| Multimedia Games, Inc.
HOST: Mr. Clifton Lind
DATE: January 27, 2004
Operator: Good day, everyone, and welcome to the Multimedia
Games first-quarter fiscal year 2004 conference call and webcast.
Today’s conference is being recorded and will be available
for replay by dialing 888-203-1112 or 719-457-0820 and enter the
passcode, 763 616, followed by the pound key.
Once today’s presentations are complete, we will conduct
a thirty minute question-and-answer session. At this time for opening
remarks and introductions, I’d like to turn the conference
over to the President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Clifton
Lind. Please go ahead, sir.
Clifton Lind, Multimedia Games - President, CEO: Welcome to Multimedia
Games’ fiscal 2004 first-quarter conference call. On the
call with me today is Craig Nouis, our CFO. Before we get to the
heart of the call, Julia Spencer will make a few cautionary comments.
Julia Spencer, Multimedia Games - Manager, Investor Relations: Thank you, Clifton. I need to remind everyone that today’s
call and simultaneous webcast may include forward-looking statements
within the meaning of applicable securities law. These statements
represent our judgment concerning the future and are subject to
risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual operating results
and financial conditions to differ materially. Please refer to
the risk factor sections of our recent SEC filings. Today’s
call and webcast may include non-GAAP financial measures within
the meaning of SEC regulation G. A reconciliation of all non-GAAP
financial measures to the most directly comparable financial measure
calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP can be found on
our web site at www.multimediagames.com in the Investor Relations
section.
I will now turn the call back to Clifton.
Clifton Lind: Today Multimedia reported its FY Q1 ‘04 results
with earnings per share of 48 cents, which is ahead of the guidance
that we provided when we reported our year-end results in November.
We also reported record first-quarter revenues, which rose 32 percent
over the same quarter last year, and record first-quarter EBITDA,
which rose 16 percent over the same quarter last year.
In today’s release, we provided in-depth details of these
results, and Craig will expand upon them in his commentary momentarily.
Also in this morning’s -- this afternoon’s release,
we addressed the operational matters which we believe are the most
relevant to Multimedia and most pertinent to those who follow the
Company. Given the details and the content in the announcement,
I want to avoid being redundant in my remarks in order to maximize
the amount of time for the best part of the call -- your questions.
However I do want to spend a few minutes reviewing what we believe
were the Company’s major accomplishments during the first
quarter.
First, revenue diversification is proceeding as we expected and
planned. We’re actively leveraging our central determinant
capabilities, technological strengths, and knowledge of the Native
American gaming market to deliver new products to serve our traditional
Class II and Class III customers, as well as developing innovative
new products for new markets.
The two products we recently released in new markets are performing
above the network average of our Class II New Generation offerings.
By design, we expect that the majority of our future new unit placements
will be outside of our Class II Oklahoma market. Second, we are
reconfirming our guidance for FY ‘04. Craig and I take this
process very seriously. We would not be reverifying our guidance
without thorough and thoughtful consideration and analysis of all
of the challenges and opportunities facing the Company.
Third, during the quarter, we made significant investments in new
markets and new products to support our future growth. And these
investments impacted our Q1 earnings per share.
Fourth, during the quarter, we redirected the focus of our various
technological teams to new business opportunities, as we believe
that these new business opportunities are the cornerstone for the
Company’s future growth. This decision reflects our belief
that our entry into new markets and diversification of revenues
is in our shareholders’ best interest. In making this decision,
we also considered the regulatory and competitive landscape in
our core markets, and intentionally delayed the release of new
gaming engines, and rescheduled the deployment of Gen4 gaming systems
and the new content that it supports.
The ability to act quickly and decisively, and to execute precisely
when an opportunity arises is a unique competitive advantage. This
is what we do best. And we have a great track record of navigating
the dynamic regulatory, competitive, and political environments
to the benefit of our customers and shareholders.
Fifth, we remain focused on providing exciting new products and
content for the Class II segment. At the most opportune time, we
will strategically deploy new systems and new gaming engines and
new content for this important market.
During the last quarter, our shareholders received our 2003 annual
report, in which I agreed to pose in track shoes. As most of you
know, this is not my normal footwear. However, it was important
to drive home the point that we highlighted in our letter to our
valued shareholders: MGAM is not only an innovative technology
leader but it’s also reactive and will relentlessly, tirelessly,
intelligently and tenaciously work hard to capture opportunities,
and we do not intend to let others beat us at our own game.
