Revenues increase 21 percent at Bally Technologies

Bally Technologies grew revenues 21 percent in the first quarter as the slot machine maker hopes to capitalize on the positive feedback it received from last month's Global Gaming Expo.

Also, Las Vegas-based Bally on Thursday announced a $150 million share repurchase plan that replaced an existing program under which the company bought back approximately $127 million of common stock. Bally said $67 million of stock was repurchased at an average price of $44.22 per share during the first quarter.

"The new repurchase program allows us to continue to support our capital-deployment strategy and reflects our continued confidence in Bally's long-term growth plan and ability to consistently generate free cash flow," Bally Chief Financial Officer Neil Davidson said.

Bally said its operating income of $54 million, or 77 cents per share, in the quarter that ended Sept. 30 was a 43 percent increase compared with $37 million, or 45 cents per share, in the first quarter a year ago.

Total first quarter revenue for Bally was $235 million, compared with $195 million last year.

"We expect continued growth from each of our businesses," Bally Chief Executive Officer Richard Haddrill said.

During the first quarter, Bally said the company shipped its first video lottery terminal units to the Atlantic Lottery Corp. in Canada and installed VLT games in Illinois.

The company said it sold 4,608 slot machines in the quarter, 1,209 more machines than last year. The average sales price of $16,853 per machine was $200 higher than a year ago.

In a separate announcement, Bally and rival slot machine maker International Game Technology announced they ended a patent litigation case. Under terms of the settlement, Bally will obtain a patent license to IGT's bonusing portfolio under confidential terms and will dismiss its counterclaims with prejudice.

Contact reporter Howard Stutz at hstutz@reviewjournal
.com or 702-477-3871. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.