AGS CEO David Lopez said Thursday the gaming equipment provider experienced a first-hand understanding of the pent-up demand phenomena that casino operators have been accounting for in their first-quarter results.
The Las Vegas-based company saw a 1.9% increase in total revenue for the quarter that ended March 31 to nearly $55.4 million. Of that total, $44.4 million was attributed to the company’s gaming operations – slot machines in which AGS shares revenue with casino operators. The figure was a 4.1% increase and accounted for more than 80% of the company’s overall revenues.
In the same quarter a year ago, AGA watched as its slot machines were turned off as casinos countrywide closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But after a year of lockdowns and COVID-19 operating restrictions, casino customers are returning.
“That gambler spirit is alive and well,” Lopez said at the outset of the company’s first-quarter earnings call. “The trends improved as the quarter progressed.”
Lopez cited benefits the company realized as COVID-19 restrictions were eased, and ongoing vaccination efforts brought customers back to casinos. The company noted its first-quarter revenues exceeded the revenues produced in the last three months of 2019 by 18.7%.
“I am equally as encouraged by the macro-level trends and overall sentiment, we are seeing across the gaming landscape today,” Lopez said.
Game sales, primarily the company’s premium games, took a positive turn. AGS said it placed 120 of its premium slot machines, growing its overall installed base to more than 420 games. The company had an installed base of 23.441 games at the end of March, 10.1% fewer than a year ago.
AGS estimated that approximately 99% of its 15,456 domestic games and 51% of its 7,985 international games were active as of March 31. As of Dec. 31, 90% of the domestic games and 36% of the international games were active.
AGS said its electronic gaming machine sales declined 4.8% in the first quarter.
The company’s cash flow increased 7.4% to $26.3 million but AGS reported a net loss of $7.8 million, which was lower than the $14.4 million loss a year ago.
Lopez said AGS was in the process of strengthening its organizational alignment “around key business objectives, which should allow us to improve our business trajectory and overall operating efficiency.”
AGS had $107.3 million of cash as of March 31, and total debt of $620.9 million, almost all of which is due in 2024.
Shares of AGS, traded on the Nasdaq, closed $8.70 Thursday, up a penny or 0.12%.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming Reports. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgaming.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
