Gaming Partners International recorded a 65% increase in profit for 2012 on revenues that were driven mainly by expansion in the United States.
Net income hit US$6.1 million, or 75 cents per diluted share, on revenues of US$62.9 million, buoyed by sales of the company’s Paulson gaming chips in new casinos in the US states of Ohio, New Jersey and Maine and $1.8 million in US sales of furniture, accessories, table layouts and cards.
The higher-margin chip sales resulted in a 10.6% increase in gross profit to $22.5 million and helped offset a $5.9 million decrease in year-on-year sales of European-style chips in the company’s Asia-Pacific markets.
Greg Gronau, chief executive of the Las Vegas-based, Nasdaq-listed company, a leading global supplier of casino currency and advanced radio frequency identification solutions, attributed 2012’s performance in large part to a combination of cost reductions and increased investment in research and development.
“This continuing commitment to product development will allow us to keep pace with the changing needs of our customers,” he said.
The company paid a cash dividend of 18 cents in December, about a month after announcing an increase in the number of shares allotted to a repurchase program initiated in December 2011. The company has bought back 240,652 shares to date and currently is authorized to purchase another 400,000.