MGAM has built a strong financial foundation, and with our expected
results this year, it will only get stronger. We believe that there
are more potential applications for MGAM’s technology than
ever before in the Company’s history. And we are intent on
mining the best ones for our shareholders. I think that it is evident
from the release and the reconfirmation of our FY 04 guidance that
MGAM has high-growth expectations going forward.
Over the last quarter, it has become clear that our technological
capabilities and Central Determinant Systems are both flexible
and among the most advanced in the gaming industry today. We continue
to try to strive continuously to improve our systems, our technology,
our content and our service in order to offer the highest earnings
and most enjoyable gaming options for the Class II market for any
economic or regulatory climate that we may face.
Since 1988, when we entered this market, we’ve repeatedly
shown that we are capable of navigating the unique technological
and regulatory demands in this market, and our tribal customers
can expect us to provide innovative products to enable them to
make their properties as successful as they can be.
Our customer focus, which has served us so well in the past will
surely serve us well in the future. I would now like to turn the
call over to Craig. Craig, would you please review the financials?
Craig Nouis, Multimedia Games – CFO: Earlier today, we reported
diluted earnings per share of 48 cents for our first fiscal quarter
compared to 50 cents in the first quarter of last year and EBITDA
of $19.2 million in the quarter, compared to $16.5 million for
last year’s first-quarter. First-quarter EBITDA, net income
and earnings per share all exceeded the guidance we provided on
November 24th, 2003.
As expected, net income and earnings per share were impacted by
start-up costs related to the New York Lottery Central System,
[and] representing approximately 5 cents per diluted share during
Q1 -- an overall increase in SG&A expenses and by a higher
level of depreciation and amortization associated with the higher
average installed base of Class II player stations.
Net income and earnings per share for the current fiscal year Q2
and Q3 will continue to reflect certain start-up costs for the
New York system. We currently believe that the New York Lottery
project will be break even for Multimedia’s fourth quarter.
We provided a lot of financial details in the press release this
afternoon, so I will limit my comments here to just a few specific
quarterly highlights.
Our first-quarter results benefited from the recurring revenue
generated from 10,132 Class II player stations, with 8,842 of those
player stations being what we classify as New Generation units,
which have a higher hold per day than our Legacy units. Our results
for Q1 also benefited to a small degree from placements late in
the quarter of two new products -- our Tribal Instant Lottery Game
and our offering for the charity bingo market. We also sold 239
Class III units in the quarter.
Net revenue from New Generation player stations was $27 million,
compared to net revenue of $26 million in the September 2003 quarter.
The increase in Next Generation net revenue is consistent with
the increase in our average installed base, from 8,351 units for
the quarter ended September 30, 2003, compared to 8,833 for the
quarter ended December 31, 2003.
This equates to net revenue per player station per day from New
Generation games of approximately $33 for the December 2003 quarter,
compared with net revenue per player station per day for New Generation
games of approximately $34 for the September 2003 quarter.
I want to point out our entrance into the new markets -- both the
charity bingo and the Tribal Instant Lottery Game -- that were
discussed in the press release this afternoon. Previously, our
net income on our income statement had two line items relating
to current gaming revenues -- one for Class II revenues and one
for Class III. Reflecting the Company’s entry into these
new markets late in December’s quarter, the Class III line
item has been renamed to “Other gaming revenues,” which
will include the recurring revenues from Class III in Washington
State, as well as the recurring revenues from charity bingo, and
from the California Tribal Instant Lottery Game market.
If any other products currently classified in “Other gaming
revenues” or any new products we introduce in the future
begin contributing at least 10 percent of our total revenues, they
will be broken out as a separate line item on the income statement.
Our cash balance as of December 31 was approximately $6.4 million.
The lower cash level compared to September 30, 2003 reflects the
Lytton loan advance made in the early part of Q1. Cash levels at
December 31, 2003 also reflect the fact that we paid down “Accounts
payable and accrued expenses” during the December quarter
by an aggregate of approximately $9.5 million.
As we previously disclosed, we received a commitment from our bank
to increase our credit facility by $10 million, which will provide
us access to a total of $25 million, with a current availability
of $15 million as of December 31, 2003. We continue to believe,
given the current interest rate environment and our overall capital
structure, that our debt level is conservative and gives us flexibility
with our cash and balance sheet to take advantage of growth opportunities
such as funding, travel, gaming facility, development, and expansion.
