Gaming supplier International Game Technology, Plc., reported a net loss of nearly $248.3 million for the first quarter of 2020, citing the industrywide shutdown of casinos due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The results compared with a net income of $40.3 million for Q1 2019.
The bad news was tempered by the fact that first-quarter revenues topped projections at just below $940.2 million. IGT cited a cost-saving campaign as mitigating the negative effects of the Covid-19 crisis.
For the three months ending March 31, adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) fell by about 26.0 percent year-on-year, to US$308.5 million.
The quarterly results were “affected by Covid-19 related lockdowns beginning in March,” said IGT in a statement. Lottery service revenue in the first quarter was also lower in year-on-year terms “on reduced traffic to points of sale”, it added.
IGT said it continued to implement its cost reduction plan amid the coronavirus pandemic, including avoiding extra capital spending, to target $500 million in aggregate savings in 2020.
“After a solid start in the first two months of the year, we quickly shifted our focus to the global Covid-19 health crisis in March,” IGT chief executive Marco Sala said in prepared comments released with the financial data. “We implemented robust business continuity plans and maintain service levels at our normal, high standards … and I am confident IGT is well positioned to emerge from the crisis a stronger, even more competitive organization.”
Max Chiara, chief financial officer of IGT, said the company has taken “swift actions across all non-essential costs” and was now focusing on “structural cost savings initiatives,” while adopting “strict measures to preserve liquidity.”
Such measures included temporary, company-wide salary reductions; cancellation of 2020 salary increases and short-term incentive compensation programs; furloughs and a hiring freeze.
