Shares in Melco International Development surged 50 per cent to $2.70 yesterday after the group's managing director, Lawrence Ho Yau-lung, said the firm hoped to advise gambling businesses with ambitions of listing in Hong Kong.

Mr Ho, the son of Macau casino mogul Stanley Ho Hung-sun, on Tuesday said he was in talks with six gaming firms about helping them go public, issue bonds or raise money by other means.