WMS Industries Inc. reported revenue of US$176.0 million and net income of US$22.1 million, or $0.40 per diluted share, for the quarter ended March 31, 2012, compared to revenue of US $192.7 million and net income of US$24.2 million, or $0.41 per diluted share, in the March 2011 quarter. The March 2012 quarter results demonstrate quarterly sequential growth compared to revenues of US$162.2 million and diluted earnings per share of $0.29 in the December 2011 quarter, which included a $0.02 per diluted share benefit from litigation settlement.
Some of the WMS report includes highlights for: First two jurisdictional approvals received in the March quarter for the new CLUE™ wide area progressive participation game and several other anticipated participation products, as well as additional jurisdictional approvals for earlier participation products including the Epic MONOPOLY™ theme. As a result, the quarter-end participation installed base increased 107 units on a quarterly sequential basis and average revenue per day grew modestly to $68.06, compared to the December 2011 quarter.
Initial regulatory approvals for more new for-sale games in the March 2012 quarter had more than 90% of these games with distinct new math models. New game approvals and additional jurisdictional approvals for earlier for-sale games are helping drive improvement in new unit sales, particularly in game conversion revenue with more than 3,900 and 14,400 kits sold in the March 2012 quarter and first nine months of fiscal 2012, respectively, compared to 2,200 and 6,000 kits in the comparable prior-year periods.
WMS Launched the new Bluebird®2e gaming cabinet with emotive lighting as an enhancement to the original Bluebird2 gaming cabinet, and approximately 26% of new unit sales in the quarter were Bluebird2e cabinets. WMS' networked gaming products installed on approximately 1,280 gaming machines at 64 casino properties in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America, including the first cloud-based application of Remote Configuration and Download functionality for WAGE-NET® system by a European multi-site casino operator.
Later in the last quarter, WMS signed an agreement with Group Partouche to provide Business-to-Business managed services for online gaming in Belgium using WMS' Jackpotparty.com platform.
"WMS' quarterly sequential improvements in new unit shipments, installed participation base, total revenues, gross profit margin, operating margin and diluted earnings per share reflect ongoing progress from our product and organizational realignment initiatives implemented earlier in fiscal 2012 and
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ongoing cost containment initiatives, which in aggregate resulted in $23.6 million of lower R&D and selling and administrative expenses year-to-date over the comparable prior-year period," said Brian R. Gamache, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Our product realignment efforts are focused on addressing customers' near-term demand for player-appealing, high-earning new products and, importantly, the flow of new product development, regulatory approvals and commercialization has returned to normal historic rates. We are executing in-line with our plan and are driving significant improvement across the company."
Gamache added, "We now have open orders for more than 2,000 units of our latest engaging participation products, including the CLUE and EPIC MONOPOLY games, two new games for our popular THE LORD OF THE RINGS™ series and a new THE WIZARD OF OZ™ game, which received initial approval at the end of the March quarter, earlier than anticipated. Our solid open orders, coupled with the expected initial jurisdictional approvals in the June 2012 quarter for the Aladdin and the Magic Quest™, Monster Jackpots™ and GONE WITH THE WIND™ games and several other participation games, are expected to further increase our gaming operations installed base and contribute to ongoing quarterly sequential revenue per day growth in the June quarter. In addition, we expect to achieve another quarter of sequential growth in new unit shipments in product sales in the June 2012 quarter.
"The success of our newest for-sale and participation games highlights the commitment of our worldwide team to deliver advanced and engaging gaming content and to support these products with best-in-class customer service. Having a normal flow of new product introductions, stabilizing our participation footprint and growing our product sales gross margin are key milestones, but we continue to identify further improvements in product development and operational excellence which are expected to benefit our customers and WMS in coming quarters," concluded Gamache. (E-05.02.12)
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