Casino equipment and online games provider Light & Wonder Inc (L&W) saw its fourth-quarter net income attributable to shareholders rise 120.0 percent year-on-year, to US$66 million, from US$30 million a year earlier.
But judged sequentially, such net income was down 12.0 percent from the third quarter’s US$75 million.
Nonetheless, the group shipped 12,123 new gaming machine units in the three months to December 31, up 56.2 percent compared to 7,760 a year earlier. Fourth-quarter 2023 shipments encompassed 7,340 units sold in the international market, including Asia Pacific, up 175.8 percent from 2,661 machines in the prior-year quarter.
The value of gaming machine sales globally was up 31.4 percent year-on-year, at US$205 million. Judged quarter-on-quarter, such sales rose 19.2 percent on third-quarter’s US$172 million.
Analysts Don Carducci and Michael James of JP Morgan said in a Wednesday morning note: “Headline international unit volumes were aided by a one-off U.K. sale.”
“However, even after excluding the approximately 3,700 units sold in the U.K., volume would have been 15 percent ahead of our estimate, and +40 percent year-on-year,” they added.
In prepared remarks featured in the latest results issued on Tuesday, the president and chief executive of Light & Wonder, Matt Wilson, said that “2023 was a banner year for Light & Wonder”.
He added: “Our businesses delivered double-digit growth across the board throughout the year, enabled by strategic investments and strong execution.”
The firm noted regarding the fourth-quarter results: “Gaming revenue increased to US$496 million, up 13 percent compared to the prior year period, primarily driven by another quarter of robust gaming machine sales growth, which increased 31 percent globally, coupled with continued strong momentum in gaming operations.”
Light & Wonder’s fourth-quarter revenue was US$770 million, up 12.9 percent from a year earlier. The latest quarterly revenue was also up 5.3 percent sequentially on the US$731 million in the three months to September 30.
The company’s fourth-quarter adjusted consolidated adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were up 14.0 percent year-on-year, at US$302 million. Judged quarter-on-quarter, such adjusted EBITDA rose 5.6 percent.
The group has three main segments: land-based gaming; the digital games unit SciPlay; and iGaming.
Quarterly adjusted EBITDA for the land-based gaming segment were US$245 million, up 14.0 percent year-on-year, and a 4.3-percent increase sequentially.
SciPlay generated US$204 million in fourth-quarter revenue, up 12.1 percent year-on-year. SciPlay’s quarterly adjusted EBITDA was US$69 million, up 17.0 percent from a year earlier.
In October, Light & Wonder said it had completed the deal to acquire the 17 percent of SciPlay that it did not already own.
For the fourth quarter, Light & Wonder’s iGaming segment generated revenue of US$70 million, a rise of 12.9 percent year-on-year. Segmental adjusted EBITDA was US$23 million, up 21.1 percent from the same period in 2022.
The firm stated its net debt leverage ratio declined to 3.1x from 3.3x at the end of 2022, which meant it was within the group’s targeted net debt leverage ratio range of 2.5x to 3.5x.
Light & Wonder had net debt of just over US$3.49 billion as of December 31, up 15.4 percent on the nearly US$3.03-billion net debt at the end of 2022.
For full-year 2023, Light & Wonder reported net income attributable to shareholders of US$163 million, on revenue that grew by 15.5 percent year-on-year, to just over US$2.90 billion. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA stood at nearly US$1.12 billion in 2023, compared to US$913 million in the prior year.
