Record profit earned by LV gaming supplier

Monday, Dec. 20, 1999 | 11:16 a.m.

Shuffle Master Inc. of Las Vegas reported record earnings for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 1999, driven by stronger sales across the company's product line.

Shuffle Master reported earnings of $1.6 million, or 20 cents per share, compared to $1.3 million, or 15 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.

Revenues reached $8.0 million during the quarter, an 11 percent increase. This also marked a record for the company.

During fiscal 1999, the company reported net income of $5.4 million, or 67 cents per share. Net income rose 63 percent over fiscal 1998 and 97 percent on a per share basis.

The company's revenues reached $28.9 million during the fiscal year, a 6.6 percent increase.

Shuffle Master used $4.6 million of its $12.4 million in fiscal 1999 cash flow to repurchase about 10 percent of its outstanding stock, which helped further improve the company's per share results.

Shuffle Master attributed stronger earnings to strong growth in both its card shufflers line and increases in table and video game revenue. The company is now leasing 2,257 card shufflers, up 20 percent from 1998. Shuffle Master is now introducing a single-deck shuffler and a multi-deck continuous shuffler to the market.

Meanwhile, table game revenue was assisted by the acquisition of "Three Card Poker." Shuffle Master now has 188 Three Card Poker tables installed, up from 154 when the company acquired it. The company's popular "Let It Ride Bonus" table game now has 424 tables in operation, a 12.8 percent increase from 1998.

The company also reported a strong roll-out for "Let's Make a Deal," its newest slot machine. There are now 288 of the slots installed in Nevada, New Jersey and Connecticut.