Casino equipment supplier TransAct Technologies Inc swung to a loss in the fourth quarter of 2019, it said in results filed on Tuesday. Such loss was US$800,000, compared to a profit of US$962,000 in the prior-year quarter.
For full-year 2019, profit fell 90.5 percent, to US$516,000, compared to just under US$5.43 million a year earlier.
The firm’s chairman and chief executive Bart Shuldman nonetheless said in commentary accompanying the results: “We are pleased with our execution throughout the year as we transition the focus of our business to the very large food service technology market opportunity that is served by our Boha ecosystem…”
Previously, the group’s core business has been casino player rewards and player tracking software and ticket printers for electronic gaming machines.
Last summer the firm had announced that a casino resort in Macau had chosen to use its food inventory monitoring and food safety tracking system known as Boha.
Group-wide, net sales were down 5.0 percent for the fourth quarter, to US$11.16 million, from just under US$11.76 million.
For full-year 2019, such net sales were down 16.2 percent, at just under US$45.75 million, from nearly US$54.59 million in the prior year.
Globally, fourth-quarter sales from food service technology rose 58.0 percent, to just under US$1.82 million, from US$1.15 million a year earlier.
On a yearly basis, such sales were up 20.0 percent, at US$6.10 million, from nearly U$5.09 million.
Fourth-quarter sales from the casino and gaming segment were roughly flat, at US$5.34 million, from nearly US$5.32 million a year before. On a yearly basis, such casino sales were down 19 percent, at just under US$21.53 million.
TransAct’s group-wide adjusted earnings before interest, taxation depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) slipped into the red for the fourth quarter, by US$140,000, compared to a positive US$1.31 million a year earlier.
For full-year 2019, adjusted EBITDA declined by 69.9 percent, to US$2.44 million, compared to nearly US$8.12 million a year before.
The firm had a lease liability of US$945,000 in full-year 2019, which was not applicable to the 2018 accounts. It also had a negative income tax provision of US$149,000 in the 12 months to December 31, compared to a benefit in such provision amounting to US$1.04 million in 2018.
In January TransAct announced it had ceased, “effective immediately”, the quarterly cash dividend on the firm’s common stock.
The group said such decision would make available “approximately US$2.7 million annually” to accelerate the company’s investments in sales and marketing, and the continued product development of its suite of Boha software applications and hardware.