Notes receivable increased significantly during the December quarter,
from $4.2 million as of September 30, to $24.6 million. The increase
primarily reflects approximately $21 million advanced to the Lytton
Rancheria of California in October, which [sum] was used to facilitate
the transfer of land in San Pablo, California in trust for the
Lytton Rancheria.
In December 2003, the loan converted from a bridge loan to a term
loan, with all principal and interest being due late in the current
calendar year. Inventory increase from $14.2 million at September
30, 2003, to $18.2 million at December 31, 2003. [This was] primarily
a result of purchasing additional component parts in order to have
sufficient levels to produce the player stations we expect to deploy,
as well as for back-office systems in Class II and Class III facilities.
As of December 31, 2003, Multimedia had 560 finished player stations
in inventory, at a cost of $3.5 million, and component parts inventory
of $14.7 million.
Finally, as disclosed in our 10-K, the Company has notes receivable
from Clifton [Lind] for approximately $1.5 million, which were
the result of a non-cash transaction contemplated by his employment
agreement which facilitated the exercise of certain options he
was granted. Consistent with the terms of the management agreement
that was signed when Clifton was President in 1998, Clifton will
be surrendering shares of the Company’s common stock to satisfy
the note balances. This will be reported as required through the
SEC and a Form 4 filing and we want to make sure that our followers
in the investment community are not taken by surprise and do not
misinterpret this.
Now I will turn the call back to Clifton for a little more commentary
on the December 2003 quarter and our strategic initiatives.
Clifton Lind: Thanks, Craig. MGAM has been investing heavily in
systems, gaming engines, content, and products in order to have
a broader offering for our gaming operators in 2004.
As always, we continually review new domestic and international
joint venture opportunities, as well as strategic relationships
that would facilitate more effective penetration of the markets
that we serve. Clearly, there is a lot going on and we have made
good progress in our efforts to expand geographically as well as
to diversify into other markets where our core competency and technologies
can allow us to quickly be successful in ancillary areas of the
gaming industry.
Finally, please allow me to again acknowledge the fantastic team
that we have here at MGAM. In the last quarter, many of you have
visited with us at the tribal gaming facility in Oklahoma, north
of Dallas, or here in Austin. As CEO, I cannot be more proud of
the feedback that I get from these interactions with our staff
and managers.
Our team is on the front line, every day, trying to meet our goal
of continuously improving products and services for our customers.
We are united in our commitment to provide the most outstanding
service and response available in our segments of the market. Our
staff is the backbone of this great organization.
I wish to make special acknowledgment of our CTO, our various technical
teams, our customer support, and field service teams whom I called
on this past quarter to simultaneously deploy, develop, and turn
on three products for three separate new markets. They did an extraordinary
job.
Just to make sure that they did not lose their enthusiasm or momentum,
I’ve already developed a new list of No. 1 priorities for
them to work on this quarter. I know that they will continue to
contribute in the extraordinary fashion that they have done in
the past.
Operator, let’s open the floor to questions.
Operator: [Operator Instructions]. Jeff Martin, Roth Capital Partners.
Jeff Martin, Roth Capital Partners – Analyst: Did I hear
you correctly? You do not anticipate any more Class II units to
be installed on a net basis in Oklahoma this year?
Clifton Lind: No, no, I’m sorry if that’s what I said.
I said we expect the majority of our future unit placements to
be outside of the Oklahoma market. That’s reflecting, Jeff,
our expansion into the new charity markets and the California markets
and markets outside of Oklahoma.
Jeff Martin: Sure, sure. How many charity markets do you think
you will be in by the end of the year?
Clifton Lind: We will be in at least two and probably three.
Jeff Martin: In your guidance, does it include any unit assumptions
for Lytton, Clifton?
Clifton Lind: As we said at the last conference call, Jeff, there
are no unit assumptions of any significance included, specifically,
for Lytton.
Jeff Martin: And then, can you give us an idea of what kind of
units incrementally we can anticipate on the Tribal Instant Lottery?
Into the hundreds -- perhaps by the end of the fiscal year?
Clifton Lind: Jeff, we have a conversion under way at one of the
facilities as we speak, which will involve about 100 units and,
then, there are a number of other tribes that are in final negotiations
with us for additional installations. Quite frankly, the number
of units put on that system, as you can well imagine, will depend
on the success or lack thereof of the current negotiations with
the new governor. And we would be honored if that number grows
to be a very significant and large number, Jeff, but we understand
the tribes are all diligently and in good faith trying to negotiate
with the governor to expand the current limit of 2,000 on the [Class
III] units. And so our number of installations in the future will
be more modest if that happens.
