It looks like about a month until the next quarter's earnings are announced. Plans are likely formulating for the next round of layoffs. Anyone heard anything?
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SGMS hadn't made a profit in years, and purchased profitable WMS & profitable Bally to try and turn things around. Problem with that plan is they took on too much debt in doing so.
Thanks to their bad idea, now a lot of people are out of a job and those left have no opportunity. Yet the higherups made out like bandits. Mergers and acquisitions like this are why the middle class is disappearing.
Guys, either stick with it or move on. No need to waste time and spread rumors.
Guys, name naming and personal insults not allowed here, check their rules somewhere in the footer. Admins nuke all you ever written and block your IP. Just' sayin
As an ex-ballytech accounting mgr I have some input. You can listen or not, I don't care.
1: The merger was approved based on "synergy" that could be attained upon the merger. There was SOME synergy savings through admin and property closings. The biggest potential savings on property was the closing of the WMS Chicago operation. The WMS bigwigs in ChiTown lived high on the hog for many years. For some reason those buildings are still not closed and alot of the old WMS mgmnt is still in place. Chicago is not contributing any development/revenue compared to the cost of keeping Chicago operations continuing.
2: The SG lottery operation was losing money hand over fist prior to buying Bally. Somehow they talked bankers into loaning 5 billion dollars to purchase Bally in order to make their numbers look better.
Well, here you are now. 8bn in debt and no real way out of it. The SG corporation will soon be forced to sell divisions/assets in order to survive. My old compadres at Bally don't dispair. You will be bought (for an SG loss) and you will be starting over again under new mngmnt. Trust me, you'll be better off.
"You will have bonus if you are VP! Probably even a promotion to SVP!!!"
So true. Sad, but true. We engineers laugh at the incompetence of the company VP/SVP........But they get to laugh all the way to the bank.....
"So should I assume no raises/bonuses this year????? AGAIN!!????"
You will have bonus if you are VP! Probably even a promotion to SVP!!!
So should I assume no raises/bonuses this year????? AGAIN!!????
"A 50% RIF is the only chance they can cut costs enough. But that would result in losing the employees that actually produce the products that make money"
Kevin should cut or replace at least 50% managers. This is the only chance the company can survive. Send Kevin a message!!!!!!!!
Sheehan and new COO were hired to simply cut to the bone........Hold on SG lambs....
On the bright side.....A collective bargaining group is talking to SG and IGT engineers to unite....
Don't know how that will turn out.....If the company is broke, it's broke.
SG management is indeed a joke especially at VP level. There are way too many incompetent people lacking of both management and technical skills.
With regard to---
"I retired from Bally Manufacturing after 30 years back in the 80's. I can't believe how much Bally has sunk over the past two decades. The management style of the modern MBA degree'd CEO is a damn joke compared to what we used to have. I promise you,,,,,fire CEO down through every VP and the company will thrive again."
To the board......PLEASE SELL BALLY.......ANY thing is better than this SG management circus!!!! If you sell us now, you might get a good price.....
I retired from Bally Manufacturing after 30 years back in the 80's. I can't believe how much Bally has sunk over the past two decades. The management style of the modern MBA degree'd CEO is a damn joke compared to what we used to have. I promise you,,,,,fire CEO down through every VP and the company will thrive again.
A 50% RIF is the only chance they can cut costs enough. But that would result in losing the employees that actually produce the products that make money. Hey Bally BOD,,,,,,fffffuuuukkk you short-sighted greedy trash.
The puzzle is how can this merger got board approval. What a fxxk they miscalculated the debt?
Hey, maybe a surge in game sales can pull us out of things. Let's see, the average selling price price is around $16,800 per unit (per the quarterly report) and let's say after COGS and all the other overhead goodies the net is around $3,400 per unit. So if we get an order for 2,352,941 games we can wipe that $8B debt right out! This just shows how irresponsible incurring such an enormous debt is...
"C'Mon. You can't just say it will be only manager cutting. What evidence do you have? Floating that out there without your proof is just misleading. Tell us what you know!"
If you watched last town hall very carefully you will get it.
