Slot and bingo machine maker PlayAGS reported record table products revenue, a narrower loss, and higher revenue in its third-quarter. The latter two figures topped Wall Street forecasts.
In a statement, Las Vegas-based PlayAGS said its net loss was $1.8 million, or 5 cents per diluted share, for the three months ended Sept. 30, compared with a net loss of $11.1 million, or 31 cents per share, a year earlier.
The latest result beat the 12 cents-per-share loss average forecast of analysts polled by Seeking Alpha. The company said improved operating performance and lower depreciation and amortization expense contributed to the loss slimming.
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, a cash-flow measure that excludes one-time costs, rose 18.1% to $31.9 million from $27 million.
Revenue rose 36.7% to $67.3 million from $49.3 million and topped the average $64.1 million forecast of Seeking Alpha-polled analysts. A record $3.1 million in table-game revenue, up 34.8% from $2.3 million a year earlier, boosted overall revenue.
PlayAGS Chief Financial Officer Kimo Akiona said in the statement that he expects the company to be free-cash-flow positive for 2021, based on third-quarter results and and internal fourth-quarter projection.
“Looking ahead,” he said in the statement, “we continue to carefully manage our leverage and liquidity position to ensure we can execute on opportunities to lower our borrowing costs as they present themselves, with an intermediate-term focus on restoring the balance-sheet flexibility we had prior to the onset of COVID-19.”
The pandemic has been hard on PlayAGS; slot machine unit sales plunged after casinos closed in early 2020 to flatten the coronavirus curve. In the third quarter, Play AGS’ total installed game base dipped 4.5% to 23,663 from 24,855. The total is down 13.6% from 27,392 in the 2019 third quarter.
CEO David Lopez told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in May that it will likely take a “few years” before the slot machine manufacturer is back operating at pre-pandemic levels.
In June, PlayAGS entered Canada’s online gaming market for the first time, launching its Golden Wins game through the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation. Executive Vice President, Operations Matt Reback said in a statement then that other PlayAGS games, including Bonanza Blast, Capital Gains, Fu Nan Fu Nu, Rakin’ Bacon
and Vegas Stacks, would be made available to Ontario Lottery and Gaming customers in the coming months.
In October, PlayAGS agreed to integrate its remote game server and online and mobile games into Game Play Network’s consumer-focused website and mobile app. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
PlayAGS shares fell 1 cent, or 0.10% to close at $9.85 in regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange. They fell further in after-hours trading, dipping 15 cents, or 1.52% to $9.70. The stock has risen 54.5% in 2021.
Follow Matthew Crowley on Twitter @copyjockey.
