Sociedade de Jogos de Macau Holdings (SJM) said in a supplemental prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that it would delay the long-awaited listing until July 16.

Trading in the shares had been originally set to start on Thursday, July 10, but the move was scuppered after Ms Winnie Ho made a last-minute legal bid to seek a full judicial review of the decision to allow the firm to list.

'The directors are of the opinion that the judicial review proceedings constitute significant new information which might be material to investors' ability to make an informed assessment of the company,' SJM said.

The company insisted it still planned to proceed with the listing, which was first mooted in January, but if no resolution had been reached by July 25, it would withdraw its application, the statement said.

All potential shareholders who had applied for stock in the firm, a subsidiary of Mr Ho's Macau gaming empire holding company, could withdraw if they had changed their mind in light of any court action, the statement said.

Ms Winnie Ho has questioned the decision by the stock exchange and the Securities and Futures Commission to green light the IPO, saying their listing was 'contrary to the public interest and the longstanding policy of the Hong Kong government not to promote gambling', according to court documents.

Her lawyer, Mr Martin Lee, also told Hong Kong's Court of the First Instance that the listing should not go ahead, as questions remained over whether the company had any real assets.

'(Investors) may end up investing in a company that owns a casino in the air,' Mr Lee said.

Anselmo Reyes, the judge examining Ms Winnie Ho's bid, was due to rule on her application later on Wednesday.

Mr Stanley Ho, 86, for decades held a monopoly on casinos in the former Portuguese colony, but the market was liberalised in 2002, allowing huge US operators like Las Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts to eat away at his market share.

SJM had initially hoped to raise one billion US dollars when the IPO was first proposed in January in an effort to compete with cash-rich rivals, but postponed the plan due to a weak Hong Kong market.

It then placed its shares on subscription offer from June 26 to July 2, and reports said it had raised less than 500 million US dollars.

Ms Winnie Ho worked for the firm's parent company STDM for 25 years until 2002 and still retains a stake in the company, although Stanley Ho has tried to eject her as a shareholder since the spat began. -- AFP