Light & Wonder Inc (LNW) 2022 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon and thank you for attending today's Scientific Games' First Quarter 2022 Earnings Call. My name is Sam, and I will be your moderator for today's call. (Operator Instructions)

下午好，感謝您參加今天的 Scientific Games 2022 年第一季財報電話會議。我叫 Sam，將擔任今天電話會議的主持人。 （操作員指示）

At this time, I'd now like to turn the call over to our host, Jim Bombassei, Senior Vice President of Investor Relations. Jim?

現在，我想將電話轉給我們的主持人、投資者關係高級副總裁 Jim Bombassei。吉姆？

Thank you, operator. Good afternoon, everyone. During today's call, we will discuss our first quarter 2022 results and operating performance, followed by a question-and-answer period. With me today are CEO, Barry Cottle; and CFO, Connie James.

謝謝接線生。大家下午好。今天的電話會議將討論我們2022年第一季的業績和營運表現，之後是問答環節。今天與我一起出席的有執行長Barry Cottle和財務長Connie James。

Our call today will contain statements that include forward-looking statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed during the call. For information regarding these risks and uncertainties, please refer to our earnings release issued earlier this afternoon, the materials relating to this call posted on our website and our filings with the SEC.

我們今天的電話會議將包含根據《1995年私人證券訴訟改革法》做出的前瞻性陳述。這些陳述涉及某些風險和不確定性，可能導致實際結果與電話會議期間討論的結果有重大差異。有關這些風險和不確定性的信息，請參閱我們今天下午早些時候發布的收益報告、我們網站上發布的與本次電話會議相關的材料以及我們向美國證券交易委員會 (SEC) 提交的文件。

We will also discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures. A description of each non-GAAP measure and a reconciliation of each non-GAAP measure to the most directly comparable GAAP measure can be found in our earnings release as well as in the Investors section on our website.

我們也將討論某些非公認會計準則 (non-GAAP) 財務指標。每項非公認會計準則 (non-GAAP) 指標的說明以及每項非公認會計準則 (non-GAAP) 指標與最直接可比公認會計準則 (GAAP) 指標的對照表，請參閱我們的收益報告以及我們網站的「投資者」版塊。

On September 27, 2021, we announced that we had entered into a definitive agreement to sell our sports betting business to Endeavor. On April 4, 2022, we completed the sale of the lottery business to Brookfield Business Partners L.P. with the exception of certain lottery business subsidiaries, which are expected to close shortly.

2021年9月27日，我們宣布已達成最終協議，將體育博彩業務出售給Endeavor。 2022年4月4日，我們完成了將彩券業務出售給Brookfield Business Partners L.P.的交易，但部分彩券業務子公司除外，預計這些子公司即將完成交割。

Beginning in the third quarter of 2021, we have reflected these businesses as discontinued operations in our consolidated statement of operations and reflected the assets and liabilities of these businesses as held for sale in our consolidated balance sheets for all periods presented. We are reporting our results of continuing operations in 3 business segments: Gaming, SciPlay and iGaming. Amounts and disclosures referring to combined include both our continuing and discontinued operations.

自2021年第三季起，我們在合併經營報表中將這些業務列為已終止經營業務，並在所有報告期間的合併資產負債表中將這些業務的資產和負債列為持有待售業務。我們報告三個業務部門的持續經營績效：遊戲、SciPlay 和 iGaming。合併後的金額和揭露資訊包含我們的持續經營業務和已終止經營業務。

As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded. A replay of this webcast and accompanying materials will be archived in the Investors section of our website at lnw.com. Supplemental reference slides are available on our Investor Relations website to help facilitate your review of the company's results, including an earnings presentation and historical recast business segment information.

溫馨提示：本次電話會議正在錄製中。本次網路直播及相關資料的重播將存檔於我們網站 lnw.com 的「投資者」板塊。補充參考投影片可在我們的投資者關係網站上獲取，以幫助您查看公司業績，包括收益報告和歷史重述的業務部門資訊。

And now I'll turn the call over to Barry.

現在我將把電話轉給巴里。

Thank you all for joining us. We are excited to be here today given the great progress we are making executing on our vision and with the clear momentum we are seeing across our businesses. Today, we are a transformed company with a clear strategy and a path to unlock value as the leading cross-platform global game company. The global games market is a $60 billion-plus opportunity, and we are uniquely positioned to capitalize with our leading positions and our unmatched platforms and capabilities.

感謝各位的到來。我們很高興今天能夠來到這裡，因為我們在實現願景方面取得了巨大進展，而且各項業務都呈現出強勁的發展勢頭。如今，我們已轉型為一家擁有清晰策略和價值釋放路徑的公司，成為全球領先的跨平台遊戲公司。全球遊戲市場蘊藏著超過600億美元的商機，我們擁有獨特的優勢，能夠憑藉我們的領先地位以及無與倫比的平台和能力，從中獲益。

Our vision is centered on 5 key pillars: number one, creating great content and franchises across land-based, digital and mobile as we look to increase share and drive our organic growth; number two, expanding in high-growth digital markets, growing our recurring revenues and fueling our high-quality earnings and cash generation; number three, enabling a seamless player experience through our leading platforms in an increasingly converging gaming industry; number four, delevering and maximizing cash to fuel investment and shareholder returns; number five, fostering a high-performance culture as we cultivate the best talent in the business.

我們的願景圍繞五大支柱：第一，在實體、數位和行動領域創造精彩內容和特許經營權，以擴大市場份額並推動有機增長；第二，在高增長的數位市場中擴張，增加經常性收入並推動高品質盈利和現金生成；第三，在日益融合的遊戲行業中，透過我們領先的平台實現無縫的玩家最大化；

To fulfill that vision, we're quickly delivering on the promises we made just a year ago. In the first quarter, we made tremendous progress toward our transformation while also demonstrating strong momentum in our business. We grew consolidated revenue by 26% and consolidated EBITDA by 42% year-over-year. We continue to grow our digital and recurring revenues with iGaming and SciPlay growing both year-over-year and sequentially, with SciPlay achieving its second-highest revenue quarter ever. And we achieved a major milestone, closing on the sale of the lottery business, which generated approximately $5.6 billion in gross cash proceeds.

為了實現這個願景，我們正在迅速兌現一年前所做的承諾。第一季度，我們在轉型方面取得了巨大進展，同時也展現出強勁的業務發展動能。我們的合併收入年增26%，合併息稅折舊攤提前利潤（EBITDA）較去年同期成長42%。我們的數位和經常性收入持續成長，iGaming和SciPlay的營收年增率和環比成長均有所提升，其中SciPlay的季度營收創史上第二高。此外，我們還實現了一個重要的里程碑：成功出售彩票業務，該業務產生了約56億美元的總現金收益。

With this new financial strength and flexibility, we've established our capital allocation priorities to enhance shareholder value, debt paydown, share repurchases and investment in growth. We used the proceeds from the lottery sales to pay down debt, our #1 priority, radically transforming our balance sheet. A little over a year ago, our net debt leverage ratio peaked at 10.5x, and now post the lottery sales and our refinancing transactions, our adjusted net debt leverage ratio sits at 3.7x, a reduction of approximately 7 turns.

憑藉新的財務實力和靈活性，我們確定了資本配置重點，包括提升股東價值、償還債務、回購股票和投資成長。我們將彩票銷售所得用於償還債務，這是我們的首要任務，徹底改變了我們的資產負債表。一年多前，我們的淨債務槓桿率曾達到10.5倍的峰值，而現在，在彩券銷售和再融資交易之後，我們的調整後淨債務槓桿率降至3.7倍，下降了約7倍。

We are well on our way to achieving our target net debt leverage ratio range of 2.5 to 3.5x. We expect to get there with the closing of the sale of our sports betting business, which we anticipate will happen in the third quarter, subject to regulatory approvals.

我們正在穩步推進2.5至3.5倍的淨債務槓桿率目標。我們預計體育博彩業務的出售將在第三季完成，但需獲得監管部門的批准。

We also authorized a $750 million share buyback program in March and began immediately and actively repurchasing shares, executing on our second key priority: returning capital back to shareholders. Through last week, we purchased approximately $140 million of our stock for a total of 2.4 million shares, representing approximately 2.5% of our shares outstanding.

