GGRAsia – GPI’s first quarter profit up on higher sales

GPI’s first quarter profit up on higher sales

May 19, 2015 Newsdesk Industry Talk, Latest News, Top of the deck

Casino currency and table gaming equipment supplier Gaming Partners International Corp (GPI) posted net income of US$1.96 million for the first three months of 2015, compared to a net loss of US$1.13 million a year earlier.

For the first quarter of 2015, GPI’s revenue was US$18.66 million, up by 76.7 percent from the prior-year period, the Nasdaq-listed company said.

“The increase in our results for the three months ended March 31, 2015 is primarily due to the additional business generated by the GemGroup acquisition,” the firm said.

GPI paid US$19.75 million for GemGroup Inc, a deal concluded in July last year. Gemaco Inc, a unit of GemGroup, is a manufacturer of playing cards, casino chips and table layouts.

During the second half of 2014, all GPI’s playing card manufacturing was centralised in Gemaco’s facility in Missouri, in the United States, “in order to take advantage of their capacity and manufacturing expertise,” the firm said.

“The consolidation is part of our strategic plan to improve the efficiency of our playing card production and is expected to provide savings in the manufacturing of playing cards,” GPI said. “Further, it expands our product offerings in the growing Asia-Pacific region as the Gemaco brand has a strong market presence in the Asia-Pacific layout business,” it added.

The company had a backlog of signed orders worth US$9.9 million at the end of March – including US$2.9 million from GPI Asia, up from US$1.1 million a year earlier.

Macau-based GPI Asia distributes GPI’s casino currencies, playing cards, and other table accessories in the Asia-Pacific region.

The parent company announced this month it had received a US$7.2 million order to supply gaming chips and plaques for a new casino in Macau, which is expected to deliver later this year.

“We anticipate several large casino openings will take place in 2015 and beyond in the Asia-Pacific region. Accordingly, we anticipate that our 2015 currency revenues will be higher than 2014,” the company said.