Slot maker buys back stock

Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2001 | 9:31 a.m.

International Game Technology of Reno announced Monday it has spent more than $100 million purchasing its own stock in the weeks following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.

IGT said it has repurchased 2.5 million shares of its own stock since Sept. 11, spending $100.7 million. The company, the gaming industry's largest slot manufacturer, also said it bought back $8.1 million in senior notes.

"These transactions reflect the confidence we have in the resiliency of our nation, its people and our economy," said Thomas Baker, IGT chief executive.

IGT's is off nearly 20 percent since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Play on IGT participation slots has been affected by slowdowns in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, IGT said, but business is "now operating at near-normal levels" in the Midwest and at Indian casinos. The company said it should get a clearer picture of how the slowdown will affect slot machine sales in the coming weeks, "as casino operators develop a clearer picture of how strongly and how quickly customer traffic rebounds, particularly at their Las Vegas properties." IGT has received cancellations on orders for less than 500 machines since Sept. 11.

"In our product sales segment we ship gaming machines into legalized gaming markets across North America and worldwide and this should mitigate a possible decline in domestic volumes during fiscal 2002," Baker said.

IGT fell $1.40 Monday to $41.10. The stock rebounded this morning, rising $1.30 to $42.40.