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Text: We are again presenting results from multiple locations, so please bear with us if we encounter any technical difficulties.
As you have seen from today's announcement, we had an outstanding quarter.
Stronger player demand drove improved momentum across all our main activities in Q1.
This translated into 25% revenue growth from the prior-year period and a 6% increase from Q1 '19.
Lottery reached the record levels with the same-store sales up over 30%, including double-digit gains across games and regions.
Growth accelerated for our digital and betting activities where revenues nearly doubled in Q1.
We continue to monitor costs as the top line recovers and we are making excellent progress on structural cost reductions with the OPtiMa program, which Max will discuss later.
You can see these in the over 70% increase in EBITDA and 44% EBITDA margin for the first quarter.
It was an outstanding performance and among the highest levels ever achieved.
With such strong Q1 results and an expectation of progressive recovery for land-based gaming as we move through the year, we believe we can return to pre-pandemic revenue, profit, and leverage levels this year.
This swift recovery from the impact of the pandemic is due to the unique and resilient nature of our business model across products and regions.
I'd like to spend some time on Q1's lottery performance.
The 32% same-store sales increase was fueled by 52% growth in Italy and 28% in North America and the rest of the world.
Even without the benefit of stronger multi-jurisdiction jackpot activity, same-store sales for North America and the rest of the world were up over 20%.
Compared to 2019, global same-store sales were up 24%.
The sustained strength in lottery same-store sales for the last three quarters confirms a complete recovery from the pandemic.
This is supported by the highest segment revenue and profit levels we have ever achieved.
And the momentum continues.
Global same-store sales are trending up over 20% for the Q2-to-date period compared to the second quarter of 2019.
In the U.S., higher disposable income, which includes the benefit of government stimulus, is another factor.
But lottery has always maintained a steady growth profile.
This is because it is a content-driven business.
The games have high entertainment value with broad player appeal.
A consistent stream of new games offers fresh opportunities for player engagement.
Throughout the pandemic, the lottery has become a valued and routine activity in the new normal.
We expected that to continue.
According to our research, many intend to play lottery at higher levels than they did before COVID.
This is an encouraging sign.
Innovation is another important contributor.
In the draw-based arena, add-on and progressive jackpot games are fueling double-digit growth in the U.S., while the 10eLotto Extra is an important driver in Italy.
Instant ticket sales are benefiting from higher average ticket prices, as well as player interest in the second chance and the free ticket games.
It is reasonable to expect sales to moderate from current levels as other entertainment options become more widely available, especially in Italy.
We believe we will see a return to more normal steady increases after we cycle through the pandemic-related peaks and valley over the next several quarters.
Our expectation is that when the restriction of the pandemic will be largely over to see some stickiness to the recent increased play levels, particularly in North America, and the market will resume a more normal growth rate, mid-single digits in the U.S., but starting from a higher individual consumption.
The recovery for our global gaming segment is progressing well in the U.S., which accounts for about 70% of the segment revenue.
U.S. casinos are open for business as the pace of vaccination is driving confidence among players and operators This has led to a substantial improvement in slot GGR since January, not only in the regional U.S. markets where most of our business is conducted but also in Las Vegas.
Core players ever returned and new players, mostly younger, are entering the market as other entertainment options are limited.
This is translating into a swift recovery in our business.
Even as more units are powered up is on active U.S. units were up high single digits sequentially.
New multilevel progressive such as Dragon Lights, Gong Xi Fa Cai, along with the Wheel of Fortune franchise, are driving these stronger results.
We also had good unit sales in the quarter, fueled by a 40% increase in the U.S. and Canada units, including double-digit growth in replacement, which were not far from Q1 '19 levels.
The resilience speaks to the diversity in our customer mix across regional, tribal, and commercial casinos, as well as the VLTs.
Regal Riches and the Lion Dance were among the top-selling core video titles, while Wild Life Extreme and the Big City 5s were the best realty titles.
We expect continued progressive improvement throughout the year across all aspects of our global gaming segment.
It is clear from our meetings over the last few months that the digital and betting is of great interest to you.
It is for us, too, as IGT plays an important role in the iGaming, sports betting, and iLottery ecosystems.
During Q1, GGR across the portfolio was two to three times the prior-year levels.
Most of that growth came from an expanding player base in existing markets.
There are no signs of the digital trend cannibalization in the land-based business.
Digital and betting revenue nearly doubled in Q1, posting the strongest quarterly increase in the last year.
