.S. slot machine maker International Game Technology (IGT) reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday.
The Nasdaq-listed company said its general accounting-based (usually accepted accounting principles) net income for the fiscal year ending September 30 was $247.9 million from $272.7 million a year earlier, down 9% from $272.7 million a year earlier.
Sub-GAAP revenue for the period decreased 12% to less than $2.06 billion from $2.34 billion a year earlier.
Over the 12-month period, earnings per share fell 4% to $0.99 from $1.03. However, the company said it returned $319 million to shareholders in the form of share buybacks and dividends.
For the fourth quarter, GAAP-based net income increased 12% to $70.9 million from $63.5 million in the same period in 2013. This was due to quarterly revenue that decreased 15% year-over-year to $536.5 million from $632.3 million in 2013.
IGT reported a 25% drop in quarterly revenue to $234 million, a challenging year-over-year figure, due to lower machine sales. It also said it benefited from the large year-over-year sales of 1,800 Canadian Video Lottery Terminals (VLTs), 1,000 Illinois VLTs and 4,600 video poker units.
The company added that social gaming revenue rose 22% to $75 million in the quarter, and average bookings per daily active user rose 15% to $0.46.
“Our profitability focus has resulted in a significant improvement in gross margins this year, and our fourth-quarter gross margins and operating margins have improved significantly due to cost-cutting measures we took earlier this year,” said Patty Hart, IGT’s chief executive, in a statement accompanying the earnings release.
Carlo Santarelli, investment analyst at New York-based Deutsche Bank AG, said in a note: “Game operations and interactive revenue and revenue were all essentially in line with our forecasts, but product sales were meaningfully above.”
“That’s why the upside capacity is primarily related to international gaming sales and North American non-machine sales (likely increased conversion kits) that seem to stem from an international installation base,” he added 파워볼실시간
In July, Italy-based lottery specialist GTech SpA announced the acquisition of IGT for $6.4 billion, comprising $4.7 billion in cash, stocks and $1.7 billion in net debt. The deal is expected to be completed in the first half of 2015.