Light & Wonder Inc has cited confidence in achieving its long-term financial objectives as the Nasdaq technology group continues to benefit from its ongoing corporate transformation.   

Publishing its Q2 trading results, Light & Wonder (formerly Scientific Games Corporation) generated $610m from ‘continued business units’ – up 5% on corresponding 2021 results of $580m.

Q2 trading saw Light & Wonder complete the sale of the SG Lottery unit to US private equity fund Brookfield Partners for $5.7bn.

In connection with the sale, Light & Wonder was able to reduce its principal debt by $4.9bn to the current status of $3.9bn –  representing a debt ratio reduction to 3.5x from 6.1x. 

The corporate reorganisation has seen Light & Wonder announce a new auditing structure led by the primary units of Gaming (land-based), SciPlay (social games) and iGaming (content and games).

Period trading saw Light & Wonder’s Gaming unit register a 6% increase in revenues to $390m – results that exceeded pre-COVID 2019 comparatives.

Further positives saw the SciPlay unit register a 4% increase in revenues to $160m (Q22021: $154m) – benefitting from expanded range of new games brought on by the acquisition of Alictus. 

Elsewhere, Light & Wonder’s iGaming revenues remained stationary at $60m. The unit is set to be refreshed by the acquisition of PlayZido’s aggregator platform, which will significantly expand Light and Wonder’s access to premium gambling titles.

Despite delivering headline growth, Light & Wonder registered a 9% AEBITDA decline to $212m (Q2021: $232m) – results that reflected a $38m VAT recovery recorded in the prior year.

Further bottom-line results saw Light & Wonder net losses triple to $150m, as a result of a $147m in loss on financing transactions associated with the April 2022 debt pay down and refinancing transactions.

Further Q2 trading developments saw Light & Wonder revise terms on the sale of its OpenBet sportsbook tech unit to US PE fund Endeavor at a reduced price of $800m down from the previously agreed sum of $1.2bn. 

“We now have all the pieces in place and are singularly focused on building great games fully cross-platform,” said Light & Wonder CEO Barry Cottle.

“We recently hosted our inaugural investor day and detailed a roadmap for taking market share and unlocking tremendous value in a $70bn TAM. This quarter we made tangible progress against our strategies as we delivered strong operating momentum and topline growth in the quarter. 

“The success we are seeing this quarter is the result of the fundamental changes we have made throughout the business. Adding it all up, we couldn’t be more excited about the progress we are making and our path forward as the leading cross-platform global game company.”