SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Foreign exchange losses combined with a write-down impairment charge of $714 million has seen New York-listed gambling firm IGT Group Plc declare Q3 2017 net losses of $804 million.
Publishing its Q3 2017 trading update (period ending 30 September), IGT disclosed a period group operating loss of $556 million, primarily attributed to its $714 million write-down charge of its ‘North America Gaming & Interactive’ business unit.
Updating investors, IGT governance stated that its undertaken write-down would have no impact on the group’s ongoing operations, cash flow or ability to service debt.
Presenting period trading metrics, IGT would detail a 4% decline in group revenues to $1,221 million (Q3 2016: $1,266 million), with the firm’s revenue channels adjusting to the recent sale of gaming asset DoubleDown Interactive (completed June 2017).
Despite the revenue decline, IGT governance was pleased to declare a period ‘adjusted EBITDA’ of $428 million in-line with 2016’s comparative $430 million. The company detailed that higher product sales combined with lower operating expenses had helped offset DoubleDown’s earnings contribution.
Closing its Q3 2017 trading period, IGT governance reduces its corporate net-debt to $7.3 billion (Q3 2016: $7.9 billion), a key operational initiative outlined at the start of the year.
Commenting on the trading update, Marco Sala, CEO of IGT Group stated.
“Our largest global Lottery operations are growing steadily and acceptance of our newest gaming machines is expanding around the world. The significant increase in Gaming and Lottery product sales demonstrates clear interest in our systems and technology solutions. We expect our sustained investment in innovation, led by a customer-first, player-centric focus, to drive continued momentum in both Lottery and Gaming.”
At present, based on the firm’s year-to-date results and current exchange rates, IGT governance expects to achieve Adjusted EBITDA of $1,640-$1,680 million for the full-year period.
IGT Q3 2017 Performance Overview
