Light & Wonder names Chow as permanent chief financial officer
Chow became interim CFO in August of this year following the departure of Connie James. He will now take up the position on a permanent basis and also become an executive vice-president of Light & Wonder.
Chow joined Light & Wonder in October 2022 as senior vice-president of corporate finance. Prior to this, he spent five years with Aristocrat, including two years as CFO for the Americas, EMEA and customer experience.
Earlier in his career, Chow also worked in finance roles with Universal Pictures, Deluxe Entertainment Services and JPMorgan & Chase.
“It is a privilege to be appointed as Light & Wonder’s CFO,” Chow said. “I’m excited to work with the company’s leadership and board to execute on our clear strategy and build on our strong financial profile.
“I am looking forward to supporting the organisation to further enable growth, margin expansion and financial execution.”
CEO Wilson backs Chow to succeed
Light & Wonder CEO Matt Wilson also welcomed Chow’s appointment. He said: “After a thorough search by the board and the leadership team, I’m pleased to appoint Oliver as our CFO.
“Over the last four months, we’ve all been impressed with Oliver’s ability to seamlessly step into the role of CFO. With more than 15 years of entertainment and gaming leadership experience and deep financial expertise, Oliver was the candidate best positioned to lead us forward.
“His attention to detail, combined with his willingness to take on a wider variety of challenges within the organisation with ease, has made us resolute in our decision.”
Record SciPlay performance drives Q3 growth for Light & Wonder
The appointment comes on the back of Light & Wonder reporting its Q3 results last month. These showed a 128% rise in revenue to $731m (£579/€671), driven by record performances within the SciPlay and igaming businesses.
SciPlay division revenue climbed 14.6% to a record $196m while igaming revenue increased 20.7% to an all-time high of $70m.
Operating costs were lower which, coupled with revenue growth, meant net profit reached $75m. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA increased 21.7% to $286m in Q3.
Also in Q3, Light & Wonder acquired the remaining shares in SciPlay, the social gaming division it span off in 2019. The 17% holding was acquired for more than $420m.
Meanwhile, Light & Wonder pushed ahead with its plans for a secondary listing on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX). This was announced back in May and the business was added to the ASX 200 Index in October.