SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
IGT Plc has underlined the group-wide strategic progress achieved by its corporate transformation programme, as all business units surpass trading expectations.
Posting its full-year 2021 results, the NYSE gambling technology group registered corporate revenues of $4.1 billion, up 31% on corresponding FY2020 results of $3.1 billion.
The firm’s Global Lottery unit achieved a 29% increase in revenues to $2.8 billion (FY2020: $22bn) – buoyed by a 22% increase in ‘same-store sales’ and a benefit of $165 million in discrete items achieved during H1 trading.
Lottery growth was supported by the full-service comeback of IGT’s Global Gaming unit that registered a 33% increase in revenues to $1.1 billion (FY2020: $835m).
In 2021, IGT’s Global Gaming unit registered sales double-digit increases in Terminals (+42%) and Systems Services (+11%).
Meanwhile, the firm’s new standalone Digital-&-Betting unit achieved a revenue increase to $165 million, up 44% on FY2020 result of $115 million.
Q4 trading saw IGT complete the sale of its Lottomatica Italian gaming subsidiary to Gamenet Group for €950 million.
The sale of the Italian business combined with positive unit results saw the group declare an operating income of $902 million – deemed the ‘highest earnings outcome in company history’ that helped reverse FY2020 losses of $107 million.
Further positives saw IGT achieve cost structural savings of $200 million, as group-wide operating cash amounted to a record $1 billion generated from operating units.
Closing its FY2021 accounts, IGT declared corporate net profits of $670 million, reversing 2020 losses of $830 million.
Outlined as core strategic objective IGT reduced its long-term debt balance from $7.3-to-$5.9 billion as leverage stands at 3.5x EBITDA the “lowest level in company history”.
Q4 trading saw IGT announce its leadership and governance transition, which saw Group CEO Marco Sala appointed as Executive Chairman of the NYSE Group.
New Group Chief Executive Vincent Sadusky commented on results: “Our 2021 financial results reflect the best revenue, profit, and cash flow performance in the last four years, meeting or exceeding target levels on strong performance across the portfolio”
“We made important progress on several strategic objectives, and I am excited to be leading IGT in the next chapter of its evolution. We have set aggressive but achievable multi-year goals and we have a focused strategy to maximize value for all stakeholders.”
