Light & Wonder CEO Predicts EBITDA Growth to $1.4bn by 2025

Light & Wonder’s CEO, Matt Wilson, was recently interviewed by CommSecTV, the digital media of Australia’s leading online broker that provides investors with valuable insights, CommSec. Speaking about Light & Wonder, the CEO predicted exponential growth and explained how strategic processes positioned it for expansion on a global scale.

Previously Light & Wonder was known as Scientific Games. In March last year, Scientific Games went through a rebranding in an effort to streamline the process and focus on different objectives within the gambling vertical. Now, according to Wilson, the rebranding marked a strategic part of the growth of Light & Wonder.

He explained that this process enabled it to break “the shackles on the business.” During the Scientific Games “era,” Wilson said, the company was burdened by debt and was underinvesting in research and development (R&D), as well as user acquisition for its social casinos and capex.

However, the CEO pointed out, this changed significantly once the rebranding was completed. This enabled Light & Wonder to start reinvesting. Notably, the percentage of revenue dedicated to R&D increased from approximately 7% to 10%, explained Wilson. At the same time, he noted that the company was able to protect healthy margins.

Focusing on the future, Wilson predicted exponential growth for Light & Wonder. Given that the company is positioned well for expansion on a global scale, the CEO predicted EBITDA to increase from $913 million in 2022 to a staggering $1.4 billion by 2025. The prediction comes at a time when Light & Wonder recently confirmed it secured conditional approval for a secondary listing by the ASX.

“We said we want to grow EBITDA from $913 million in 2022 to $1.4 billion in 2025 and we feel really high level of conviction of getting there.“

Matt Wilson, CEO of Light & Wonder

The Company Is Positioned to Grow Further

The gaming and entertainment company’s boss acknowledged the importance of having three distinct businesses, namely land-based business, social casino business and iGaming business. Each of those businesses, Wilson said, continues to grow within its respective region. Additionally, he mentioned that Light & Wonder has a strong presence in the land-based sector across Europe, as well as Australia.

At the same time, Wilson noted the potential of the social casino, which helps attract players who have enjoyed land-based games from the company and switched to their mobile version. Similar is the case with Light & Wonder’s iGaming business arm. According to the CEO, many customers that have enjoyed land-based games by the company, engage with its online gambling content as well.

“Lack of complexity in a business is really powerful,” noted Wilson. He explained that Light & Wonder creates games that are then distributed via its three main businesses. This simple but effective structure helps the company to continue to grow and positions it for further success.