Las Vegas casino supplier SHFL reports record revenue, profits

By Ron Sylvester

Monday, Dec. 17, 2012 | 3:52 p.m.

SHFL entertainment Inc. reported a record-breaking year of revenue and profits today in its first quarterly earnings report since changing its name from Shuffle Master.

The company set records for quarterly and year-end revenue, with double-digit increases over 2011.

The growth was fueled by sales of its electronic shufflers and global sales of table games and slot machines.

The company, which began by building automatic shufflers in 1982, changed its name in October to reflect its growing offerings for casinos.

The fourth quarter marked the 16th consecutive quarter of revenue growth, led by increases of more than 20 percent in its table games and slot machine sales in Asia and Australia.

“Our recent performance, as well as our plans for growth, explains why we changed our name,” Chief Executive Officer Gavin Isaacs said during the earnings call this afternoon. “We are truly an entertainment company. Overall, we reported a great quarter and terrific year, even more so since the climate remains challenging for many of our clients.”

Fourth-quarter revenue jumped 12 percent to $73.8 million.

The company ended the year with $259 million in revenue, a 14 percent increase over 2011. Adjusted operational profits grew 17 percent over last year to $87 million. All were company records.

SHFL saw its most impressive revenue growth in electronic table games (up 37 percent to $10 million), specialty table games (up 23 percent to $13.8 million) and slot machines (up 6 percent to $24.9 million). The company also increased revenue from its automatic shufflers by 8 percent, to $13.8 million, over last year.

The company paid off its remaining revolving line of credit in the fourth quarter. On Oct. 31, 2011, it had a net debt of $17.1 million. This year, the company reported cash and equivalents of $24.2 million.

“With no debt on our revolving line of credit and inventory turns at the highest they’ve ever been, our optimization of working capital helps us fuel growth and create shareholder value,” said Linster Fox, SHFL’s chief financial officer.

More than half of the company’s revenue came from markets outside the United States, including Macau, Singapore, Australia and Latin America. Isaac said the company is looking to expand its sales in Canada next year.