PlayAGS hits eighth consecutive record revenue in Q4 2022

Fourth-quarter revenue was up by 16.4% year-on-year, and rose for the eighth consecutive quarter.

“Our record-setting fourth quarter results reflect the accelerating returns we continue to realise on investments made into our research and development, sales and product management teams over the past several years,” said David Lopez, president and chief executive of PlayAGS

“Looking ahead to 2023, I see a set of company-specific growth catalysts forming within all three segments of our business that should allow our recent operating momentum to continue.”

Q4 results

As expected, electronic gaming machines (EGM) generated the highest amount of revenue for the quarter, at $75.3m. Revenue from table products grew to $3.8m, up by 22.0%, while interactive segment revenues fell slightly by 1.1%.

Gaming operations revenue grew by 8.4% to $57.4m, while revenue from equipment sales increased by 40.7% to $24.3m.

Operating expenses for the quarter totalled $68.2m, largely stable with the $68.3m recorded in Q4 2021.

Depreciation and amortisation costs also remained stable, moving up slightly from $18.4m to $18.5m

Selling general and administrative expenses were one of the highest costs once again, hitting $16.8m – however, this was down by 11% year-on-year.

Cost of equipment was $12.4m, and cost of gaming operations was $10.6m. The remaining expenses were made up of write-downs and research and development costs.

The expenses left the operating income at $13.4m, a substantial increase of $11.5% year-on-year.

Interest expense at $12.7m affected the total further. However, interest income at $331,000 and other income $583,000 allowed for net income for the quarter to be $2.5m, a gain from the loss of $9.0m in 2021.

Following income tax at $937,000, rhe total net income for the quarter was $2.5m – another record for the operator.

Full year

Revenue for the full year was up by 19.2% compared to 2021.

A majority of the revenue was generated by the EGM business, which totalled at $284.8m for the year. This was a rise of 19.6%.

Revenue from table products was $14.9m, up by 25.6%, while revenue from the operator’s interactive segment was $10m, a slight uptick of 1.8%.

Gaming operations revenue totalled at $223.8m. Equipment sales made up the remainder of the revenue at $85.6m.

Turning to costs, depreciation and amortisation saw the highest amount of the year at $75.5m. Selling, general and administrative expenses hit $67.7m, while equipment costs increased sharply by 83.2% to $44.4m.

The remaining costs were made up of expenses from gaming operations, research and development costs and write-downs charges.

Operating expenses for the year came to $271.4m, a rise of 13.1%. This left the operating income at $37.9m.

Further to this, interest expense added another blow, totalling at $40.6m for the year. Combined, loss on extinguishment and modification of debt and other expenses totalled at $8.6m.

Following interest income at $1.0m, the pre-tax income was $10.2m. After considering income tax at $2.2m, the total loss for the year was $8.0m – an improvement compared to the $22.5m loss recorded in 2021.