我們還在3月份批准了一項7.5億美元的股票回購計劃，並立即開始積極回購股票，以執行我們的第二項關鍵任務：將資本返還給股東。截至上週，我們已回購了約1.4億美元的股票，共240萬股，約占我們已發行股票的2.5%。

We also closed on the latest in a series of targeted, capital-efficient acquisitions to fuel growth and expand our portfolio. SciPlay acquired Alictus, a leading casual game developer that accelerates their expansion into the $20 billion casual market. And we acquired Playzido, a small acquisition that we expect to have an outsized impact on our ability to accelerate our customized iGaming content offering on OGS.

我們也完成了一系列有針對性、資本高效的收購，以促進成長並擴大我們的產品組合。 SciPlay 收購了領先的休閒遊戲開發商 Alictus，加速了其向價值 200 億美元的休閒遊戲市場的擴張。我們也收購了 Playzido，雖然收購規模不大，但我們預計這將對我們加速在 OGS 上提供客製化 iGaming 內容的能力產生巨大影響。

In addition to executing on our capital allocation plan, I also want to acknowledge the current dynamic macro situation that we're seeing and how we're addressing it. I'm proud to say that we've been planning proactively and have contingency plans in place to navigate the environment.

除了執行我們的資本配置計劃外，我還想強調我們目前所看到的動態宏觀情況以及我們應對這一情況的方法。我很自豪地說，我們一直在積極規劃，並制定了應對環境的應急計劃。

One of the things we've done well before the pandemic was to actively assess and manage our cost base. Over the last 2 years, we've taken out nearly $100 million in our cost base, reinvested into R&D and leveraged the other savings to maintain our healthy margin, a testament to how we drive efficiencies across the organization.

在疫情爆發之前，我們做得很好的一件事就是積極評估和管理成本基礎。過去兩年，我們從成本基礎中抽調了近1億美元，將其重新投資於研發，並利用其他節省下來的資金來維持健康的利潤率，這證明了我們在整個組織範圍內提升效率的能力。

Additionally, we were proactive and built up our supply chain talent, which has paid dividends, helping us to navigate the current environment. There will be challenges from time to time and we know there's more to do, but we will continue to be proactive and execute on the things we can control as we've always done.

此外，我們積極主動，培養了供應鏈人才，這已帶來回報，幫助我們應對當前的環境。我們有時會面臨挑戰，也知道還有很多工作要做，但我們將繼續積極主動，一如既往地做好我們所能做好的事情。

And now I'll focus on the key highlights of our business unit performance. Let me begin with Gaming. As we continue to see strong market recovery, we grew North American premium game ops for the seventh consecutive quarter. It now represents 43% of our North America installed base. This outstanding result was driven by strong performance from Willy Wonka Dreamer of Dreams on the Mural cabinet and continued momentum of our Kascada Portrait cabinet with our proven Coin Combo and Ultimate Fire Link franchises.

現在，我將重點介紹我們各業務部門業績的亮點。首先是遊戲部門。隨著市場持續強勁復甦，我們連續第七個季度實現了北美高端遊戲營運的成長。目前，北美高階遊戲已占我們北美安裝基數的43%。這項出色業績得益於壁畫系列遊戲《威利旺卡夢想家》的強勁表現，以及卡斯卡達肖像系列遊戲的持續增長，以及我們久經考驗的《金幣組合》和《終極火線》系列。

Revenue per day remained strong, especially in the North America premium segment, and coin-in continues to outpace 2019 levels, thanks to improved product performance. With the launch of our Kascada Dual Screen cabinet and a rich portfolio of content, such as Double Money Link and Gold Fish, we are seeing strong numbers out of the gate and expect to see continued momentum with our proven Ultimate Fire Link franchise scheduled to roll out shortly. Our highly anticipated stepper cabinet, Landmark 7000, will debut in the second half of the year, giving us cabinets in every critical segment of the market.

日收入保持強勁，尤其是在北美高端市場。由於產品效能的提升，遊戲投入持續超過2019年的水準。隨著Kascada雙螢幕機櫃以及Double Money Link和Gold Fish等豐富內容的推出，我們取得了強勁的業績，並期待即將推出的Ultimate Fire Link系列產品能夠繼續保持強勁勢頭。我們備受期待的步進機櫃Landmark 7000將於下半年首次亮相，這將使我們的機櫃覆蓋市場的每個關鍵領域。

And we continue to see great progress in game sales, systems and tables with year-over-year growth, momentum we expect to build on throughout the year. We're seeing a strong demand pipeline for our iVIEW 4 hardware, which now penetrates more than 60% of our domestic-connected systems units. And we're scaling resources to deliver on increased demand for system software and services off the back of these hardware upgrades.

我們繼續看到遊戲銷售、系統和遊戲桌銷量的顯著增長，同比增長，我們預計這一勢頭將在全年持續保持。 iVIEW 4 硬體的需求強勁，目前已覆蓋我們 60% 以上的家庭連網系統。我們正在擴展資源，以滿足硬體升級帶來的系統軟體和服務日益增長的需求。

Meanwhile, our Roulette X ETG game is generating strong performance across the globe, outperforming traditional roulette by more than 2 times. And our recently acquired AToM cashless tables product is continuing to roll out across the U.S. market with over 650 units and strong trends on average transactions.

同時，我們的輪盤X ETG遊戲在全球表現強勁，比傳統輪盤高出兩倍以上。我們最近收購的AToM無現金賭桌產品正在美國市場持續推廣，目前已擁有超過650台，平均交易量呈現強勁成長趨勢。

Overall, we see continued momentum into April as the gaming industry remains resilient in this macro environment with strong player demand and GGR above 2019 levels.

總體而言，我們預計 4 月份博彩業將繼續保持成長勢頭，因為在這種宏觀環境下，博彩業仍保持韌性，玩家需求強勁，博彩總收入 (GGR) 高於 2019 年的水平。

Turning to iGaming. The business continues to have strong momentum with revenue growing both year-over-year and sequentially. In the U.S., we were up 63% year-over-year and 21% sequentially with 7 sequential quarters of GGR growth. The performance was fueled by the success of original content with our games generating 50% of the GGR on our iGaming platform, a record contribution. In fact, of the top ranked games in the U.S. on our OGS platform, 16 of the top 20 were ours.

談到iGaming業務。該業務繼續保持強勁勢頭，收入同比增長和環比增長。在美國，我們的遊戲總收入（GGR）較去年同期成長63%，較上季成長21%，連續7季成長。這項業績得益於原創內容的成功，我們的遊戲貢獻了iGaming平台50%的遊戲總收入，創下了歷史新高。事實上，在我們OGS平台上排名前幾名的美國遊戲中，前20名中有16款是我們的作品。

In April, we launched in Ontario, our largest-ever single market launch, going live with 8 operators on Day 1 and with 20-plus in the pipeline. We've seen strong results from our content portfolio with games like 88 Fortunes, and we anticipate this market reaching up to an estimated total of 1.5 billion GGR a year by 2025.

今年4月，我們在安大略省正式上線，這是我們迄今規模最大的單一市場，上線首日就與8家營運商合作，另有20多家營運商正在籌備中。我們的內容組合，例如《88 Fortunes》等遊戲，取得了顯著成果，我們預計到2025年，該市場年總博彩收入（GGR）將達到15億。

Our original content continues to deliver as key standouts such as Rainbow Riches, MONOPOLY and 88 Fortunes consistently ranked among the top-performing games. We also continued our momentum with our studio acquisitions with Lightning Box achieving record GGR for the seventh consecutive month and Elk Studio building on its record success from fourth quarter 2021. Our distribution and scale fueled the performance of great games like Chicken Fox, Lightning Horseman and Book of Toro.