So that’s just an extremely hard unit forecast for us to
give right now.
Jeff Martin: Understandably. On your eight facilities under development
contracts, how many of those are in Oklahoma?
Clifton Lind: Those current eight are all in Oklahoma.
Jeff Martin: And only one is up and running?
Clifton Lind: That’s correct.
Jeff Martin: Could you give us a schedule, perhaps, by quarter,
of how many facilities will be up and running during the year?
Clifton Lind: There will not be any of those facilities up and
running this quarter. One or two of the smaller facilities will
be up and running by the end of our Q3 [FY 04] and the vast majority
of them will be up and running at the end of our Q4 [04]. However,
two of them, if the current schedule holds true, will bleed over
into the first fiscal quarter of next year.
Jeff Martin: Okay, great and then finally, Craig, could you walk
me through how you get a 2,841 unit increase? I assume that’s
year-over-year in New Generation games, because I -- given the
table that you provide below that, I don’t come anywhere
near that number?
Craig Nouis: Yes -- hold on. The -- we have 6,001 New Generation
games at the end of 12-31-02 and then 8,842 as of 12-31-03. That’s
New Generation games only.
Operator: Bill Lerner with Prudential.
Bill Lerner, Prudential – Analyst: Just a few [questions]
-- one, can you give us an update on the enforcement situation
in Oklahoma? Have there been any tribes that have been forced to – what
do the prospects look like? What’s the trigger to get the
incremental enforcement? Is it related to the DOJ/ Supreme Court
situation? That’s the first one.
Clifton Lind: First, there’s been no enforcement since the
week before Thanksgiving that we are aware of, and I think we’d
be aware of it if there was.
Second, this week, [NIGC Commissioner] Cloyce Choney spoke yesterday
in Oklahoma, and expressed some opinions about the compact, and
on Thursday, Chairman Hogan is going to speak before an open session
of interested parties that has been called by one of the sitting
Republican congressmen in Oklahoma to talk about the potential
compact. I think that there will be not any significant enforcement
taken until such time as the Chairman has made his position clear.
And, of course, it’s up to the Chairman if and when any enforcement
would be taken in the future. So it’s really highly speculative
for me to speak right now about what’s going to happen because
that’s just something that’s not at all in our control.
Whatever happens, we have new products to address either the situation
where there is no enforcement or there is enforcement, or if there’s
progress made on the compact, then we have all the products we
need to address that opportunity as well. But I can’t give
you any good speculation on that.
In addition, [on] the Petition for Writ of Certiorari -- later
in February, we expect the Supreme Court to respond to that. Responses
have been filed by the tribes -- at least one amicus brief has
been filed; possibly a second one is in the process or has been
filed but is not of record yet. There was a snow day yesterday
in Washington, and so they may be running a day behind on posting
things. But you know, that’s obviously something that some
of the tribes have some level of interest in and others seem to
have not much curiosity about it. So, I think that this is going
to be an interesting 30 days for our industry, and that we will
all learn a lot in the next 30 days about what the future opportunities
are and which games they will involve. But I can’t give you
any specifics that would help you in that regard.
Bill Lerner: That’s helpful. Can I give you a follow-up here?
Lots of concern out there, regarding new competition, obviously,
IGT talking a lot about getting into the [Class II] market. What
can you tell us to give some incremental comfort about a scenario
where IGT gets involved -- perhaps in the next six months or less.
Clifton Lind: Certainly IGT is one of the best-managed companies
in America, and they have the financial resources and the technical
talent, and the sales team to be very aggressive in our marketplace.
I think that we will see a product for them in this next quarter
at least in beta tests, that is, according to the Company’s
management, and certainly, they have the capability of making good
on that. I do not expect that they are going to be anything other
than a good competitor. We have said publicly before, that as a
public company and a licensed company, they will be better competition
for us than what we have put up with in the past, being the only
public company and the only company that was licensed in a large
number of multiple jurisdictions in this industry.
