Slot maker IGT has better second quarter than expected

IGT, the London-based slot machine manufacturing giant, reversed a second-quarter loss with higher revenue totals than expected by Wall Street analysts, the company announced Thursday.

The multiplatform company, which has a large presence in Las Vegas and manufactures gaming machines and lottery equipment to markets around the world, reported net income of $72.7 million, 43 cents a share, on revenue of $1.29 billion. A survey of seven analysts by Zacks Investment Research had forecast earnings of 41 cents per share.

In the second quarter of 2015, the company reported a loss of $116.9 million, 59 cents a share, on revenue of $1.27 billion, attributed in part to costs associated with the company’s $6.4 billion acquisition by Rome-based Gtech in 2015.

In a conference call Thursday morning, IGT CEO Marco Sala said the company capitalized on the distribution of the company’s new three-dimensional version of its popular Wheel of Fortune-branded slot machine and that he expects that trend to continue in the second half of the year.

In response to a question from an analyst, Sala also said IGT has not seen a direct impact in consumer behavior as a result of the recent increase in global terrorist acts.

Sala also said the company has not seen any correlation to sales as a result of the June Brexit referendum vote. He attributed that to a relatively low percentage of the company’s business conducted with customers in the United Kingdom.

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Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Find him on Twitter: @RickVelotta.