Let the Scientific Games Begin
Scientific Games Corporation (SGC) has recorded revenue of US$880 million (£634.7m/750.2m) during its second quarter trading, an increase of 63 per cent over pre-pandemic Q2 2019.
The biggest share of Nasdaq-listed SGC’s commercial recovery came from its Gaming vertical, where revenues tripled, year-on-year, to US$367 million (£264.7m/€312.9m).
SGC’s Lottery division enjoyed a boost with strong retail action and SGC Digital profited from the return of live sport driving an exceptional sports betting performance.
The Las Vegas-headquartered company has posted consolidated earnings of US$383 million (£276.2m/€326.5m), after EBITDA, during this quarter — up over 200 per cent on Q2 2019.
Group expenditure was US$53 million (£38.2m/€45.2m) and, as SGC maintained “disciplined cost control and balance sheet management”, the firm declared net income of US$113 million (£81.5m/€96.3m), after the like-for-like loss of US$200 million (£144.3m/€170.5m) in 2020, and paid down US$300 million of debt (£216.4m/€255.7m).
Buoyed by the positive Q2 progress, SGC is now planning to sell its Lottery and Betting units, as part of a “de-leveraging” financial strategy, and transform to a fighting-fit single vertical focussed on games and games development, exemplified by its recent acquisition of Oz-based slots developer Lightning Box and Finnish mobile studio Koukoi Games.
“I am very pleased that we continue to make tremendous progress on all of our key strategic pillars while also driving significant growth in the quarter,” said Barry Cottle, President and Chief Executive Officer of Scientific Games.
“We have emerged from the pandemic a much stronger company with significant momentum.
“Scientific Games [aims] to become a leading cross-platform global game company with [principal] focus on content and digital markets.
“We are moving rapidly to transform our company and I have never been more optimistic about our path forward.”