So, I feel that we will continue to be the market leader. I feel
that we will continue to be the innovator. It is clear that IGT
will bring good products to the marketplace. They have a large
stable of content which is readily recognized, and has proven to
be an asset in other markets. There’s no reason to believe
[the games] won’t be recognized and an asset to them here,
but we intend to be a tenacious and dynamic competitor in this
market and we plan to hold our own and plan to hold our current
position in the market.
Bill Lerner: Just one last follow-up on that one, Clifton. To the
extent that they do get involved, which is a foregone conclusion
now, what percent of your revenue on a pro forma basis after all
these development deals move forward, what percentage of your revenue
is locked up in your long-term agreement, either in a Class II
or Class III scenario?
Craig Nouis: Right now with our development agreement, if you look
at our revenues from the past quarter, roughly 32 percent of those
revenues are covered under the long-term agreements.
Operator: [Operator Instructions] David Bain with Seidler Company.
David Bain, Seidler Company – Analyst: You know just circling
back on the placement, and I know it’s tough to do this quarter
over quarter, but I’m trying to figure out if the Legacy
units and the MegaNanza® units -- were they converted to RTBs?
Clifton Lind: MegaNanza units were definitely all converted to
Reel Time Bingo™ [units]. The Legacy [games], as we historically
have always found, since they are slower play, and do not earn
as much for the tribes, historically, over a quarter we usually
pull out probably about 200 of those. We expect that to plateau
here at some point in the near future.
Right now, the Legacy units are just about 1,290. We may see a
little bit more decline in that balance, but like I say, there’s
a loyal base of players out there who really enjoy that Legacy
game, so we’ll always have some out there.
David Bain: So with regard to the Reel Time Bingo, [you] probably
didn’t see too many placements, if any, or increase in the
actual new installs, is that -- is it getting a little lumpy? Is
it more like now [that] you have these new game titles coming out
to increase hold per day, [and] wide-area progressives, is there
something that will pick that up on an organic basis, outside of
the development deals later this year?
Clifton Lind: Yes the first thing is, David, we had a significant
number of machines in California that converted from Reel Time
to the new lottery game system, that was a better match for the
games that they have on the floor. So those conversions impacted
it. Also, when we made the decision at the request of the California
tribes to focus on getting the lottery system out on an expedited
basis two months before we had expected to deliver it to them,
and when we made the decision to simultaneously deploy at the two
racetracks [in Alabama], I had to make a decision to refocus our
development teams and our installation teams on those new markets,
and pull them out of the Class II markets. That means we made a
conscious effort to stop the installation of the Gen4 gaming system,
which supports the new progressive games and the new bonus-round
games, so the fact is, that we did not have any significant new
game offerings for the Class II tribes during last quarter, and
so there wasn’t something for us to go in and say, “Look,
we’ve got this new product. Why don’t you give us more
floor space?”
Now that we will have New York -- the first hall up and running
tomorrow if weather permits, and the lottery approves, and we are
about to finish the second installation of the tribal lottery system
in California, we will be able to refocus our teams on installing
the Gen4 system back in our Class II customers’ [halls] which
will let us roll out these new products, and that will let us stimulate
the need for new placements.
David Bain: And using the guidance, can you give us an idea sort
of the revenue mix outside of Class II in ‘04 and maybe what
you’re envisioning for ‘05 as a percentage of revenue?
Or is that not something you want to do today?
Clifton Lind: I’m sorry -- could you repeat that?
David Bain: Kind of the revenue mixes are diversifying into five
different markets, and some are Class II, some are Class III or
whatnot; what is outside of Class II in terms of your guidance
as a percentage of revenue?
Craig Nouis: Like Clifton had mentioned, we are aggressively trying
to place a large number of units -- both in the charity market
and the tribal Indian lottery games. And so, a higher and higher
percentage of our placements will be outside of Oklahoma. So we
expect that percentage to continue to grow.
David Bain: Okay. Okay. And then I noticed the NIGC had called
for a tribal representative to kind of discuss Class II, and maybe
that person would be beneficial in enforcement action or maybe
deciding what is Class II in a way and guidelines...
(Multiple Speakers)
Clifton Lind: Oh, are you talking about the call for the four people
to support their new process by which they would classify games
and then follow up with the enforcement of the games they’ve
had for nominees from the tribes?
David Bain: Yes, and I wondered if you see that as a step in the
right direction in getting enforcement action on the way -- do
you think the tribes will take a more aggressive stance, maybe
allow them to go back and review some of the opinion letters written
or any changes?
