The AGEM Index witnessed a month-on-month 1.3 percent decline in March. It resulted in a composite index of 190.28 points.
Compared to a year ago, the index witnessed a gain of 1.9 percent. The latest annual increase follows five consecutive months of year-on-year declines, said the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers (AGEM) and research firm Applied Analysis LLC. They jointly compile the index.
The March reading of the index still featured Italy-based lottery technology and services specialist GTech SpA and Nevada-based slot machine maker International Game Technology as two different companies. The two firms officially became one business on Tuesday, using the brand name of the latter, after a US$6.4 billion cross-border merger.
In March, five of the 14 global gaming equipment suppliers tracked by the AGEM Index reported month-on-month gains in stock price. Three were up by more than 10 percent, according to Thursday’s report. Gaming Partners International Corp reported a 26.6-percent rise in stock price last month; Ainsworth Game Technology Ltd was up 15.6 percent for the period; and Aristocrat Leisure Ltd reported a gain of 13.3 percent.
In the opposite direction, nine manufacturers ended March with month-on-month drops in stock price, with three reporting declines of more than 10 percent, namely Scientific Games Corp (-22.5 percent), Galaxy Gaming Inc (-18.9 percent) and Intralot SA (-16.2 percent).
The AGEM Index is computed based on the month-end stock price (adjusted for dividends and splits) of each company and weighted based on approximation of market capitalisation. It is based on a 100-point value recorded as of January 2005.
Of the 14 gaming suppliers included in the index, nine were publicly-listed in the United States, while two traded on the main Australian exchange. Intralot traded on the Athens exchange in Greece, GTech traded on the Milan exchange in Italy, and Galaxy Gaming traded on the Taiwan OTC exchange.
