Casino equipment and online games provider Light & Wonder Inc (L&W) reported fourth-quarter 2024 revenue of US$797 million, up 3.5 percent from a year earlier, but down 2.5 percent sequentially, according to a Tuesday announcement.
The company said the fourth quarter of last year was the group’s “15th consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth” in terms of revenue, “driven by strong performance across all three businesses”.
The group has three main segments: land-based gaming; the digital games unit SciPlay; and iGaming.
Gaming revenue increased by 3.8 percent year-on-year, to US$515 million, “primarily led by continued growth in gaming systems and table products, which grew by 24 percent and 10 percent year-over-year, respectively,” the group said.
The company shipped 9,589 new gaming machine units in the three months to December 31. Fourth-quarter 2024 shipments included 3,609 units sold in the international market, including Asia Pacific, compared with 7,340 units a year earlier.
There was also a 4.2-percent year-on-year growth in gaming operations revenue, stated the firm.
Revenue in the iGaming segment grew by 11.4 percent year-on-year, to US$78 million, while SciPlay revenue remained flat as compared to the prior-year period, at US$204 million.
Light & Wonder said its net income attributable to shareholders rose by 62.1 percent year-on-year, to US$107 million. Judged sequentially, such net income was up 67.2 percent.
Net income increased “primarily due to higher revenue and operating income and a US$28 million gain on sale of assets included in other income,” stated the gaming supplier.
Light & Wonder’s consolidated adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) stood at US$315 million in the final quarter of 2024, up 4.3 percent from a year earlier. Such quarterly EBITDA fell 1.3 percent sequentially.
Matt Wilson, president and chief executive of Light & Wonder, was cited as saying of the fourth-quarter performance: “We ended a strong 2024 with continued double-digit revenue and earnings growth for the year. The gaming machine sales share gains in North America and Australia this year are a testament to our research and development investment, commercial strategy and robust product roadmap.”
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For full-year 2024, Light & Wonder reported revenue of US$3.19 billion, up from US$2.90 billion. Net income more than doubled, to US$336 million.
Gaming revenue in 2024 increased to US$2.07 billion, up 11.8 percent from the previous year. The company said such revenue increase was – among other factors – driven by “market share gains in North America and Australia”.
In Tuesday’s filing, Light & Wonder said it would review its listing in the Australian Securities Exchange, “which now represents approximately 30 percent of total ownership”.
The company stated: “The company remains focused on enhancing the liquidity and market capitalisation of its ASX listing, and as part of this will be considering both a dual primary and a sole listing on the ASX.”
“Light & Wonder has engaged advisors – Jarden Australia and Goldman Sachs – to evaluate potential strategies to achieve this objective,” it added.
The firm also said it expects first quarter 2025 year-on-year consolidated adjusted EBITDA growth “to be in the low double-digits”, giving the “timing dynamics of game sales and high-return investment opportunities”.
Last week, Light & Wonder said it had signed an agreement to acquire the charitable gaming assets – known as Grover Charitable Gaming – of U.S.-based Grover Gaming Inc and G2 Gaming Inc.
The agreement consists of US$850 million payable in cash on closure of the deal, and an additional fee of up to US$200 million to be paid on the achievement of financial milestones.
In his prepared remarks, Mr Wilson said the “strategic acquisition of Grover Gaming’s charitable business enhances our cross-platform strategy and presence in regulated land-based markets, giving us a broader distribution base for our vast content library and accelerating our drive for sustainable future growth”.
Oliver Chow, Light & Wonder’s chief financial officer, added: “Our healthy financial foundation gives us flexibility to deploy capital where it best drives long-term value consistent with our capital deployment framework.”
Earlier this month, Light & Wonder announced an amendment to an agreement that sees the group’s revolving credit capacity increase by a third, to US$1 billion.
The face value of the group’s long-term debt outstanding as of December 31 was US$3.91 billion, according to the results filing.
In Tuesday’s announcement, Light & Wonder also said it reached an agreement on February 23 to pay US$72.5 million to resolve antitrust claims related to the group’s automatic card shuffler business filed in 2019 by TCS John Huxley America Inc.
“While the settlement resolves the disputed claims, the company has not admitted any liability in this matter,” it added.