""Layoffs can't save the company from massive debt. The senior management should understand it."""
Ummm, is this the same senior management that pushed the bally/sgms merger?????? Please.
Layoffs can't save the company from massive debt. The senior management should understand it.
C'Mon. You can't just say it will be only manager cutting. What evidence do you have? Floating that out there without your proof is just misleading. Tell us what you know!
No worries. It will be manager cutting.
New COO! Next round is coming...
The calm before the storm. Good luck to all.
Actual loss must be bigger. The report for last quarter is delayed for a month. The real numbers should be ugly.
"Goodwill impairment" is the key phrase there then?
From public news last quarter loss is about $105-$115 million.
The Company currently expects consolidated revenue to be in a range of $748-to-$755 million for the three month period ended December 31, 2016, and full year 2016 revenue to be in a range of $2,878-to-$2,885 million compared to $737 million and $2,759 million for the fourth quarter and full year 2015, respectively. The Company further expects that its net loss for the fourth quarter will be in a range of $105-to-$115 million, including a projected $69 million goodwill impairment charge as described in the reconciliation below, with Attributable EBITDA ("AEBITDA") of approximately $290-to-$295 million. The full year net loss including the goodwill impairment charge is expected to be in a range of $348-to-$358 million, with AEBITDA of approximately $1,100-to-$1,105 million. AEBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure that is defined below. The Company currently anticipates releasing its fourth quarter 2016 results and full year 2016 audited results on March 2, 2017 after market close.
Unfortunately the stock price has nothing to due with layoffs. The proof will be in the earnings statement. If Q4 was good that will help, but don't forget it will netted against the three previous quarters for the annual result. And if the shareholders aren't happy the quickest way to appease them is by more bloodletting as that is the quickest way to cut expenses. There sure has not been an increase in equipment sales that is on par with the recovering economy. That would have nice as it may have helped chip away at that $8B debit cloud that is hovering overhead.
Stock is pretty high. There is no reason for more layoffs.
It will happen soon. New CEO wouldn't wait that long.
Yes, sounds like a hint for us that it will be wiped out by June or after. It would be nice to let people know months a head of layoff.
Can you rephrase your question? It reads like you believe WMS is closing around June? Have you heard something to this effect?
Does anyone know if WMS is completely wipe out before June or after? It doesn't look pretty when the slot machine business is constantly losing profits. Selling interactive group will lower the debt but by how much?
The union talk is interesting, but you can't force a company to guarantee jobs and pay higher wages when there is no money in the till. Not with that eight billion dollar debt albatross hovering overhead. And sadly some at the top of the totem poll reaped some nice bonuses and stock options for facilitating the various mergers and acquisitions that caused what is now an insurmountable debt. You can look for them to register your complaints, but many of those folks have moved on already. Lunch at the club anyone?
A union for software engineers???!!!!! Sign me up!!!!! Yeah, yeah I know NV is a right to work state, but guess what??? Walk out right before G2E and watch mgmnt come squealing.....Stand up and fight brothers.
My god it's so funny how the Indian ruse has failed. It's been proven to management for years, yet they refuse to admit they f'd up. I honestly mean no disrespect to the kids hired from those indian tech schools. They are very hard working kids. It's just that their skills are so lacking that the experienced engineers spend too much of their time bringing them up to speed. Luckily there is a union about to introduce collective bargaining options to our employees....
The new CEO needs to look at cutting VPs there are way to many here.
Very nerve racking time. They usually make cuts to show the market they are "taking action" when they release a dismal earnings report. Also there is no gaming show to delay the axe from swinging as the trend is to avoid the bad press from a layoff until after any major trade shows are over. Man, I have been in this business way too long. Way too predictable, but I have never seen a mountain of debt on the books like there is now. The market (or what there is of it, since the casinos are still not in a replacement cycle mood) is not about to place massive equipment orders like in the salad days of a decade ago. Good luck all...
It will happen soon, but no info on time frame and department. New CEO will stop bleeding edge...
Have you heard time frame or department info?
Heard some rumors on managers cutting. It sounds true.