我們的原創內容持續發力，《彩虹財富》（Rainbow Riches）、《地產大亨》（MONOPOLY）和《88 Fortunes》等主要遊戲持續名列最佳表現遊戲之列。我們也透過收購工作室保持了強勁勢頭，Lightning Box 連續第七個月創下遊戲總收入（GGR）紀錄，Elk Studio 則延續了 2021 年第四季創下的佳績。我們的發行管道和規模助力了《雞狐》（Chicken Fox）、《閃電騎士》（Lightning Horseman）和《公牛之書》（Book of Toro）等優秀遊戲的出色表現。

This year, we'll be ramping up original content launches, including evergreen franchises, such as Money Falls, Coin Combo and Gold Fish. And our launch of Live Dealer remains on track for the U.S. in Q4. Overall, with our depth of proven games and experienced teams we are well positioned to capitalize on the global wave of legalization.

今年，我們將加大原創內容的發布力度，包括「Money Falls」、「Coin Combo」和「Gold Fish」等經典遊戲系列。此外，我們仍在按計劃於第四季在美國推出「真人荷官」遊戲。總而言之，憑藉我們豐富的遊戲資源和經驗豐富的團隊，我們已做好準備，抓住全球博彩合法化浪潮的機會。

Now moving to SciPlay. SciPlay turned in another strong performance with revenue up 5% year-over-year and 2% sequentially. That revenue represents the second highest in the company history and an outperformance of the overall social casino market, reflecting the continued momentum they're achieving by investing and executing on their plan.

現在來看看SciPlay。 SciPlay再次取得強勁業績，營收年增5%，季增2%。這筆收入是公司歷史上第二高的，並且跑贏了整個社交博彩市場，這反映出他們透過投資和執行計劃所取得的持續發展勢頭。

SciPlay's Project All-Star enabled them to drive another record quarter for Gold Fish and Quick Hit as SciPlay continues to grow their core games. Player LTV and retention are at all-time highs, while monthly average users and average monthly paying users improved sequentially. And the Alictus integration is going smoothly with 2 new game launches in the quarter and the addition of 28 million MAU, expanding our total MAU to over 30 million. Finally, we're very excited for the launch of Project X in the second half. Make sure not to miss the special sneak preview at the Investor Day next week.

SciPlay 的 Project All-Star 專案協助 Gold Fish 和 Quick Hit 再創季度業績新高，SciPlay 的核心遊戲業務也持續成長。玩家生命週期價值 (LTV) 和留存率均創歷史新高，月平均用戶數和月平均付費用戶數也環比提升。 Alictus 的整合進展順利，本季推出了兩款新遊戲，新增了 2,800 萬月活躍用戶，使我們的總月活躍用戶數超過 3,000 萬。最後，我們非常期待下半年 Project X 的上線。敬請期待下週投資者日的特別預告。

So there's great news all around, but there's also a new level of value emerging when it comes to our unique mix of assets and the opportunity to lead as land-based and digital gaming increasingly converge. We are already executing on our cross-platform road map by launching Gold Fish Feeding Time on SciPlay and in casinos with iGaming soon to follow.

好消息不斷，但隨著實體博彩和數位博彩日益融合，我們獨特的資產組合以及引領產業發展的機會也正在創造新的價值。我們已在執行跨平台路線圖，在 SciPlay 和賭場上推出了《金魚餵食時間》，iGaming 平台也將很快上線。

In the first week, 700,000 people played the game even before we scaled it across land-based casinos, and the payer conversion on Day 1 was almost double what we've seen in any other games. It's a great example of us taking one of our key evergreen franchises and scaling them to a broader audience through coordinated deployment across our platforms, and we'll share more on our cross-platform road map next week at our Investor Day.

在我們將其擴展到實體賭場之前，這款遊戲上線首周就吸引了70萬人，首日玩家轉換率幾乎是其他遊戲的兩倍。這是一個很好的例子，我們透過跨平台的協同部署，將我們的核心經典遊戲之一擴展到更廣泛的受眾。下週的投資者日，我們將分享更多關於跨平台路線圖的資訊。

We're rapidly executing on our plan to transform our organization with a singular focus on launching games fully cross-platform. I want to thank each and every one of our creators for their incredible work this quarter.

我們正在快速推進組織轉型計劃，專注於推出完全跨平台的遊戲。我要感謝每一位創作者在本季的出色工作。

And now for more on our financial results, let me turn it over to Connie.

現在，要了解有關我們財務業績的更多信息，請讓我將話題交給康妮。

Thanks, Barry. Before we go into the results, I want to congratulate the team on the successful closing of the sale of our lottery business. The pace and scale of the business and financial transformation we've achieved is incredible.

謝謝，巴里。在我們公佈業績之前，我想祝賀團隊成功完成彩票業務的出售。我們實現的業務和財務轉型速度之快、規模之大令人驚嘆。

In just 15 short months, we have materially transformed our company. First, we refocused and streamlined our organization with the sale of our lottery business and the pending sale of our sports betting business. Second, with these actions, we have enhanced our financial profile with clear line of sight to sustainable double-digit growth on both the top and bottom line. Third, we've outlined our capital allocation priorities to enhance shareholder value, and we've already made significant progress.

短短15個月內，我們實現了公司實質的轉型。首先，我們透過出售彩票業務和即將出售的體育博彩業務，重新聚焦並精簡了組織架構。其次，透過這些舉措，我們提升了財務狀況，並明確了實現營收和利潤可持續兩位數成長的目標。第三，我們制定了資本配置重點，以提升股東價值，並且已經取得了顯著進展。

Fourth, we have transformed our balance sheet and credit profile, paying down and refinancing our debt on the back of our lottery sales. And finally, we have already begun to return significant capital to shareholders following our authorization on March 1 of a $750 million share repurchase program.

第四，我們改變了資產負債表和信用狀況，利用彩票銷售收入償還債務並進行再融資。最後，自3月1日批准7.5億美元股票回購計畫以來，我們已經開始向股東返還大量資金。

Importantly, even with all of these strategic initiatives that the teams have accomplished, we've continued to maintain our focus on operational excellence and executing on our day-to-day business. Let me touch on a few financial highlights in the quarter.

重要的是，即使團隊已經完成了所有這些策略舉措，我們仍然專注於卓越營運和日常業務的執行。請容許我介紹一下本季的一些財務亮點。

Consolidated revenue increased 26% year-over-year to $572 million with growth across all of our businesses. Net loss from continuing operations decreased to $67 million as a result of our higher operating income, primarily driven by our double-digit revenue growth. Consolidated AEBITDA grew 42%, primarily driven by double-digit growth in gaming as we continued to see strong gains with market recovery. Our consolidated AEBITDA margin for continuing operations was up 400 basis points versus the prior year to 35%.

合併營收年增26%，達到5.72億美元，所有業務均成長。持續經營業務淨虧損收窄至6,700萬美元，主要得益於我們營業利潤的增加，這主要得益於我們兩位數的營收成長。合併平均息稅折舊攤銷前利潤（AEBITDA）成長42%，這主要得益於遊戲業務的兩位數成長，以及市場復甦帶來的強勁成長。我們持續經營業務的合併平均息稅折舊攤銷前利潤率（AEBITDA）較上年同期上升400個基點，達到35%。

From a balance sheet perspective, we made tremendous progress since our last earnings call. Following our closing of the lottery sale on April 4, we took advantage of a window in the capital markets and moved quickly to pay down our debt and successfully complete a series of debt refinancing transactions, delivering on our promise to transform our balance sheet.

從資產負債表的角度來看，自從上次財報電話會議以來，我們取得了巨大的進步。 4月4日彩券銷售結束後，我們抓住資本市場機遇，迅速償還債務，並成功完成了一系列債務再融資交易，兌現了改善資產負債表的承諾。

We reduced the principal amount of our outstanding debt from $8.9 billion at March 31 to $4 billion post the refinancing transactions. And our net debt leverage ratio declined from 6.1x reported to an adjusted net debt leverage ratio reflecting the sale of our lottery business and refinancing transactions of 3.7x, an approximately 40% reduction.

我們將未償債務本金從3月31日的89億美元減少到再融資交易後的40億美元。我們的淨債務槓桿率從報告的6.1倍下降至調整後的淨債務槓桿率3.7倍（反映了彩券業務的出售和再融資交易），降幅約為40%。

I can't emphasize enough what a significant and fundamental change this is for our business and credit profile. We were able to put in place a new term loan with a covenant-light structure, take out some of our existing high-coupon debt and increase the weighted average life of our debt to 6.4 years. We saw strong oversubscription for our new term loan, reflecting our significantly strengthened financial and credit profile, enabling us to drive favorable pricing.

