Scientific Games appoints new CEO
Kevin Sheehan replaces Gavin Isaacs who will now become vice chairman of the board of directors
Scientific Games has appointed the former CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line, Kevin Sheehan, as its new CEO.
Sheehan, who started his new role on Friday, replaces incumbent CEO Gavin Isaacs who will move to a more strategic role as the vice chairman of the board of directors.
Sheehan joins the Las Vegas-based supplier after a seven-year stint at Norwegian Cruise Line, where he oversaw “strong sales and EBITDA growth” and the company’s successful IPO in 2013.
Previously, Sheehan spent nine years in various executive roles, including CFO at Cendant Corporation, a business and consumer services provider.
“This is an exciting time to join Scientific Games,” said Sheehan. “Scientific Games is the worldwide leader in gaming, lottery and interactive innovation and I look forward to building on that momentum to drive continued growth across the company.
“Scientific Games offers an unrivalled comprehensive suite of products and services for our customers around the world and is well positioned to continue to grow.”
Outgoing CEO Gavin Isaacs added: “Today we are one company with three strong businesses â gaming, lottery and interactive. Our integration is behind us and our business strategies are delivering solid results.
“This is the right time to grow our leadership team and have someone of Kevin’s talent, experience, and financial acumen take us to the next phase of growth and innovation,” Isaacs said.
The appointment was announced on the same day as the provider’s second quarter results, which saw a 5% jump in overall revenue growth to $729m (£558m).
The uptick was powered in particular by the Interactive division, which grew 62% year-on-year to $83.4m (£64m). Scientific Games attributed the growth to a 68% increase in social gaming revenue.
Interactive revenue increased 15% on a quarterly sequential basis, while operating income almost doubled year-on-year from $7.3m (£5.6m) to $13.7m (£10.5m).
The firm said the increased profitability was primarily thanks to the increased revenues since selling, general and administrative expenses and research and development expenses had increased due to higher marketing and player acquisition costs.
“Our performance demonstrates the ongoing success of our business and the value from our diverse revenue streams, said Isaacs.
“Our Interactive division is on fire, gaming machine sales were strong, and the Lottery segment’s instant games revenue turned in an exceptional performance.
“We remain focused on driving innovation and fiscal discipline to support future cash flow growth to create meaningful and sustained long-term shareholder value,” he added.