For the year ended 31 December, L&W posted revenue of $3.19 billion (£2.63 billion / €3.83 billion), up 9.7% from $2.90 billion the previous year.
According to its earnings report, published on Net income stood at $336 million, a significant 86.7% year-on-year rise from $180 million, while the group’s adjusted EBITDA increased by 11% to $1.24 billion in 2024.
L&W’s gaming revenue was up 12% to $2.07 billion, driven by machine sales, which grew 22% due to market share gains in North America and Australia.
Its publisher and development business unit SciPlay saw revenue increase by 6% in the last 12 months to $821 million.
While still the smallest category for the company, igaming grew by 9% in the prior 12 months to $299 million.
Machine sales and regulated games
The gaming manufacturer reported that global game sales shipments were up by 16% in 2024. The group shipped 43,600 units globally, of which 6,000 units went to North America, an increase of 25% year-on-year.
L&W CEO Matt Wilson said in a statement that: “The Gaming machine sales share gains in North America and Australia this year are a testament to our R&D investment, commercial strategy and robust product roadmap.
“Furthermore, we have also realigned studio needs, adding more talent and expanding existing studios.”
Addressing other potential verticals in the 25 February earnings call, Wilson stated that L&W was watching the trajectory of sweepstakes gambling in the US closely. But he said the company saw sweeps as unregulated at the moment “and so against our vision.”
He noted that if the vertical was regulated and taxed accordingly, L&W would be open to exploring developing sweepstake games.
However, CEO Wilson added: “We don’t see a pathway to that happening anytime soon. In fact, we see regulation actually going the other way and many attorneys general in different states are putting cease and desist out against switchback operators.”
Despite the view on sweepstakes, L&W is dabbling in newer verticals after acquiring Grover Gaming’s charitable gaming assets earlier this month. The deal saw L&W pay $850 million in cash up front and it included a four-year earn-out structure valued at up to $200 million.
Wilson said the deal would enhance the group’s “cross-platform strategy” and will grow its presence in land-based regulated markets.
Supply chain struggles and Brazil excitement
Addressing the issue of potential headwinds in supply chains, L&W told investors in its earnings call that it had spent the last few years “diversifying” its supply chain.
“If you think about China, Mexico, Canada from a tariff perspective, we think about that as probably a single-digit million impact for us, or headwind,” CEO Wilson said, adding the group was going to look into working through that throughout the year.
Looking forward, the group is “excited” about the nascent Brazil market, in which L&W said it wants to be a “big participator”.
“We need to do a lot of work to tailor our offerings to that market to make sure that content is going to resonate with that local player base. So we’re doing that work now,” CEO Wilson told investors.
“It was always going to be interesting to see how the dynamics structured themselves as the market opened, and now we have a lot of data points that we can leverage to optimise our portfolio going forward.”
Original article: https://igamingbusiness.com/finance/full-year-results/light-wonder-posts-2024-growth-rules-out-unregulated-sweepstakes/
