An increase in instant ticket and draw same-store sales has driven a solid financial performance for Brightstar Lottery as the firm nears the end of its first year under a new corporate identity.
The company, formerly trading as IGT until divesting its gaming division to Apollo Global Management earlier this year, reported year-to-date revenue of $1.84bn, down slightly from corresponding 2024 results of $1.86bn.
EBITDA for the year so far also declined, falling from $880m to $818m. This was attributed to the investments in long-term growth objectives and both ‘beneficial product sales mix’ and ‘high profit flow-through from LMA incentives’ in 2024.
However, the latter stages of the year suggest a more promising picture for the company with Q3 revenue up 7% from $587m to $629m while it was also able to flip its net income from a loss of $46m to a gain of $95m. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter rose 11% to $294m ($264m).
The year has been a transformational one for Brightstar, with the sale of IGT Gaming – which continues to operate under the IGT brand name – closed for $4bn in Q3, with the rebrand to Brightstar occurring in June.
“We achieved many milestones in Q3: closing the IGT Gaming sale for $4bn in cash, executing our shareholder return plans, and completing the refocusing of the Company as a lottery pure play,” said Vince Sadusky, CEO of Brightstar.
“The better-than-expected Q3 revenue and profit results reflect a significant acceleration of same-store sales across all geographies. For nearly 50 years, our innovative products and services have helped our customers excel.”
As Brightstar prepares to go into what will be its first full year under its new corporate identity, the firm expects to close 2025 with revenue of around $2.5bn and EBITDA of $1.1bn, the same as IGT’s full year performance for 2024.
It has also set itself targets of revenue of $2.75bn and adjusted EBITDA of $1.3bn by 2028.
“With $1.6bn of cash and cash equivalents and net debt leverage of 2.3x at the end of Q3, we are well-positioned to execute on our strategic objectives,” said Max Chiara, CFO of Brightstar.
“As we released our mid-term targets, we expect to generate over $7bn in gross cash in the 2025-2028 period, mostly allocated to funding organic growth, with $1.7bn expected to be returned to shareholders over the same timeframe.”
Sadusky added: “The 2028 financial targets we are introducing today reflect a stronger organic growth profile that we believe will drive compelling, incremental value over the next few years.”