Clifton Lind: I think that is really a part to the Commission’s
long-discussed plans to revise the overall game classification
process. And get the burden of classifying games off of for the
staff and that would free them up to focus on other things, potentially
enforcement. But the fact is, I think that they will have to first
ask for consultation with some of the tribes on -- and I think
they intend to do that, so I don’t think that process is
going to result in an extremely quick new set of rules and new
enforcement effort just out of that process alone.
Because the Commission is very diligent in going around the country
and making sure they give all the tribes a chance to express their
opinions of any new process, and I am sure that will take place
here.
David Bain: Just a last one. The instant lottery product, that
can be leveraged out in other markets? Is that something in the
foreseeable future?
Clifton Lind: Let me first say, that the one that is running in
California is the one that was developed specifically with features
that were specified by specific tribes out there. But it is an
example of the flexibility of our Central Determinant System, in
that we would gladly modify that system to fit in other markets,
either Class III Native American or even other lottery markets
outside of Native American gaming.
David Bain: Right, and I assume you’re collecting IP [Intellectual
Property] along the way.
Clifton Lind: Yes sir.
Operator: David Rainey with Akre Capital Management.
David Rainey, Akre Capital Management - Analyst: Couple of questions.
The first is when do you think you’ll have Gen4 rolled out
across Oklahoma?
Clifton Lind: We have 13 halls on it now, David, and as soon as
the teams get back from New York next week, they’ll start
rolling it out again. It will probably take, depending on how we
split up our teams between Washington State, Oklahoma, and California
-- it will probably take up to 60 days to get it rolled out to
the rest of the tribes.
As you know, that is a complete hardware reinstallation as well
as the new software. So, it is not just a software download like
game changes or other changes have been in the past.
We’ve scheduled each one of those with the individual operators.
And so we have to fit into their schedule as well. So it’s
a little bit of a logistical effort to make sure that we are supportive
of the needs of the individual operators, and not just doing it
on our own schedule.
David Rainey: So your estimate of when Oklahoma would be completed
would be in June, end of September?
Clifton Lind: No, no, no, no. It could be done as soon as 60 days,
so...
If everything fell into place it could be by the end of this quarter,
but it will probably bleed over into the first 15 days of April,
anyway.
David Rainey: Great, and my second question is, as it relates to
charitable gaming -- you said earlier to a question that you would
be in two, maybe three markets by the end of the year. Is that
right?
Clifton Lind: That is correct.
David Rainey: And when we think about Alabama today, is Alabama
one market or two?
Clifton Lind: It’s one.
David Rainey: So you’re talking about incremental states.
Clifton Lind: That is correct.
David Rainey: Are they all in the continental United States or...?
Clifton Lind: Yes. Thank you, David.
Operator: David Katz, CIBC World Markets
David Katz, CIBC World Markets - Analyst: Congratulations, guys,
solid quarter. I just wanted to talk for a minute about the system
average, if we could, and I think in Craig’s comments you
said on a net basis, New Generation was $33 in the quarter. Did
I get that right?
Craig Nouis: That is correct.
David Katz: So, does that include the lottery product and the charity
product?
Craig Nouis: No that’s -- when we compute the New Generation,
that’s referring to the Class II New Generation games, excluding
both the charity and the lottery.
David Katz: So your expectation, at least for the lottery game
and for the charity markets, in terms of relative to the system
average, obviously, I am not looking for exact numbers just yet
because it is a little early, but what are your expectations as
to how those two products will do relative to the system average?
And my expectation also is that they will -- your revenue share
is somewhat lower than the 30 percent achieved historically in
other places. So if you could guide me a little bit there, I’d
appreciate it.
Clifton Lind: Sure, David, listen. All of the charity markets will
have different expectations. This particular market is unusual
in that it is a market in which we could roll out a fairly entertaining
game on the first round. And so we were able to go into that particular
market with a bingo game that used entertaining graphics such as
spinning reels. That will probably be the exception. So I want
to say this current market that we’re in is exceeding, as
I said, the average, and it is on a matrix pricing situation because
of the size of the number of units that are included in the initial
and the planned installs there.
So it is certainly not going to be consistent with what we charged
the smaller halls that have a very small number of machines.
In the California lottery systems and in other lottery systems,
if they are going into large casinos that have a potential or initial
installation of a large number of machines, they will also qualify
for matrix pricing. And the larger the number of machines and the
higher the holds, then the larger the discounts that they will
earn. And, certainly, the California video lottery system is one
of those systems that is both far exceeding averages for the Class
II market, and is also going to qualify for the matrix pricing
that we make available to our large customers in Oklahoma as well.
