Gtech Holdings Corp., the world's largest operator of lotteries, Tuesday posted a 31 percent jump in profit for its latest quarter, helped by continued strong sales.
The West Greenwich-based company also boosted its full-year earnings expectations because of a reduction in its tax rate.
The company reported net income of $53.6 million, or 80 cents a share, for the first quarter ended May 29, up from $41 million, or 68 cents, a year earlier.
The latest quarter included a one-time gain of $6.4 million, or 9 cents a share, from the sale of the company's 50 percent interest in Gaming Entertainment (Delaware) LLC.
Revenue for the latest period rose 17 percent to $280.2 million from $239.6 million.
Wall Street was expecting the company to post a first-quarter profit of 73 cents a share on revenue of $285 million, according to Thomson First Call.
Shares of Gtech fell 78 cents, or 1.6 percent, to close Tuesday at $49.25 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Also Tuesday, Gtech said it would split its stock 2-for-1 on July 30 to shareholders of record as of July 1.
During the quarter, the company completed the $150 million purchase of Spielo Manufacturing Inc. and the $40 million acquisition of Leeward Islands Lottery Holding Co. Inc.
For the fiscal year ending Feb. 26, Gtech now expects earnings between $3.05 and $3.15 per share on a pre-split basis, due to a reduction in its effective tax rate to 36 percent from 37 percent. Previously, the company forecast a profit of $3 to $3.10 a share.
Analysts surveyed by First Call had anticipated, on average, earnings of $3.07 a share for the year. For the fiscal year ended Feb. 28, the company earned $2.84 a share, including a gain of 5 cents a share.
West Greenwich, RI.