Strong earnings cap eventful week for Shuffle Master

Capping an eventful six days, Las Vegas casino supplier Shuffle Master Inc. on Monday reported a strong gain in its quarterly profit on record revenue.

The company said that for the fiscal second quarter ending April 30, it earned $9.7 million or 17 cents per share versus the $7.9 million or 14 cents earned in the year-ago quarter.

Revenue of $66 million was up from $59.9 million.

The company makes table game equipment such as card shufflers, slot machines and other products.

Revenue improved thanks to casino openings and other factors that lifted new and replacement sales and leases of Shuffle Master equipment.

''The second quarter yielded exceptional results from nearly every product category,'' CEO Gavin Isaacs said in a statement.

Monday’s financial results were preceded by these developments:

• On May 30, the company said it purchased nearly nine acres of land near Jones Boulevard and the southern Las Vegas Beltway for development of a new office, assembly, warehouse and research and development facility. The $15 million campus, to be developed by the fall of 2013, will replace four leased buildings elsewhere in town.

• On Friday, the company said longtime executive and board member David Lopez had submitted his resignation four days earlier.

Lopez, executive vice president and chief operating officer, left after 14 years for a position with a public, noncompeting company in the gaming industry, Isaacs said.

His new position should be announced soon by his new employer, Isaacs said.

''David played an instrumental role in Shuffle Master’s success over the past 14 years,'' Isaacs told analysts on a conference call.

Isaacs said that with the departure of Lopez, executives in sales, operations and product management will manage the business while the company reviews its organizational structure to ''consider the optimal approach to drive our business forward.''

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