Scientific Games focused on long-term growth

With the year close to an end, what is your overview on Scientific Games' 2016 performance? How do you see the company evolving in the Americas?

We reported our third quarter results in early November. We announced year-over-year increases in revenue, AEBITDA, and free cash flow, thanks to the dedicated efforts of our employees combined with the benefits that our products and technology solutions deliver to our gaming, lottery and interactive customers and players.

Scientific Games is building momentum. The breadth and depth of our new products showcased at the Global Gaming Expo, National Association of State and Provincial Lotteries, and the World Lottery Summit tradeshows demonstrate our commitment to innovation and solutions that help our customers more fully engage with their players to create growth.

In the Americas and around the globe, we’re focused on long-term growth. That means continuing to support our customers through product depth, product breadth, and innovation. It also means investing in our core businesses and in our innovation initiatives, while continuing to pay down debt, improve profitability, and drive shareholder value. It’s an exciting time for Scientific Games.

What is the potential of the Latin American market? How does the land-based sector adjust to the fact that the online option is taking a significant share of the gambling industry today?

We think there is incredible potential in Latin America, both in the land-based and online sectors. At Scientific Games, we offer the industry’s broadest portfolio of games, platforms, and other solutions for casino operations, including proprietary table games, electronic table systems, casino-management systems, and utility products like shufflers and chip sorters.

Although the market is not large, the Latin America regional gaming market is fast-growing, and there is a lot of excitement about Argentina, Chile, Peru, Mexico, Colombia, and of course, Brazil. Players across Latin America love the thrill and excitement of gaming and are quite sophisticated in their play preferences. We are excited to have sales, service and support teams throughout the region ready to serve our customers – with major offices in Buenos Aires and Mexico City.

What challenges does the growing online gaming sector represent for your Interactive division?

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Our SG Interactive division is very excited about the growth and potential of online gaming in Latin America, particularly in Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil

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SG Interactive is our fastest-growing division, well equipped to supply online gaming markets across the globe with an array of social games, play-for-fun games, and wager-based games. We also offer the SG Universe mobile product suite, which empowers land-based casinos to increase engagement with their players at home, on the go, and during each visit to the casino. This includes a mobile concierge platform, a play-for-fun network, and a mobile wagering solution.

When it comes to online games, Scientific Games has a large portfolio of games, many of which are based on our already-proven land-based games from our Bally, Barcrest, Shuffle Master and Williams game studios. We have a strong pipeline of online games currently in development to ensure that players always have new and highly entertaining games to play, at home and on-the-go.

What makes you excited about the future?

We’re excited about 2017 for our industry, for our customers, and for Scientific Games.

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We will continue to focus on the Latin America market and providing game content and a family of cabinets that meet the needs of operators in the region

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Our game-development teams across the globe will maintain their focus on developing game content that offers engagement and excitement to Latin America players.

Maintaining momentum following the success of 88 Fortunes, we are introducing the second Duo Fu Duo Cai game – 5 Treasures. We are also launching Dragon Spin on our stunning Pro Wave cabinet, featuring five progressive jackpots in a pick’em feature, mystery stacked reels, and three Free Game features – each with its own exciting game mechanic! In 2017, we’ll also be promoting the TwinStar, Dualos, and TwinStar J43 cabinets in the Latin America market – along with a library of exclusive content for each cabinet. The TwinStar J43 is particularly exciting, with its 43-inch J-style curved 4K monitor, sleek new styling, and an eye-catching lighting package with animated attraction sequences.

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We are also bringing to market the first wide-area progressive from our Shuffle Master game-development studio – Tree of Wealth

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And we continue to be very excited about our Lock It Link games on our TwinStar cabinet and our two introductory game themes Bright Lights and Girls Best Friend.

Following the historic victory of Donald Trump in U.S., how will the industry be affected?

President-elect Donald Trump brings years of experience as a casino operator, having built and owned several casinos, including the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City; Trump Marina in Atlantic City; Trump Plaza Hotel in Atlantic City; and Trump Casino, a riverboat casino in Gary, Indiana. He also owns Trump International Hotel, a non-gaming property on the Las Vegas Strip.

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Initial signs indicate that he will be pro-gaming and pro-casinos, but we’ll have to wait until he takes office to get a better understanding of his positions and plans

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