我再怎麼強調也不為過，這對我們的業務和信用狀況來說是多麼重大而根本的改變。我們得以設立一項具有輕契約結構的新定期貸款，剝離部分現有的高利債務，並將債務的加權平均期限延長至6.4年。新定期貸款的認購量強勁，這反映出我們顯著增強的財務和信用狀況，使我們能夠獲得有利的定價。

And with the expected closing on the sale of our sports business, we plan to take out more of our high-coupon debt, which is expected to put us squarely in our target net debt leverage ratio range of 2.5 to 3.5x. No longer will we be burdened by the high levels of debt and the associated cost to maintain it.

隨著體育業務出售交易的預期完成，我們計劃剝離更多高利債務，預計這將使我們的淨債務槓桿率達到2.5至3.5倍的目標範圍。我們將不再背負高額債務及其相關成本的負擔。

With the refinancing steps we have taken, we estimate annual cash interest savings of approximately $225 million on a run rate basis, a 47% reduction. And building on what Barry said, these are dynamic times, but we continue to focus on what we can control, and we've been proactive. We've taken a number of steps, including a year ago instituting a global supply chain.

透過採取再融資措施，我們預計每年可節省約2.25億美元的現金利息（以運轉率計算），降幅達47%。正如Barry所說，這是一個充滿活力的時代，但我們始終專注於我們所能掌控的事情，並且積極主動。我們已經採取了一系列措施，包括一年前建立的全球供應鏈。

We have driven efficiencies throughout the business with a specific focus on working capital and the cash conversion cycle. And we continue to leverage our offshore development centers to optimize our cost base. Collectively, these initiatives are helping us to offset the current inflationary environment, and rest assured, driving continued operational efficiency is a top priority.

我們致力於提升整個業務的效率，尤其註重營運資本和現金週轉週期。我們將繼續利用離岸開發中心來優化成本基礎。這些措施正在幫助我們抵銷當前的通膨環境，請放心，持續提升營運效率是我們的首要任務。

Turning now to our business segments. In Gaming, revenue increased 45% year-over-year to $355 million with AEBITDA growth of 60% to $171 million, outpacing revenue growth and translating to AEBITDA margin improvement of 400 basis points year-over-year. The performance was broad-based with double-digit percentage growth in all 4 of our business lines.

現在來看看我們的業務部門。遊戲業務方面，營收年增45%，達到3.55億美元，平均息稅折舊攤銷前利潤（AEBITDA）增長60%，達到1.71億美元，超過了收入增長，並轉化為平均息稅折舊攤銷前利潤率同比增長400個基點。業績表現全面亮眼，四大業務線均達到了兩位數的百分比成長。

North America gaming operations revenue and RPDs continue to pace above 2019 levels. And we're seeing a strong recovery in our U.K. and European gaming operations businesses, a testament to the market resiliency and our improved product performance. We also set another record for our North America premium gaming ops installed base mix at 43% of our total installed base.

北美遊戲營運收入和RPD持續高於2019年的水準。我們英國和歐洲的遊戲營運業務也呈現強勁復甦，證明了市場的韌性和我們產品性能的提升。我們的北美高階遊戲營運用戶群佔比也再創紀錄，達到總用戶群的43%。

Game sales grew 87% versus last year with replacement units nearly doubling and on par with 2019 levels. We anticipate both replacement and new opening sales to continue to build throughout the year, fueled by our highly anticipated cabinet, the Kascada Dual Screen and Landmark 7000 stepper and a strong lineup of new games.

遊戲銷量較去年增長87%，替換機銷量幾乎翻倍，與2019年的水準持平。我們預計，由於我們備受期待的機櫃、Kascada Dual Screen和Landmark 7000步進機以及強大的新遊戲陣容，替換機和新開機銷量全年都將繼續增長。

Our systems business grew 21% year-over-year. And while this part of the business has experienced somewhat of a slower rebound, we are now seeing strong demand for our iVIEW 4 hardware and anticipate increased deliveries in the back half of the year. Meanwhile, our table games business momentum continues as we added more subscribers to our Vault program and grew our shuffler installed base sequentially, leading to revenues growing 35% year-over-year.

我們的系統業務年增21%。雖然這部分業務的反彈速度有所放緩，但我們現在看到市場對iVIEW 4硬體的需求強勁，預計下半年交付量將增加。同時，我們的桌上遊戲業務持續保持強勁成長勢頭，Vault計畫的訂閱用戶數量有所增加，洗牌機的安裝基數也持續成長，最終營收年增35%。

While we are seeing continued strong demand for our products, we continue to navigate the supply chain environment, which remains dynamic, noting that the impact has been principally limited to the timing of deliveries. Looking ahead, we feel great about our Gaming business and how it is set up for long-term success.

儘管我們的產品需求持續強勁，但我們仍在應對不斷變化的供應鏈環境，並指出其影響主要局限於交貨時間。展望未來，我們對我們的遊戲業務以及其長期成功的戰略佈局充滿信心。

In iGaming, revenues increased 2% to $59 million, primarily driven by growth in the U.S. and the acquisition of Lightning Box and Elk Studios. U.S. revenues increased by 63% versus the prior year, driven by strong original game launches. AEBITDA was flat in the quarter, reflecting our investment to launch Live Dealer in Q4 as well as our increase in our first-party content.

iGaming 業務營收成長 2%，達到 5,900 萬美元，主要得益於美國市場的成長以及對 Lightning Box 和 Elk Studios 的收購。由於強勁的原創遊戲發行，美國市場收入較上年增長 63%。本季 AEBITDA 持平，這反映了我們在第四季度投資推出真人荷官遊戲 (Live Dealer) 以及我們第一方內容的增加。

Our AEBITDA margin was approximately 36% for the quarter, in line with our expectations and reflecting these investments, which should fuel growth in the back half of the year and beyond. Overall, our iGaming business continues to have great momentum with our original games continuing to drive strong performance, coupled with our upcoming entry into the fast-growing live dealer market in the U.S.

本季我們的平均息稅折舊攤銷前利潤率 (AEBITDA) 約為 36%，符合預期，並反映了這些投資，這些投資將推動下半年及以後的成長。總體而言，我們的 iGaming 業務繼續保持強勁勢頭，我們的原創遊戲持續帶來強勁表現，同時我們即將進軍快速成長的美國真人荷官市場。

Finally, SciPlay continues to have strong momentum with another great quarter, growing 5% on the top line and delivering its second-highest revenue quarter ever. AEBITDA was $44 million with a margin at 28% in the quarter, in line with our previously provided guidance. SciPlay continues to invest in exciting engine and live services to drive future growth, and we are seeing the benefits show through this quarter, with improvements in key metrics, including payer conversion of 8.9%. With its sticky player base, strong monetization metrics and low capital intensity, the business continues to be highly cash-generative.

最後，SciPlay 延續強勁勢頭，再創佳績，營收成長 5%，創下史上第二高季營收紀錄。本季平均息稅折舊攤提前利潤 (AEBITDA) 為 4,400 萬美元，利潤率為 28%，符合我們先前的預期。 SciPlay 持續投資於令人興奮的引擎和線上服務，以推動未來成長。我們在本季看到了成效，關鍵指標有所提升，包括 8.9% 的付費用戶轉換率。憑藉其強大的玩家基礎、強勁的變現指標和較低的資本密集度，SciPlay 業務持續保持著極高的現金流生成能力。

Now turning to our cash flow and capital allocation priorities. While free cash flow in the quarter benefited from the strong revenue growth, this was more than offset by higher working capital uses and somewhat higher CapEx. As expected, the increase in working capital was principally driven by costs associated with the strategic transactions as well as investments to meet the growing demand from operators for our products.