David Katz, CIBC World Markets - Analyst: Okay, could we shift
onto something else and talk about the compact for a minute? It’s
an issue that’s been historically out there for a while.
If you could just sort of color us in on what in the landscape
is changed? And then what are the tribes thinking about? My expectation
is that it would’ve been difficult to get the major tribes
to agree on something like this. How realistic do you think it
is, and sort of, where are their heads at as far as you can tell?
Clifton Lind: First I would not presume, David, to speak for the
tribes. They are better positioned to speak for themselves, but
let me say that for a number of reasons, for at least the last
eight years, there have been compact negotiations. For a large
number of reasons, they have never resulted in a compact that was
signed and embraced by the majority of the tribes. The fact that
these negotiations are back in the press at this time is not a
surprise, and in fact, as I have told nearly everyone in all of
our public communications, I think there will always be active
compact negotiations going on in Oklahoma, because there are several
of the tribes that have fines pending, and as long as they are
in active good-faith negotiations, the payment of those fines is
deferred. So there will always be discussions.
Now, the most important issues that were present last year that
are also relevant this year have to deal with the fact that all
of the parties at the current time have old or slightly new pressures
on them to move forward with the compact. For example, the state
has a specific need to provide some additional funding for school
finance for its teachers. That was something that two years ago
was not a pressing need for the state, and so the state didn’t
have the same incentive to be flexible that it does now. The filing
of the Petition for Writ of Certiorari has probably heightened
the interest in some tribes in having a compact because they don’t
want to lose what they have today, and let me say that in nearly
all cases the types of games that are covered by this compact are
games that are running today in various locations in Oklahoma --
either instant bingo games, or skill games or other games that
are not your typical California Class III games. These are not
slot machines or video slot machine games.
In addition, the tribes have always had a very active interest
in having poker, certain forms of blackjack, and other table games
available. The state appears to be slightly more flexible in that
regard this year, and of course, the major situation is that the
racetracks and the horsemen also have a need to find some additional
financial support of their industry.
And everybody has an ongoing but sort of heightened interest in
working together, at least up to this point. Now I don’t
presume to speak for the tribes. There have always been the votes
in the Senate to get this passed. It’s not clear that there
are votes in the House yet but certainly the governor’s staff
and the proponents of this are going to work very hard to try to
get this votes they need. This is an election year in thoughts
of the people that are currently in the House but [who] have not
supported this in the past.
I just want to say that whatever happens, Multimedia is prepared
to provide the products to the tribes that the tribes would need
either if they continue Class II gaming, have “Class Two
and a Half” gaming, such as this compact covers, or does
a combination of the two. We’ve always felt that what is
best for the tribes is best for our industry and, therefore, best
for us, and that continues to be our belief. We will support the
tribes in whatever direction they intend to go here.
David Katz: If you had your choice, which do you think would be
better for MGAM’s business, the compact or no compact?
Clifton Lind: I have to say this and I’ve said this publicly
before. The compact would at least create a level playing field
for us. Since our competitors today are offering games that we
have chosen not to offer because they’re not in favor with
the Commission, yet our competitors continue to offer those games,
we are at a competitive disadvantage. The good thing about the
compact, [is that] the compact would allow us to offer any type
of game that the other competitors are offering today. We certainly
think that it would be better to have a compact if there is not
going to be a level playing field for us to compete on, because
we think our content and our systems will help us maintain our
leadership position with our current customers.
On the other hand, if there is a compact, it will certainly make
it easier for the other licensed public companies that have announced
an interest in Class II gaming to also enter the market in Class
III gaming.
So I think that there are pros and cons. And I could truly say
as I say to my tribal customers who ask how we feel about this,
we’re willing to support any path, and feel that we will
have exciting products to offer you whichever way the market goes.
Operator: Jeff Martin with Roth Capital Partners.
Jeff Martin: Wanted to get an update from you on whether you still
feel that you’re on the pace for 600 incremental net placements
per quarter throughout the year?
Clifton Lind: Certainly, throughout the balance of the year we
expect to exceed that.
Jeff Martin: Will the majority of those be in non- New Generation
games i.e., the instant lottery and the charity markets?
