Sands China has labeled a lawsuit filed by a former partner “limitless.” A statement filed to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange by Sands Macau added that they will: “vigorously defend the matter in court.” Asian American Entertainment (AAE) Corp. is suing Las Vegas Sands (LVS) for $375 million after claims LVS turned its back on them in the 2002 licensing process. The company controlled by Shi Sheng Hao alleges LVS abandoned their deal to team up with Galaxy Entertainment only to eventually go out on their own. Hao’s earlier words of disappointment were added to by AAE’s lawyer Jorge Menezes, who stated that Hao “really feels that he was let down by Adelson.” Under Macau law, LVS has two months to respond to the suit and it’s expected to go to trial at some point next year.
Credit Suisse has upped its estimates on Macau’s gross gambling industry revenue after a stellar start to the year. Revenue in the world’s largest casino business location was expected to post an 18.9 percent increase for 2012 in an earlier forecast. That’s been revised to a 24.6 percent thanks to the revenue for the first two months of the year outstripping earlier estimates.
Macau’s economy grew by almost 20 percent in the final quarter of last year. The 17.5 percent increase was less than the year-to-year growth in Q3 of 21.4 percent. For the whole year the economy expanded by 20.7 percent, slightly down from 2010’s figure of 27 percent.
