Las Vegas-based gaming company Light & Wonder hits record revenue

Las Vegas-based gaming company Light & Wonder reported a 19 per cent increase in first half net income helped by its acquisition last year of the SciPlay social casino business.

Igaming enthusiasts in Germany.

Las Vegas-based gaming company Light & Wonder, the developer of the popular Dragon Train game, achieved a double-digit ­increase in first-half profit helped by growth in Asia.

ASX-listed Light & Wonder, which is embroiled in a legal battle with Australian-based competitor Aristocrat, reported record-high revenue of $1.6bn compared to $1.4bn in the year-ago period.

Net income rose 19 per cent to $164m compared to $32m in the prior year, primarily due to higher revenue and operating income along with lower costs.

Light & Wonder chief executive Matt Wilson said the company’s global footprint and product diversification had boosted its bottom line, along with the acquisition last year of the US-based SciPlay social casino business. “What is really driving our business at the moment is those traditional Asian markets including Singapore, the Philippines and Macau,” he said.

“It was the slowest to recover out of Covid and it is good to see it back in full swing. We see a lot of opportunities in those markets.”

Light & Wonder in October announced the acquisition of the remaining 17 per cent interest in SciPlay for about $US485m ($741m). He said new games being developed by the company would end up on casino floors as well as the igaming market. SciPlay was growing faster than the market, while the company’s igaming business demonstrated strong performance primarily on growth in North America. SciPlay revenue grew 8 per cent to $205m while igaming revenue increased 6 per cent to $74m.

“Light & Wonder continues to capitalise on opportunities underpinned by our scale and diversified product offerings,” said Mr Wilson.

“We saw strong progress in the gaming business and our global presence enables further product refinement and market penetration with our suite of games and casino solutions.”

Aristocrat Leisure earlier this year sued Light & Wonder, claiming the US firm had misappropriated Aristocrat trade secrets concerning one of its most popular games, Dragon Link. Aristocrat, Australia’s biggest poker machine manufacturer, alleges former Aristocrat employees now working for Light & Wonder copied Dragon Link and materials related to it in creating the popular Dragon Train game Light & Wonder launched last year.

Aristocrat has taken legal action against Light & Wonder in Nevada and the Federal Court in Sydney. In court filings in May in Nevada, Aristocrat described documents Light & Wonder recently provided to Aristocrat’s counsel in Australia as “troubling” and “suggest a former Aristocrat employee has used Aristocrat’s confidential information in her work”.

Light & Wonder shares rose 1.8 per cent to $159.87.

Originally published as Las Vegas-based gaming company Light & Wonder hits record revenue