現在談談我們的現金流量和資本配置重點。雖然本季的自由現金流受益於強勁的收入成長，但這被更高的營運資本使用和略高的資本支出所抵消。如預期，營運資本的成長主要源自於與策略交易相關的成本，以及為滿足營運商對我們產品日益增長的需求而進行的投資。

Post finalization of the divestitures, which will collectively generate $7 billion of gross cash proceeds, we see free cash flow conversion continuing to improve as we benefit from our strong growth profile and the transformation of our balance sheet. Importantly, as we outlined in our last earnings call, we are taking a balanced and opportunistic approach to capital allocation to enhance shareholder value, underscored by 3 key priorities.

資產剝離完成後，我們將共產生70億美元的總現金收益。由於強勁的成長態勢和資產負債表的轉型，我們預期自由現金流轉換率將持續改善。重要的是，正如我們在上次財報電話會議中所述，我們將採取均衡且機會主義的資本配置方式，以提升股東價值，並強調三大關鍵優先事項。

The first, debt reduction to a target net debt leverage ratio range of 2.5 to 3.5x, which we are fast approaching. The second share buyback, returning substantial capital to shareholders with our $750 million share repurchase program. As Barry mentioned, through the last week, we have purchased $140 million of our share, and we will continue to be active purchasers of our shares at these levels.

第一，將債務削減至2.5倍至3.5倍的目標淨債務槓桿率範圍，我們正快速接近這個目標。第二，股票回購，透過7.5億美元的股票回購計劃，向股東返還大量資本。正如Barry所提到的，截至上週，我們已經回購了1.4億美元的股票，並且我們將繼續以目前的水平積極購買股票。

And third, disciplined investment in key growth opportunities, prioritizing using capital for buybacks, debt reduction and organic investments, unless M&A delivers significantly greater long-term value. We've recently made key acquisitions, which are very capital-efficient, and when married with our leading positions and capabilities further accelerate our growth strategy.

第三，對關鍵成長機會進行嚴格的投資，優先將資金用於回購、減債和有機投資，除非併購能帶來顯著的長期價值。我們最近進行了多項關鍵收購，這些收購的資本效率非常高，與我們的領先地位和能力相結合，將進一步加速我們的成長策略。

Wrapping up, while we've achieved a tremendous amount this past year, we continue to be laser-focused on operational excellence and driving continued momentum in our business. We've made significant progress delivering on our promises, and we're just getting started.

總而言之，儘管我們在過去一年取得了巨大的成就，但我們仍將持續專注於卓越運營，推動業務持續成長。我們在兌現承諾方面取得了重大進展，而這只是個開始。

With that, we'll turn it over to the operator for your questions.

接下來，我們將把問題交給接線員來回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of Barry Jonas of Truist.

（操作員指示）我們的第一個問題來自 Truist 的 Barry Jonas。

Can we dive a little deeper into the inflationary and macro environment? Some operators have noted seeing weakness at the low end. Curious if you're seeing anything as you look across your segments, and that's either from an end user or an operator perspective.

我們能否更深入探討通膨和宏觀環境？一些運營商已經注意到低端市場疲軟。我很好奇，您在縱觀各個細分市場時，無論是從最終用戶還是運營商的角度來看，是否也發現了一些變化。

Thanks, Barry. Macro environment clearly is a question on a lot of people's minds, so I appreciate you raising that. There's no doubt about it, the market is very volatile at the moment. However, if you take a step back and looking at our sector and our performance in particular, we continue to see elevated GGR levels even as recently as April. And I think that's a real testament to the fact that players across the spectrum love to play games. And it truly demonstrates, I think, the durability and resiliency of our business.

謝謝，Barry。宏觀環境顯然是很多人關心的問題，所以很感謝你提出這個問題。毫無疑問，目前的市場非常動盪。然而，如果你回顧我們的行業，特別是我們的業績，你會發現即使在4月份，我們的博彩總收入（GGR）水平仍然保持上升勢頭。我認為這充分證明了各領域的玩家都熱愛遊戲。我認為這也真正展現了我們業務的持久力和韌性。

And we do that whether we're looking at gaming, iGaming or social. We're actually seeing strong and growing GGR across those 3 markets. And where we have a view into the high end and the low end of the sectors, we're seeing demand on each side. This is an example on SciPlay growth in payers, not just the revenue per payer, which comes in on the high end. So we're seeing demand across the spectrum of the market.

無論是遊戲、iGaming 還是社交，我們都會這麼做。實際上，我們看到這三個市場的博彩總收入 (GGR) 都強勁成長。我們關注的是這些產業的高端和低端，也看到了各自領域的需求。這是 SciPlay 付費用戶成長的一個例子，而不僅僅是高端的每位付費用戶收入。因此，我們看到了整個市場範圍內的需求。

And look, I think, again, all this proves is our industry is very resilient to these various cycles. And all that said, we're obviously continuing to monitor, but we remain confident in our ability to execute and grow the business across the board.

我認為，這一切再次證明了我們的產業對各種週期具有很強的韌性。儘管如此，我們當然會繼續關注，但我們對全面執行和業務成長的能力仍然充滿信心。

Perfect. And I -- Barry, I might just add one additional thing, which I think the beauty about our business is we get real-time data into what's happening. So in Gaming, as an example, I often enjoy my morning coffee looking at the coin-in trends, and they just continue to remain strong. So as Barry mentioned, all signs are pointed in the right direction.

太好了。 Barry，我想補充一點，我認為我們業務的魅力在於我們能夠獲得即時數據，了解正在發生的事情。以遊戲產業為例，我經常在早上喝咖啡的時候關注遊戲幣的流入趨勢，而且這種趨勢一直保持強勁。正如Barry所說，所有跡像都指向正確的方向。

Great. Great. I really appreciate that color. And then just as a follow-up, I wanted to touch more on supply chain. How much pressure are you seeing cost-wise? And are you able to pass that through to customers? And then I guess the other side to supply chain are delays. Has that impacted sales one way or the other?

太好了！太好了！我真的很欣賞你使用的顏色。接下來，我想進一步談談供應鏈。您認為成本方面的壓力有多大？您能把這些壓力轉嫁給客戶嗎？我想供應鏈的另一個方面是延遲。這對銷售有影響嗎？

Sure. And happy to take that one, Barry. There's no doubt about it, similar to other industries and companies, we are having some impacts on supply chain. But for us, they've really been timing in nature. I think the good news is, is that we were really proactive and instituted a global supply chain about 18 months ago, bolstered the talent to navigate through this. We've been able to drive some cost efficiencies, which have allowed us to maintain a number of healthy margins.

當然。巴里，我很樂意回答這個問題。毫無疑問，與其他行業和公司一樣，我們對供應鏈也產生了一些影響。但對我們來說，這些影響本質上是時間性的。我認為好消息是，我們非常積極主動，大約18個月前就建立了全球供應鏈，並增強了人才隊伍來應對這項挑戰。我們提高了成本效率，這使我們能夠保持健康的利潤率。

In terms of pass-through, what we continue to focus on is building premium content in cabinets. And based off our ASPs, I think you're seeing that those levels continue to be high. And so that's a real positive for us. And when it comes to timing, I wouldn't say there's something specific. There's probably one area that you would have seen in the results as -- some of our systems opportunities have shifted a little bit more towards the second half. But all in all, again, we continue to be proactive, and it's more of a timing issue than anything else that we're seeing.

在通路傳遞方面，我們持續專注於在機櫃中建立優質內容。根據我們的平均售價，我認為您會看到這些內容的水平持續保持高位。這對我們來說是一個真正的利好。至於時機，我不會說有什麼具體的改變。您可能在業績中已經看到了一個方面——我們的一些系統機會已經稍微轉向了下半年。但總而言之，我們將繼續保持積極主動的態度，我們看到的更多是時機問題。

Have any competitors had some issues that you've been able to take advantage of?

競爭對手是否遇到一些你可以利用的問題？

I can't necessarily speak on behalf of the competitors. I think we're really well positioned is that we planned ahead for the last 2 years for this moment in terms of the market coming back. We've leaned into a little bit of working capital, taking certain inventory positions to be ready for the turnaround. So again, we feel really good about our ability to meet market demand.

我不能完全代表競爭對手發言。我認為我們確實處於有利地位，因為我們在過去兩年為市場復甦做好了提前規劃。我們動用了一些營運資金，並持有一定數量的庫存，為市場復甦做好準備。所以，我們對自己滿足市場需求的能力感到非常有自信。

Our next question comes from Ryan Sigdahl of Craig-Hallum.