We expect the business to maintain a strong double-digit growth profile for the next several years through a combination of organic growth including the contribution from new jurisdictions.
We are investing to support this growth and maintain leadership positions in all three verticals.
In iGaming, we are expanding our content portfolio through a combination of internally developed games and those developed with third-party studios.
There is an additional opportunity for IGT to act as a distributor of third-party content.
And this is an emerging area of opportunity for us.
All these should result in IGT having 20%, 30% share of the North American iGaming market.
Outside North America, there is also an opportunity to penetrate emerging international markets such as Germany, Greece, and the Netherlands.
We intend to maintain a leading role in the iLottery industry, leveraging the longest standing relationship we have with the world's leading lottery today into our commitment to investing in three main objectives: first, expand the portfolio of games; second, to enhance our platform capabilities; and third, by increasing the marketing and other activities to support players acquisition and retention for our customers.
As we look out over the next three to five years, we see the potential for the number of U.S. jurisdictions authorizing the iLottery to double from current levels.
Today, our presence in the U.S. sports betting markets powers 16 states representing over 40 sportsbooks.
IGT's land-based sports betting platform is the most widely used in the country.
We see the greatest opportunity for us in offering turnkey sports betting solutions to commercial and tribal casino operators.
Since the launch of our in-house trading team last summer, we have made good progress assigning customers including Maverick Gaming, Snoqualmie, and Emerald Queen, among others.
We have many more deals in the pipeline.
There are 17 states where legislation is spending this year and four more where legislation has been passed but sports betting is not yet operational.
We are proactively securing a partnership in jurisdictions where regulatory approval is spending, ensuring our customer is with the launch as markets go live.
Our first-quarter results marked a strong start to the year and illustrate the compelling foundation IGT can build on over the next several years.
This is especially true for our global lotteries segment where record sales and profits confirm the high entertainment value and broader player appeal of the games, bolstering our favorable long-term growth outlook.
The faster recovery in our land-based U.S. gaming activities is accentuated by accelerating the momentum for the right growth of digital and betting businesses.
Stronger revenue trends are further enhanced by significant structural cost reductions that improve our outlook for profit margins and cash flows.
With the proceeds of the recent sale of certain Italy B2C gaming businesses that will be used for debt reduction, our leverage profile should be significantly improved by yearend.
The financial performance exhibited in the first quarter of 2021 displays the strength of the IGT portfolio with our lottery business running at a fast pace both on a core basis and supported by exceptional jackpot activity in the early part of the period.
Our gaming unit is on an accelerated path to recovery with a strong contribution from our OPtiMa program as well as sustained robust growth in our digital platform verticals.
These trends brought a performance of over $1 billion in revenue and $450 million in adjusted EBITDA.
Our profitability showcases the dynamic margin leverage of our lottery business as well as disciplined cost-saving actions throughout the company.
We achieved roughly one-third of this year's over 200 million OPtiMa savings target during Q1, mainly through product simplification and margin improvement efforts.
As giving volume gradually improved throughout the year, we expect to see an increase in benefit from our operational excellence initiatives.
Compared to the prior year, we saw the expected reoccurrence of certain normal running expenses in the first quarter, primarily employee-related costs.
Continued healthy cash conversion and capex discipline drove over 200 million in free cash flow, which is high for a first-quarter performance.
Interesting to note, we return to profitability and net income level this quarter, generating $0.38 per share.
Turning to our lottery segment on Slide 13.
Revenue increase over 40% to 749 million.
Global same-store sales rose over 30% on broad-based growth across instant tickets, drawer-based games, multi-state jackpots, and iLottery.
Same-store sales grew double-digit in January and February where there were no prior real impacts from the pandemic, highlighting the strong underlying play of demand.
In fact, the comparison to Q1 2019 in terms of the top line is showing an astounding 20 percent-plus growth.
Part of the same-store sales growth includes roughly 20 million in revenue from higher multi-state jackpot activity and outside of same-store sales, lottery service revenue includes approximately 60 million in performance-driven incentive accruals from our U.S. lottery management agreements.
There's 80 million in total in Q1, benefits flow through almost entirely to profit.
Product sales, which are naturally lumpy and represent about 5% of annual lottery revenue, were down 10 million on large software license sales in the prior year, partly offset by an increase in instant ticket printing revenue.
The margin leverage from lotteries largely fixed cost structure is particularly evident this quarter as our revenue growth translated into incremental margins of over 80%.
And we also had the benefit of the 80 million in Q1 revenue items indicated before.
