GGRAsia – Ainsworth swings to yearly profit as revenue up 38pct

Ainsworth swings to yearly profit as revenue up 38pct

Aug 30, 2022 Newsdesk Latest News, Top of the deck, World

Australia-listed slot machine maker Ainsworth Game Technology Ltd reported a profit after tax of AUD11.8 million (US$8.1 million) for the 12 months ended June 30. That compares to a loss after tax of AUD53.4 million for the “pandemic-impacted” prior corresponding period, said the firm in a Tuesday filing.

The company said its group-wide revenue rose by 38.1 percent year-on-year, to AUD220.2 million.

Ainsworth said it “delivered a solid performance” in the second half of its financial year “due to improved product performance and improved market conditions in Latin America as pandemic restrictions eased further during the current period.” The group’s revenues in Latin America increased by 185 percent year-on-year, to AUD52.2 million.

Revenues from Asia markets however fell by 13.3 percent year-on-year. Such revenue – all from sale of either gaming machines or parts for them – amounted to AUD674,000 in its latest financial year, compared to AUD777,000 in the prior year.

The “rest of the world” segment – encompassing Asian markets – saw its revenue increase by 2.2 percent year-on-year, to AUD14.0 million. The slight revenue increase in the segment was “predominantly” from the online division, contributing 69 percent of total revenue in the segment.

The company said that all the land-based markets within the rest of the world segment – i.e., New Zealand, Asia and Europe – reported “reductions in revenue” compared to the previous financial year. That was “due to the pandemic as lockdowns and travel restrictions were still in place for some of the regions within these markets during the year,” stated Ainsworth.

“The Asia market remains challenging as this region was impacted by border closures and travel restrictions throughout most the year,” it added.

Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were AUD37.1 million, versus negative EBITDA of AUD26.6 million in the prior year, said the gaming supplier.

No dividend was declared for the latest reporting period.

Harald Neumann, Ainsworth’s chief executive, said in prepared remarks that the group’s performance “continued to improve through the year driven by reopenings and recovery in many” of its major international markets.

“While our domestic performance does not yet reflect our potential, I am encouraged with the investments we have made to fundamentally upgrade and further improve game performance which we expect to deliver further improvement in our results,” he added.

In June, Ainsworth announced it was changing the company’s financial year-end, from June 30 to December 31. This was in order to align its reporting schedule “with its overseas operations and business cycles,” as well as with the financial year-end of Novomatic AG. Austria-based Novomatic controls a 52-percent stake in Ainsworth.