我們的下一個問題來自 Craig-Hallum 的 Ryan Sigdahl。

Congrats on the results. Curious if we can start on the acquisition and maybe how it's complementary to OpenBet or competitive. I guess I've always thought of the companies that have their own remote gaming servers. They were able to do direct integrations with operators versus using an aggregator like open gaming. So I guess, how is it complementary versus competitive with that acquisition?

恭喜你取得了這樣的成績。我很好奇我們能否談談這次收購，以及它與OpenBet的互補或競爭性。我一直認為那些擁有自己遠端遊戲伺服器的公司是可行的。他們能夠直接與營運商集成，而不是使用像Open Gaming這樣的聚合器。所以我想，這次收購與OpenBet的互補或競爭性如何？

Absolutely. Ryan, I'm assuming you're speaking about Playzido. So Playzido is -- by the way, we love the outsized impact that Playzido is going to provide for us. Playzido is actually an open game development platform. So think of it as an RGS with some game frame technologies. And what that allows us to do at scale is to rapidly provide customized game development. So we can provide customized and exclusive content for our major operating partners, which they've been asking for.

當然。 Ryan，我猜你說的是Playzido。順便說一句，我們非常欣賞Playzido將為我們帶來的巨大影響。 Playzido實際上是一個開放的遊戲開發平台。你可以把它想像成一個有一些遊戲框架技術的RGS（遊戲邦註：指遊戲開發平台）。這使我們能夠大規模地快速提供客製化的遊戲開發。因此，我們可以為我們的主要營運合作夥伴提供客製化的獨家內容，這也是他們一直以來的要求。

So for us, it was a really efficient way to get into these capabilities immediately. These have been on our road map for quite some time because we've been engaging with operators about customizing exclusive content, which they want to have on as a part of their offerings. And this enables us to create kind of, quite frankly, the best-in-class offering of this.

所以對我們來說，這是一種非常有效的方法，可以立即實現這些功能。這些功能在我們的路線圖上已經存在很長時間了，因為我們一直在與營運商合作，客製化他們希望納入其服務的獨家內容。坦白說，這使我們能夠創造出同類最佳的產品。

So this plugs right into OGS and just makes OGS that more scalable and helps us bring in a whole other type of content at scale and speed, which we weren't able to do before. So it's a huge win-win for us and for our operating partners who have been looking for this content.

所以，這可以直接連接到OGS，使OGS更具可擴展性，並幫助我們大規模、快速地引入全新類型的內容，這是我們以前無法做到的。所以，對於我們以及一直在尋找此類內容的營運合作夥伴來說，這是一個巨大的雙贏。

Maybe one follow-up on that, Barry. So is it primarily focused to the operator, say, DraftKings, BetMGM, et cetera, that are developing their own content to help them do that better and faster? Or is this for content creation kind of third-party studios or both?

巴里，也許還有後續問題。那麼，它主要針對的是那些正在開發自有內容的運營商，例如 DraftKings、BetMGM 等等，幫助他們更好更快地完成任務嗎？還是針對第三方工作室的內容創作，或者兩者兼具？

It will serve both, but it will clearly -- the major operators that you named were -- have been looking for this type of content and ability to provide differentiated offerings in the marketplace. And this was, quite frankly, the best -- kind of best-in-class platform that was out there that was able to do it and kind of the perfect 1 plus 1 equals 3 here is, as you know, OGS has -- is distributed in every major operator, some exclusively.

它將同時服務這兩家公司，但顯然——您提到的主要運營商——一直在尋找這種類型的內容，以及在市場上提供差異化產品的能力。坦白說，這是當時最好的──可以說是同類最佳的平台，能夠做到這一點，堪稱完美的1加1等於3。如您所知，OGS 已經在每個主要營運商中都有分銷，有些是獨家分銷的。

So for us to plug it in there, that basically -- it absolutely creates a great way to address that -- the major operators that are looking for that. But for second parties as well, if they want to create things off of their own customized game frame, it opens it for that market as well.

所以對我們來說，把它插入到這個平台，基本上——這絕對是一個解決這個問題的好方法——主要運營商都在尋找這個平台。但對於第二方來說，如果他們想在自己客製化的遊戲框架上創造東西，這也會為這個市場打開大門。

Great. Makes a lot of sense. One other one for me. So just on the premium lease, good to see you continue to take market share there, grow that mix. Steady progress, 43% of the total install base mix this quarter. What's your confidence in continuing to grow that over the next several quarters and years? And is it logical to think that can get to north of 50% as we look out a few years?

很好。很有道理。我還有一個問題。就高端租賃而言，很高興看到你們繼續在該領域擴大市場份額，擴大產品組合。穩定發展，本季佔總安裝基數的43%。您對未來幾季和幾年繼續成長有什麼信心？展望未來幾年，我們認為這個比例能達到50%以上，合理嗎？

Thanks, Ryan. And glad to see you pick that up. It's part of our portfolio that we're really proud of. We've spent the last 2 years really gearing up to make sure we've got amazing products and content to scale this portion of the business. Our ultimate goal here is to drive share. We've been explicit about that. And I think you're seeing that momentum happen today.

謝謝，Ryan。很高興看到你提到這一點。這是我們引以為傲的產品組合的一部分。過去兩年，我們一直在全力以赴，確保擁有出色的產品和內容，以擴大這部分業務的規模。我們的最終目標是提升市場佔有率。我們一直明確表示這一點。我想你今天就看到了這種勢頭。

We see upward trends of ideally half of our installed base being premium in nature, so plenty of runway. And again, we've just got phenomenal products to support that. And it's an area that I know Barry is super excited about. And Barry, I don't know if you want to touch on a few of those products.

我們看到的趨勢是，理想情況下，我們一半的已安裝設備都是高階產品，因此發展空間很大。而且，我們擁有非凡的產品來支持這一點。我知道 Barry 對這個領域感到非常興奮。 Barry，我不知道您是否想談談其中的一些產品。

Yes. Ryan, look, I could not be more excited about where we sit today in terms of our product lineup and the product road map we have. If you look at it, for the first time, we'll have a complete portfolio of global products that cut across all 4 critical segments. So you've got Kascada, who's off to a massively fast start; Mural as well; and then coming online Kascada Dual Screen, which is in the market now; and then Landmark 7000, which is coming out at the end of the year with -- in the separate category. So we cover all 4 major categories, and it's backed by probably our best utilization of major franchises to date.

是的。 Ryan，你看，就我們目前的產品線和產品路線圖而言，我感到非常興奮。如果你仔細觀察，你會發現我們首次擁有涵蓋所有四大關鍵細分市場的完整全球產品組合。 Kascada 起步非常快；Mural 也是如此；還有即將上市的 Kascada Dual Screen；以及將於年底上市的 Landmark 7000，它屬於單獨的產品類別。總而言之，我們涵蓋了所有四大產品類別，並且得益於我們迄今為止對主要特許經營權的最佳利用。

So against Kascada, we've got Quick Hits, Ultimate Fire Link, Jin Ji Bao Xi with Mural. We've got MONOPOLY, Willy Wonka, WIZARD OF OZ; on the Kascada Dual, Gold Fish, 88 Fortunes; and we've got -- for Landmark 7000, we have our Legendary Blazing 777s product coming out. So great products, great gains, all built by best-in-class game designers, probably the best group of game designers we've had within this organization.

因此，針對 Kascada，我們有 Quick Hits、Ultimate Fire Link 和帶有 Mural 的 Jin Ji Bao Xi。我們有 MONOPOLY、Willy Wonka 和 WIZARD OF OZ；在 Kascada Dual 上，我們有 Gold Fish 和 88 Fortunes；對於 Landmark 7000，我們即將推出 Legendary Blazing 777s 產品。如此優秀的產品，如此巨大的收益，所有這些都是由一流的遊戲設計師打造的，他們可能是我們公司有史以來最優秀的遊戲設計師團隊。

So I love where we sit today as we look out the rest of the year and into next year, and I'm very confident that we're going to continue to take share and grow the business.

