International Game Technology CEO Marco Sala, in response to a question during the company’s second-quarter conference call, said the company has every intention of keeping its sports-betting technology business.
After IGT reported adjusted EBITDA of $442 million for the second-quarter—an increase of 172 percent over 2020’s pandemic-shortened second quarter—analyst Barry Jonas of Truist Securities asked whether the company has any intention of shedding its sports betting division, as rival Scientific Games is planning.
In saying the company will keep this business—as well as lottery, which SG also is shedding—Sala said, “Overall, I think we have a consistent portfolio to start with. Our businesses are focused on delivering content and solutions to the world-regulated real gaming market and this is, in my opinion, what binds them together.
“We are focused on serving governments and licensed private operators as a B2B provider, and this role can expand that to comprise a full-house lottery operation where appropriate. This is just to say that we see a consistency of our portfolio and by the way, each business in our portfolio is profitable, and there’s a good growth perspective. It will generate strong cash flow, enabling a significant de-leverage in the next years.”
The digital and betting segment, which includes sports betting revenue, grew 41 percent over last year to $61 million in Q2. That segment also includes iLottery operations.
