Foreign investment in Macao's recently liberalised gambling industry is squeezing on Stanley Ho and his gaming flagship, Sociedade de Jogos de Macao (SJM), the tycoon has admitted.

In frank comments widely quoted in Hong Kong at the weekend, Mr Ho grumbled about the pressure he was feeling from Sheldon Adelson's Macao Sands. The move comes just weeks before US-based Las Vegas Sands inaugurates a 250-table expansion and US casino impresario Steve Wynn opens his first casino in the former Portuguese enclave.