Earnings, revenue decline at gaming supplier

Monday, May 24, 1999 | 11:52 a.m.

Revenues for the quarter were down $100,000, or 1.4 percent. Shuffle Master's 1998 second quarter revenues and income included one-time licensing revenue of $1 million from the company's signing of a "Let's Make A Deal" agreement with Bally Gaming Inc.

Without that agreement, Shuffle Master would have recorded a 116 percent boost in earnings, and a 14.8 percent rise in revenues for the latest quarter. Recurring revenues for the quarter were $5.4 million, a record.

Over the first six months of its fiscal year, Shuffle Master recorded earnings of $2.3 million, or 29 cents per share, on revenues of $12.9 million.

Shuffle Master said it had 2,134 installed leased shufflers as of April 30, an increase of 27.8 percent from one year ago. Installed "Let It Ride Bonus" tables rose 26.6 percent to 367, despite the removal of 42 tables in Atlantic City as the result of a moratorium placed on the game by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission in connection with a lawsuit filed by Mikohn Gaming Corp.

Shuffle Master expects to continue growth in revenues, net income and earnings per share as a result of new additions to its product line, said Joseph Lahti, chairman and chief executive officer.