: August 19, 2007 23:37 EDT