Operating income more than doubled from the prior-year period to 337 million with adjusted EBITDA growing 74% to 447 million.
So all in all, an excellent performance by a vibrant and pandemic-resilient lottery business.
Turning to global gaming, the revenue of 266 million was down 14% over the prior year.
We continue to see sequential improvement in this business with higher revenue and adjusted EBITDA and lower operating loss.
Compared to the fourth quarter, KPIs are improving and the contribution from digital and betting continues to accelerate with revenue growing over 80% from the prior year.
Sequentially, the global installed base was stable.
Over 75% of our U.S. casino installed base was active and service revenues close to prior levels due to higher productivity on the active machines.
In North America, yields on active units increased double-digit compared to the previous-year period.
We sold just over 4,400 units globally in the quarter, up 20% over the prior year, and up 2% sequentially.
Unit shipments were driven by VLT replacement sales in the U.S. and Canada and the casino opening of Resorts World Las Vegas and Hard Rock Indiana.
Overall, product sales are down due to a multi-year strategic agreement booked in Q1 last year and AWP upgrades in the prior year as well.
Operating loss and adjusted EBITDA reflect a lower base of revenue, partially offset by the benefit of cost savings actions.
Margin leverage improved in the quarter as expenses have come down.
On Slide 15, you can see that the recovery of top-line trends and diligent cost-savings initiatives are driving strong cash flow in the quarter.
Cash from operations was 251 million despite the concentration of interest payments in the first quarter.
Free cash flow was 204 million, and you can see the direct impact on net debt and leverage, which was down at full-term versus yearend 2020.
We now expect leverage to return to pre-COVID levels by the end of this year, highlighting the unique resilience of the IGT business.
On the next slide, we can see our debt maturities.
In the last year, we have made significant improvements to our capital structure as we pay down debt, extending maturities, and reduce interest costs.
Each of our most recent debt transactions in euros and dollars was at the lowest coupon rate in company history.
Since our last earnings call, there have been two additional improvements.
First, in late March, we successfully refinance approximately 1 billion notes due in 2022 with a combination of new notes and bank debt and extended maturity date to 2026.
Second, the 630-plus-million euro in net proceeds from the sale of the Italy gaming business will contribute to the full redemption of our euro-denominated 2023 note through the exercise of the make-whole call.
As you can see, these two changes meaningfully reduce our net near-term debt maturities and will allow us to save, going forward, about 60 million in annual interest cost with the full run rate of savings starting to materialize in Q3 this year.
In summary, our strong first-quarter performance was driven by a combination of global lottery growth, progressive recovery in U.S. gaming, and OPtiMa cost-savings initiatives.
We are on track to structurally reduce our cost structure by more than 200 million this year with each segment contributing according to plan.
We continue to convert adjusted EBITDA to cash flow at a healthy rate and the free cash flow we generate is used primarily to reduce debt, allowing us to reach pandemic levels of leverage by the end of the year.
Now I'd like to share our perspectives on the second quarter on Slide 18.
Quarter to date, global lottery same-store sales growth is over 20%, so our second-quarter revenue should be higher on a year-over-year basis, though we do not expect the $80 million in Q1 lottery revenue benefits related to jackpot activity and LMA contract incentive to recur.
We expect continuous sequential improvement in the gaming business in line with what we have seen in the last few quarters.
While second-quarter profitability will be lower sequentially, we expect second-quarter operating income and adjusted EBITDA will be higher than prior year, even without the benefit of the drastic temporary reductions in cost savings during the second quarter of 2020.
Depreciation and amortization should be relatively stable, and for the full year, let me reiterate that we expect all relevant key financial metrics to return in line with 2019 trends.
The meaningful progress on vaccination campaigns in our core markets and overall has convinced us that it is time to update the market on our long-term targets in line with sentiments echoed by several market participants we have interacted with recently.
I'm excited to announce we will be hosting an Investor Day later in the year where we can elaborate and update you on our strategic priorities, long-term financial targets, and capital allocation plans.
We will have many opportunities to connect before that including second-quarter earnings in early August, G2E in early October, and our normal conference and roadshow participation.
Then on November 9, we will report our third-quarter earnings, as well as hosted our Investor Day.
Hopefully, it will be in person in New York City.
So, please mark your calendars.

user
compname reports q1 earnings per share of $0.38.
q1 earnings per share $0.38.
qtrly consolidated revenue of $1,015 million, up 25% from prior year.

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