Clifton Lind: Let me say that they have -- currently we believe
that that’s the case. Depending on what happens in Oklahoma,
it could be a close call, because after we roll out our New Generation
systems we are going to be very aggressive in our placements. And
don’t forget at the end of this fiscal year and the start
of the next fiscal year, we have the new halls that are covered
by our development agreements coming on.
So they will take a large number of New Generation games, assuming
that Oklahoma is a -- remains a Class II environment.
Jeff Martin: Okay but those are existing customers already, correct,
on the development facilities?
Well, would that be a replacement of games that are already in
your count?
Clifton Lind: No, these will be additional units that would be
placed in these halls where there’s existing customers. There
is at least one new customer included in that list.
Jeff Martin: Incrementally, what do those facility development
contracts add to your New Generation base over the time of their
complete roll out?
Craig Nouis: All of the agreements that we talked about that are
in process should add about 2,000 incremental machines.
Jeff Martin: Okay, and you still feel you can fund that from internally
developed cash? Or internally generated cash?
Clifton Lind: We feel that we have between our bank line and our
internal resources that we will be able to fund that. That -- of
course, David, we have a large loan to Lytton, which during this
calendar year is scheduled to be repaid, and so a lot of this depends
on whether there is early payment or scheduled payment of that
loan. And whether or not we renegotiate that loan. So there’s
a big chunk of cash there -- that’s a little bit difficult
to predict this time, but we’re not willing to have to go
to the equity market, and we feel we have access, in any event,
to bank debt or other debt to take care of all of our current commitments.
Jeff Martin: And then Craig, what was the operating cash flow number
for the quarter?
Craig Nouis: It was a deficit of about $4.5 million. The reason
why there was a deficit in this quarter was really driven by the
fact that we paid down our accounts payable and accrued expenses
by $9.5 million.
Jeff Martin: Okay and what were some of those larger payables?
Craig Nouis: The largest majority of those payments were payments
to manufacturers that were built up in our accounts payable last
quarter.
Jeff Martin: Okay, that just came in at the end of the September
quarter?
Craig Nouis: Yes.
Operator: Bill Lerner with Prudential.
Bill Lerner: In trying to reconcile what you guys are saying about
these development deals and the 2,000 incremental units, and trying
to get a sense for the magnitude of potential upside in fiscal
2004, could you just give me a sense -- it seems like -- so you
say 2,000 incremental units as it relates to development deals,
but you also at the same time say 80 percent of the placements
in the year will be outside of Oklahoma. And so I am presuming
that that’s outside of the new development deal, so that
suggests a much higher number than working backwards from $2.64
in EPS would suggest $2.64 in EPS suggests maybe another 5,000
units or suggests 10,000. Just trying to get a sense for how conservative
you’re being. Is there a relative upside when you give guidance?
Clifton Lind: Bill part of – like Clifton had mentioned earlier,
a couple of these will likely either be very late [in FY 04] or
bleed into the next fiscal year. That includes the -- probably
the largest in-process deal, which will have a sizable portion
of those 2,000 units -- incremental units.
Operator: At this time, that would conclude today’s question-and-answer
session. I would like to turn the conference back to our speakers
for any additional or closing comments.
Clifton Lind: Well, first, I’d like to thank all of our long-term
supporters and followers as well as the new ones who’ve come
on recently and only recently had a chance to visit with and tell
the story. I hope that today’s call leaves you with the understanding
that there is an exciting opportunity to dramatically expand our
footprint in the gaming industry. I hope we’ve done a good
job on giving you a deeper perspective on our wide-reaching initiatives
to use our game and system design marketing and content and other
skills to build further on MGAM’s results over the last two
years and deliver great results to you for the balance of 2004.
I also trust that our communications today are useful to you in
understanding the direction we’re going, the success we’re
having, the challenges we’re overcoming and the many areas
where we have prospects for continued growth. We are confident
that our focus on expanding our revenue sources will prove to be
beneficial to our shareholders in the upcoming quarters and the
years ahead.
As I’ve just said, I feel that our team comprises some of
the best talent in our industry, and through their continued contributions,
we will continue to provide outstanding service and innovative
products for our customers, and thereby be able to continue reporting
outstanding financial results.
We relish the dynamic nature of the markets that we serve. We feel
that we do our best when we are in the midst of “interesting
times.” We look forward to reporting to you again on our
further progress. Thank you.
Operator: Thank you for your participation on today’s conference
call. You may disconnect at this time.
BACK
|