Las Vegas Sands’ CEO says AAEC’s claim “exaggerated”
Dave Sun Minqi, senior vice president and chief financial officer of Las Vegas Sands Macau told the court that AAEC’s suit for over US$12m was exaggerated.
Macau.- Dave Sun Minqi have given testimony in court inn a new chapter in the legal battle between Las Vegas Sands (LVS) and Asian American Entertainment Corporation (AAEC) over LVS’s gaming licence in Macau.
He said that the MOP96.45bn (US$12bn) amount claimed by AAEC was based on the “operating profit” in Macau and it was not a “comprehensive consideration” of the group’s capital expenditures in the Macau market and related depreciation and amortization costs.
He then said that his understanding is that the AAEC’s claims are based on the financial statements submitted by Venetian Macau Co., Ltd. to the Gaming Supervision and Coordination Bureau, the city’s casino regulatory agency, every year.
The executive said that so far, the total capital expenditure of the group in Macau is MOP120bn (US$15 bn). The company currently operates Sands Macau, the Venetian Macao and The Parisian Macao, the Four Seasons Macao suites, and the still under-development Londoner Macao, located in Cotai.
At the hearing on Friday, Minqi said that due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Venetian Macao Co., Ltd. has experienced “huge losses” in 2020 and so far this year. He said the company also suffered losses from 2002 to 2004 and in 2008 and 2009, during the global financial crisis.
In July, former gaming advisor Carlos Lobo gave further testimony in court on the relationship between Las Vegas Sands and Asian American Entertainment Corporation (AAEC).
Referring to Macau’s tender process, he told the court that AAEC lacked experience in the casino sector, adding that the company also wanted to develop a bank in exchange for a gaming concession, which had raised concerns about money laundering.
AAEC initiated its lawsuit in 2012, arguing that US-based Las Vegas Sands breached its contract for a casino licence in Macau in 2002 by switching partners. It is seeking damages of around 70 per cent of Sands’ Macau profits from 2004 to 2022.
