UPDATE 1-Scientific Games Q3 tops Wall Street; CEO to retire

* Q3 adj EPS 24 cents vs est 18 cents

* Q3 rev $239.1 mln vs est $237.9 million

* Says CEO to retire at year-end, names new CEO

Oct 26 (Reuters) - Lottery operator Scientific Games Corp (SGMS.O) posted a bigger-than-expected quarterly profit helped by cost-cuts, and said its chief executive would retire at the end of 2009.

The company said its Chief Executive Joseph Wright will retire but continue on the board, and named Michael Chambrello as its new CEO.

The company, which makes lottery tickets, gaming machines and pre-paid mobile phone cards, earned $15.1 million, or 16 cents a share, compared with $22.2 million, or 23 cents a share, a year ago.

Excluding items, it earned 24 cents a share, while revenue fell 18 percent to $239.1 million.

Analysts on average had expected a profit of 18 cents a share, before special items, on revenue of $237.9 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Operating expenses fell 21 percent to $138.3 million.

Shares of the New York-based company, which have gained 15 percent in the last 6 months, closed at $17.70 Monday on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Vidya Lakshmi in Bangalore; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)