因此，當我展望今年剩餘時間和明年時，我喜歡我們今天的處境，我非常有信心我們將繼續佔據市場份額並發展業務。

Our next question is from Jeff Stantial of Stifel.

下一個問題來自 Stifel 的 Jeff Stantial。

I wanted to start on Live Dealer, if possible, just given we're coming up not too far off from a launch there. Barry, do you mind just kind of framing a little bit? Like what are some of the investments going in? Where are you at? And sort of how should we think about the time line for you to kind of ramp the revenue contribution there once you do go live in Q4?

如果可以的話，我想先從Live Dealer開始，因為我們距離正式上線的時間不遠了。 Barry，你介意稍微介紹一下嗎？比如說，你們正在進行哪些投資？你們目前處於什麼階段？第四季上線後，我們該如何規劃時間表，以便提升Live Dealer的營收貢獻？

Yes. Great question. I'm happy to say that our first Live Dealer studio is scheduled to launch in the U.S. in Q4. And what's important is we'll be live with the 3 major products, Blackjack, Baccarat, Roulette, which represent over 95% of the turnover in the U.S. In addition, as a part of our offering, we're targeting some exclusive content that leverages our best-in-class table IP, which is highly customizable as well for the operating partner.

是的，好問題。我很高興地宣布，我們的首個真人荷官工作室計劃在第四季在美國上線。更重要的是，我們將上線三大主要產品：二十一點、百家樂和輪盤賭，這三種產品占美國博彩業總營業額的95%以上。此外，作為我們產品的一部分，我們還計劃推出一些獨家內容，這些內容將利用我們一流的桌面IP，並且對於營運合作夥伴來說也是高度可自訂的。

And we're building out the studios, and we're on track for that Q4 launch. And that's why we're so pleased with our progress, especially given that Live Dealer is the fastest-growing part of the iGaming market and is projected to be 30% of the U.S. TAM.

我們正在建造工作室，並預計在第四季度推出。正因如此，我們對目前的進展感到十分滿意，尤其是考慮到真人荷官是iGaming市場成長最快的部分，預計將占美國總市場規模的30%。

Understood. That's helpful. Then maybe, if you don't mind, if I can just follow up on a question earlier on the Playzido acquisition. So it sounds like the real strategic add here for your portfolio is on the customized game development. Can you just kind of walk through the decision point for an operator?

明白了。這很有幫助。那麼，如果您不介意的話，我可以繼續問一下之前關於Playzido收購的問題嗎？聽起來，你們投資組合中真正的策略性補充是客製化遊戲開發。能否簡單介紹一下運營商的決策點？

Obviously, some of them have been vocal that they have the intent or the desire to kind of build their own games themselves with their own internal staff. Is there still value going this route for those operators? Are you targeting more operators that don't have that internal game development staff and those kind of capabilities? And kind of how should we just think about the opportunity set and maybe how the operators think about the value add and the economics here?

顯然，其中一些運營商已經公開表示，他們有意或希望透過內部人員自行開發遊戲。對於這些業者來說，這條路線還有價值嗎？你們的目標客戶是那些缺乏內部遊戲開發人員和相關能力的經營者嗎？我們應該如何看待這些機會，以及營運商如何看待其中的增值和經濟效益？

Sure. This acquisition actually delivers what they're looking for. So what our partners are looking for is exclusive and customized content that they can offer to their players. That's the sole reason why they're looking to get in that space because our operators want to differentiate their offering with UI/UX, with marketing and merchandising and with product.

當然。這次收購確實滿足了他們的需求。我們的合作夥伴尋求的是能夠提供給玩家的獨家客製化內容。這也是他們尋求進入該領域的唯一原因，因為我們的營運商希望透過用戶介面/用戶體驗、行銷、商品推廣以及產品來打造差異化的產品。

And we are able to with -- particularly with this acquisition of Playzido at scale, deliver some of the best games built by the best game designers in the world but deliver it in a customized, exclusive manner. And that addresses exactly what our major operators are looking for. So this was actually hitting dead on with a segment of the market that we can actually play in and provide better than anyone else.

尤其是透過大規模收購Playzido，我們能夠以客製化、獨家的方式提供一些由全球頂尖遊戲設計師打造的優秀遊戲。這正好滿足了我們主要營運商的需求。因此，這實際上擊中了我們能夠真正參與其中並提供比其他任何人都更好的服務的細分市場。

Next question is from Chad Beynon of Macquarie.

下一個問題來自麥格理的 Chad Beynon。

It appears that we've seen a nice improvement within the slot replacement market in North America from you and your competitors. I was wondering if you could just kind of expand in terms of where you think the market is versus 2019, and more importantly, if the operators that you're partnered with continue to expect to repurchase or replace new orders as we kind of get through '22. You talked about some of the really good content and product that you have in the pipeline, but just trying to figure out where the purse strings are.

看來，您和您的競爭對手在北美的時段替換市場取得了不錯的進展。我想知道，您能否進一步闡述您認為目前的市場狀況與2019年相比如何？更重要的是，在2022年，您合作的電信業者是否還會繼續回購或替換新訂單？您談到了一些正在籌備中的優質內容和產品，但您只是想弄清楚資金的來源。

Sure. And thanks for the question. Thanks for being with us today. Overall, I'd say that we're hearing really optimistic tones. I think we heard that on a number of the earnings calls earlier this week in terms of the market rebounding. The exciting news, to your point, is in the quarter, we saw our game sales return to somewhat close to 2019 levels, which I think is just a great sign of CapEx cycles continuing to return.

當然。感謝您的提問。感謝您今天接受我們的訪問。總的來說，我認為我們聽到了非常樂觀的基調。我想我們在本週早些時候的幾次財報電話會議上都聽到了市場反彈的預期。正如您所說，令人興奮的消息是，本季我們的遊戲銷售回升至接近2019年的水平，我認為這是資本支出週期持續回升的一個好兆頭。

Again, always cautiously optimistic. But right now, with what we're seeing in some of the macro trends that Barry provided earlier, we expect kind of CapEx to start to return back to normal towards the end of this year and fully recovered by '23, specifically in the North America market, I'd say that's somewhat similar when you look at our European businesses as well as Australia, I think, has got some great momentum behind it. So again, cautiously optimistic, but trends are definitely going in the right direction.

再次強調，我們始終保持謹慎樂觀的態度。但就目前而言，根據Barry先前提到的一些宏觀趨勢，我們預計資本支出將在今年年底開始恢復正常，並在2023年完全恢復，尤其是在北美市場。我認為，從我們歐洲和澳洲的業務來看，情況也大致相同。我認為，澳洲的業務發展勢頭強勁。因此，我們再次保持謹慎樂觀的態度，但趨勢肯定朝著正確的方向發展。

Barry, if you wanted to add anything?

巴里，你想補充什麼嗎？

Yes. Look, I would just say if you step back and think through the strategy that we rolled out, we've been prioritizing the 3 largest profit pools in the marketplace: number one, premium game ops; North America game sales; and Australia. And if you look a year ago to where we're at today, we are much better positioned. We've seen dramatic progress and success.

是的。我想說的是，如果你回顧我們所製定的策略，你會發現我們一直優先考慮市場上最大的三個利潤池：第一，付費遊戲營運；第二，北美遊戲銷售；第三，澳洲。如果你回顧一年前的情況，你會發現我們目前的處境好得多。我們取得了顯著的進步和成功。

And as I mentioned earlier, I think we have the strongest product lineup across both sectors of game sales and game ops than we've ever had. And so we're very bullish with where the market is going, the operators and how they're perceiving the market and our ability to again take share and grow our business in this space.

正如我之前提到的，我認為我們在遊戲銷售和遊戲運營兩個領域都擁有比以往任何時候都更強大的產品陣容。因此，我們對市場發展方向、營運商及其對市場的看法以及我們再次佔領市場份額並在此領域發展業務的能力充滿信心。

Great. And then regarding cashless initiatives and acceptance, you noted the strength with iVIEW 4. Can you talk about any recent successes that you've had in this segment? And should we expect further acceptance from a regulator, and more importantly, an operator standpoint as we get through 2022?

