Australian slot machine manufacturer Ainsworth Game Technology has warned that it expects to record a loss of AU$4 million in the six months to 31 December 2019, before returning to positive profit due to improved revenue in the second half of the financial year.
The update was provided by Ainsworth’s new CEO, Lawrence Levy, during an address to shareholders at the company’s AGM on Tuesday. It followed a challenging year for the company in FY19 in which revenue fell 12% to AU$234.3 million and profit after tax by 66% to AU$10.9 million, primarily due to subdued performance across the Asia-Pacific region.
Levy has promised to redirect Ainsworth’s R&D strategy to invest in new game concepts but warned on Tuesday that results would take some time to emerge.
“We are committed to strengthening AGT to deliver improved long-term results,” he said. “As we invest in product development and transition to new game concepts, our results for FY20 are expected to be subdued.”
Pointing to game performance as being key to the company’s long-term success, Levy revealed that Ainsworth will look to enhance its in-house design capabilities by leveraging “external experts and third party game designers.
“We are also empowering a new internal creative team to focus on new game concepts based on a deep understanding of customer requirements,” he said.
“We look forward to our new games making a meaningful contribution to our financial results in FY21.”
Levy, formerly Vice President of Global Sales with Novomatic Group, also flagged greater cooperation with Novomatic moving forward, with Ainsworth looking to utilize the European giant’s global presence to move into new markets.
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