The quarter also marked Light & Wonder’s sale of its lottery business, which generated $5.6bn in gross cash proceeds.
The sale was approved to align with the company’s new vision – since rebranding to Light & Wonder from Scientific Games – to be a cross-platform global gaming company solely.
It also allowed the company to significantly reduce its outstanding debt, from $8.9bn down to $4bn, while paving the way for a return on investments for shareholders, totalling $140m.
Light & Wonder’s Q1 results also saw adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations of $202m, up from $142m in the previous quarter (Q4 2021).
The supplier’s President and CEO, Barry Cottle, commented: “We kicked off 2022 with a number of significant achievements across our businesses with strong revenue growth of 26% in the quarter. The sale of our lottery business was another significant milestone as we de-lever and maximise cash.
“With a reconstituted balance sheet, sustainable double-digit growth and strong cash generation, we now have the ability to significantly enhance shareholder value through a disciplined approach to capital allocation.”
Alongside these results, Light & Wonder has announced the acquisition of game development platform and content provider Playzido.
Light & Wonder believes Playzido’s proprietary Remote Gaming Server (RGS) is “one of the best” in the iGaming industry for rapid custom game development, and claims it will provide a faster route to market for creative studios without their own development platform.
PLayzido’s Stuart Banks said: “This deal is testament to the drive and dedication of our team, who have been committed to building a fantastic games platform that allows independent studios and operators to bring their creativity and innovation to the global gaming market.
“The synergies behind the acquisition are clear and we will now turn our attention to extending our reach across markets across the world.”