太好了。關於無現金支付的措施和接受度，您提到了 iVIEW 4 的優點。您能談談你們最近在這個領域的成功嗎？隨著 2022 年的到來，我們是否應該期待監管機構，更重要的是營運商的進一步認可？

Yes. So we're very pleased where we stand. As you mentioned, I think the really strong demand on iVIEW 4, I think we're at now 60% of our addressable base there. Huge piece of that is driven by the momentum that we're seeing now in cashless. And we're really pleased with where we stand relative to the position. We have a leading position with 50% of the share on systems, and our cashless offer is now live with 9 states and 15,000 EGMs. And our pipeline is just continuing to build. And so -- and in addition to that, we launched our AToM product, which is a cashless product that covers the table business.

是的。我們對目前的現狀非常滿意。正如您所說，我認為 iVIEW 4 的需求非常強勁，目前已覆蓋我們目標客戶群的 60%。這很大程度上得益於我們目前在無現金支付領域看到的良好勢頭。我們對目前的市場地位感到非常滿意。我們佔據著 50% 的市場份額，處於領先地位，我們的無現金支付服務現已覆蓋 9 個州和 15,000 台 EGM。我們的產品線還在不斷拓展。此外，我們還推出了 AToM 產品，這是一款覆蓋賭桌業務的無現金支付產品。

So again, we're in a really great place. We have multiple casinos in the pipeline, both from a deal but also in execution mode rolling out. And so we're very confident with our offering. And we have, as I mentioned before, an unmatched position to deliver this for our partners.

所以，我們目前的處境非常好。我們目前有多家賭場正在籌備中，既有已達成協議的，也有正在實施中的。因此，我們對自己的產品非常有信心。正如我之前提到的，我們擁有無與倫比的優勢，可以為我們的合作夥伴提供這樣的服務。

Our last question comes from the line of Zach Silverberg of Berenberg.

我們的最後一個問題來自貝倫貝格的紮克·西爾弗伯格。

So I noticed that SciPlay had recently appointed 3 new Board of Directors. Just curious if there will be any impact on the strategy for the segment moving forward in light of the news?

我注意到SciPlay最近任命了3位新董事。我想知道，這個消息會對該部門未來的策略產生什麼影響嗎？

The additional directors to the Board was actually to support and to reinforce the strategy that SciPlay is pursuing. SciPlay has great momentum now leaning in and growing their social casino business, building their new pipeline of games, entering the casual space and developing their SciPlay engine.

董事會增聘董事其實是為了支持並強化SciPlay的策略。 SciPlay目前勢頭強勁，正在積極發展社交賭場業務，建立新的遊戲產品線，進入休閒遊戲領域，並開發SciPlay引擎。

And the group of leaders, this all-star group of folks that we've brought on to the Board, provide a deep level of industry expertise that we believe help SciPlay to get to the next level. And they all have broad and different perspectives that they can add to the value of the team. And so we think it was the right move at the right time to get a team in to help us build a diversified global game company.

我們引進董事會的這群全明星領導團隊，擁有深厚的產業專業知識，我們相信這將有助於 SciPlay 更上一層樓。他們擁有廣闊而多元的視角，可以為團隊增添價值。因此，我們認為，在適當的時機引入一支團隊來幫助我們打造一家多元化的全球遊戲公司，是一個正確的舉措。

Got you. And you guys just bought back $140 million in shares with the stock at a near 52-week low. I mean, can you just talk about the cadence of share buybacks over the next few quarters with where your balance sheet is at?

明白了。你們剛剛回購了價值1.4億美元的股票，當時股價接近52週低點。您能否談談未來幾季股票回購的節奏，以及您們的資產負債表狀況？

Sure. First of all, I'd love to just reflect how great it is that we can have this conversation compared to where we were a year ago. And as we've talked about before, we've developed a framework on capital management, and Connie will talk a little bit more about the shareholder repurchase. But as a reminder, our priorities for capital allocation are: number one, to pay down debt to create a healthy balance sheet and put us in that 2.5 to 3.5x; number two, share repurchases, which we're placing emphasis on our share buyback program; and number three, we'll continue to make disciplined investments both organically and inorganically to ensure that we can be sustainable and profitable. But with any M&A that we pursue, we must significantly outperform the returns from the repurchasing shares.

當然。首先，我想說一下，與一年前相比，我們能進行這樣的對話真是太好了。正如我們之前提到的，我們已經制定了資本管理框架，Connie 會再談談股東回購。不過，需要提醒的是，我們資本配置的重點是：第一，償還債務，打造健康的資產負債表，並使我們達到 2.5 到 3.5 倍的盈利水平；第二，股票回購，這是我們股票回購計劃的重點；第三，我們將繼續進行有紀律的有機和無機投資，以確保我們能夠可持續發展並盈利。但對於我們進行的任何併購，我們的報酬都必須遠遠超過回購股票帶來的報酬。

Connie, do you want to talk a little bit more about...

康妮，你想再多談一點嗎…

The share repurchase? Yes, sure. And glad to see you picked that up. It's interesting, as Barry mentioned in some of his opening remarks, that these are dynamic times, and I believe that that's also when a number of opportunities can be created. And the great news is with our financial strength and the growth path that we see within this company, we can take advantage of dislocations in the market like what we're currently seeing and create tremendous value for our shareholders by buying back our stock. And that's exactly what we're going to do and what we have done to date.

股票回購？是的，當然。很高興看到你提到了這一點。正如巴里在開場白中提到的，這是一個充滿活力的時代，我相信這也是創造許多機會的好時機。好消息是，憑藉我們雄厚的財務實力和公司的成長路徑，我們可以利用目前市場波動帶來的機遇，透過回購股票為股東創造巨大的價值。這正是我們將要做的事情，也是我們迄今為止一直在做的事情。

So just a couple of key highlights. We've been moving with speed on the program. We implemented a 10b5-1, which allowed us just to maximize the number of days we could be in the market. And as Barry mentioned, it will continue to be a key pillar of our capital management priority because we see just a tremendous opportunity at the moment for us to drive significant shareholder value.

所以，我只想提幾個關鍵的亮點。我們一直在快速推進這個專案。我們實施了10b5-1，這使我們能夠最大限度地延長在市場上的停留時間。正如Barry所提到的，這將繼續成為我們資本管理重點的關鍵支柱，因為我們目前看到了一個巨大的機會，可以顯著提升股東價值。

Great. Thanks. Now we'll turn it over to Barry for some final comments.

太好了。謝謝。現在我們把時間交給Barry，請他發表一些最後的評論。

We've made tremendous progress this year, delivering on a number of key promises, which have transformed our company and positioned us to unlock significant shareholder value. With the closing of the lottery sale, we've streamlined our organization and significantly strengthened our balance sheet, providing us with the financial flexibility to invest in our future and return capital to shareholders. We are now singularly focused on building great games and franchises and deploying them across platform.

今年我們取得了巨大的進步，兌現了多項關鍵承諾，不僅改變了公司面貌，也為我們釋放了巨大的股東價值奠定了基礎。隨著彩票銷售的結束，我們精簡了組織架構，顯著增強了資產負債表，從而擁有了投資未來和回報股東的財務靈活性。現在，我們專注於打造優秀的遊戲和系列產品，並將它們部署到各個平台。

Our position is unmatched and now, we have an unparalleled opportunity for growth. We are very excited about the next phase of our journey and look forward to discussing our key strategies and the path to drive shareholder value at our upcoming Investor Day on May 17 in New York City. We hope to see you guys there.

我們的地位無與倫比，現在，我們擁有無與倫比的成長機會。我們對下一階段的旅程充滿期待，並期待在5月17日於紐約舉行的投資者日上討論我們的關鍵策略以及提升股東價值的途徑。期待在那裡見到你們。

Thank you and -- thank you for your time and support.

謝謝您，感謝您的時間和支持。

Thank you, everyone, for joining our earnings call. I'll turn it back to the operator.

感謝大家參加我們的財報電話會議。我現在把電話轉回給接線生。

That concludes the Scientific Games' First Quarter 2022 Earnings Call. Thank you all for your participation. You may now disconnect your lines.

Scientific Games 2022 年第一季財報電話會議到此結束。感謝各位的參與。現在您可以斷開連線了。