Ainsworth Game Technology Expects Heavy Losses for First Half Of 2021 Fiscal Year

Ainsworth Game Technology, the well-known Australian gaming equipment manufacturer, expects significant losses in the first half of the 2021 fiscal year as the coronavirus pandemic had a heavy impact on the industry.

The last fiscal year, which closed at the end of June 2020, brought losses of 31.5 million U.S. dollars for Ainsworth. That was largely due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the gambling industry, as the year before that ended with a good profit of almost 8 million dollars.

Ainsworth is one of the pillars of the gambling industry, both in Australia and in the rest of the world. The company was founded back in 1995 in Sydney and gradually expanded into new markets like North America, Europe, Asia and South America.

Speaking about the company’s results during these difficult times, Lawrence Levy, Chief Executive Officer of Ainsworth Game Technology, said: “We cautiously expect the challenging market conditions experienced to continue in the first half of fiscal year 2021.

As a result, for the first half fiscal-year 2021, we expect to report a loss before tax for the group, excluding the impacts of foreign exchange and one-off items, of approximately AUD15 million which is in line with the company’s expectations given the effect of the September quarter.

Our focus remains on protecting Ainsworth Game should a protracted downturn eventuate across global markets.”

These remarks were made in an address to shareholders for the group’s annual general meeting, which has taken place last week.

At the end of October, the Ainsworth executives announced that the company won’t be paying any dividends to its shareholders this year due to the same difficulties caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Despite the tough times, Ainsworth continued to develop their options through partnerships with other companies in the industry.

In September, the Australian company announced that it had signed a sales and service agreement with Novomatic, one of the most prominent casino equipment suppliers in the industry. That deal was designed to bring new revenue streams for both companies, as Ainsworth would distribute Novomatic’s products in the Asia Pacific region.

A few weeks later, Ainsworth reached another agreement that was expected to boost their revenues in 2021: a deal with SoftGamings, the international business to business casino platform provider.

That partnership gave the Australian manufacturer a chance to have their products reach new customers in Europe and the United Kingdom.

Source: “Ainsworth CEO flags US$11mln loss for 6 months to Dec 31“. GGRAsia. November 26, 2020.