Light & Wonder reported operating continuous net income of $21 million for the three months to December 31, compared to $62 million a year earlier. The company said its final-quarter 2021 earnings were positively impacted by income tax benefits.
The company posted a net loss of $176 million for its entire 2022 operations, compared to a net profit of $24 million a year earlier. Last year, the company reported “higher earnings and operating profit” and lower interest costs, but said the company’s performance was affected by a $147 million loss in debt-financing transactions. 슬롯머신
The company said it completed a “strategic transition” in 2022, creating a “efficient organization and deleveraging balance sheet.”
In the third quarter of last year, Light & Wonder completed the sale of Endeavour Group Holdings Inc., the group’s sports betting business, OpenBet, with total revenue of about $800 million. In April, the group wrapped up the sale of its lottery business.
In a prepared speech specially included in the results announcement, Matt Wilson, president and chief executive of Light & Wonder, said 2022 was a “significant year” for Light & Wonder. “We delivered ambitious and innovative plans, driving operational success and double-digit growth in our business,” said Wilson, who was confirmed as chief executive of Light & Wonder in October last year.
The company’s consolidated quarterly adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization increased 22.7% Y/Y to $265 million. The company said the adjusted EBITDA results benefited mainly from the growth of the land-based gaming business.
The company said its net debt leverage ratio fell 47% to 3.3 times at the end of 2022 from 6.2 times a year earlier. “We paid back about $4.8 billion in debt during 2022, reducing our outstanding debt by 55% to $3.9 billion at the end of 2022,” Light & Wonder said.
Wednesday’s announcement quoted Connie James, the company’s chief financial officer, as saying the company has returned “significant capital” to shareholders, totaling $413 million since the announcement of Wright & Wonder’s share repurchase program a year ago. “We now have a strong balance sheet and clear road map to strengthen discipline on a balanced and opportunistic capital allocation strategy,” she said.
Revenue from land-based games rose 17.7% Y/Y to $438 million in the fourth quarter. Light and Wonder said the improvement was driven by “a strong growth of another quarter of its game console sales.” The latter was 40.5% year-on-year.
Within the segment, Light & Wonder said game operating revenue remained flat at $157 million year-over-year, but still remained “above 2019 levels” and “the daily average revenue per unit continued to rise.” Revenue from game console sales reached $156 million in the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to $111 million in the year-ago quarter.
Adjusted EBITDA for the land-based gaming segment was $215 million, an increase of 15.6% year-over-year.
The company sold 7,760 game consoles in the three months to December 31, up 37.9% from 5,629 in the same period last year. Those shipments included 2,661 units sold in international markets, including Asia-Pacific, up from 2,140 units in the previous quarter.