Everi Holdings, a Las Vegas-based slot machine producer, narrowed its second-quarter loss and posted revenue that topped analysts expectations.
In a statement, Everi said its net loss was $25 million, or 37 cents per diluted share, for the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with a loss of $217.3 million, or $3.29 cents per share, a year earlier.
Adjusted for one-time gains, Everi, which provides interactive, multimedia communications and data processing to the casino and entertainment industries, lost 17 cents per share.
The most recent results included a $37.1 million loss on debt extinguishment and a $23.8 million benefit related to the recent federal tax reform.
Fourth-quarter revenue rose 14 percent to $247.9 million from $217.5 million. Analysts polled by Yahoo Finance forecast revenue of $234.1 million.
Fourth-quarter adjusted earnings before income, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose 14 percent to $51.3 million from $49.4 million.
“Our strong fourth-quarter operating results mark Everi’s sixth consecutive quarter of revenue and adjusted EBITDA growth, which reflect, in part, consistent market share gains for the broad array of casino industry technology products we provide,” Everi CEO Michael Rumbolz said in the statement.
“This success is a direct result of our focus on innovation,” he added. “We continue to gain traction in the market by enhancing our existing products and providing new product offerings to help our customers engage more closely with their guests and more productively manage their operations.”
Rumbolz added that Everi expanded its product diversity by introducing a wide-area progressive link, licensing new content themes and developing a new gaming cabinet form factor. The new games and cabinets boosted the company’s daily win per unit, he said, which increased year over year in the fourth quarter for the first time in eight quarters.
Everi ended the year with 13,296 installed units and more than 350 wide-area progressive games. In July, the company reached a placement arrangement with its largest customer in Oklahoma.
Gaming equipment sales revenue rose about 25 percent.
Everi said it expects full-year games unit sales in 2018 to increase 10 percent from the 3,647 units sold in 2017 and expects in installed games base for 2018 to rise 7 percent to 8 percent from a year earlier.
Before the announcement, Jeffries & Co. analysts were optimistic about Everi. On Feb. 20, Jeffries & Co. initiated a “buy” rating on Everi. Analyst David Katz said he views the company’s stable payments business with the double-digit-percentage growth in the gaming machine business as “financially compelling given the positive dynamics of the casino industry.”
For the full year, Everi’s revenue rose 13.4 percent to $974.9 million and adjusted EBITDA rose 7.5 percent to $212.8 million.
Everi shares fell 11 cents, or 1.43 percent, Tuesday to close at $7.59 on the New York Stock Exchange.
