WMS Industries sees increases in revenues and earnings

"Our operating execution is outpacing the challenging environment and is driven by the consistency of our high-return, high-earning games that are embraced by players and our casino customers worldwide," Brian Gamache, Chairman and CEO of the Waukegan, Ill.-based company said Tuesday in a statement.

WMS, which has sales offices in Las Vegas, had revenues of us$ 180.8 million in the third quarter, an increase of 4.6 % compared with us$ 172.8 million a year ago. The company had a net income of us$ 24.4 million, which translated into earnings of 43 cents a share, compared with net income of us$ 18.8 million in the third quarter of 2008, or earnings of 32 cents per share.

Slot machine sales totaled us$ 114 million with the average selling price improving 18 % to an average of us$ 14,854 on the 6,431 new games shipped during the quarter. A year ago, the company shipped 7,793 slot machines, but at an average price of us$ 12,579 per game.

Before the company announced earnings, gaming analysts believed WMS would have a positive quarter. "We believe casino customers have loosened their purse strings somewhat since (January), based on conversations we've had with industry contacts and the casinos themselves," Morgan Joseph gaming analyst Justin Sebastiano told investors. "We believe WMS has a story to tell and would like to set the tone for the earnings season."