Aristocrat claims market leadership in North America with strong Average Sales Price and 28 per cent ship share
Aristocrat Leisure Limited saw revenues rise by nine per cent for the six months ended March 31 2025 to reach $3bn, driven by growth in the US where it says it achieved ‘clear revenue leadership was maintained, given the combination of strong Average Sales Price and 28 per cent ship share.
Overall net profit after tax and before amortisation of acquired intangibles (NPATA) of $733m was six per cent above the prior corresponding period (PCP), two per cent in constant currency. This reflected a resilient operating performance, the inclusion of NeoGames for the full period, partially offset by increased corporate costs including higher legal costs, lower interest income and a higher effective tax rate.
Aristocrat’s Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Trevor Croker, said “This was a positive result, illustrating the quality of Aristocrat’s portfolio and ability to grow through different operating environments while also investing for the future.
“We achieved solid revenue and EBITDA growth in the period, once again highlighting market leadership and scale as fundamental strengths of our business, supported by a focus on operational efficiency and extracting operating leverage as we grow. We completed the divestiture of Plarium in the reporting period, and refocused our mobile operations around our core Product Madness Social Casino business, in line with Aristocrat’s refreshed growth strategy. We also invested in aligning technology and product strategies, and took important steps to set up Aristocrat Interactive to accelerate its performance, and allow us to extract more benefit and momentum from our scale and capabilities. I am excited that we now have three focused and fully complimentary business lines, united by a common core of great gaming content and each offering exciting growth prospects. We continue to actively pursue strategic M&A opportunities, in a isciplined and consistent manner.
“We continued to progress our sustainability agenda, driving improvements and further lifting maturity across our most important priorities, particularly Empowering Safer Play and climate action. Our efforts directly support our ability to deliver sustainable results over the long term, and are focused on benefiting our people, customers and shareholders. We continued to accelerate foundational work to underpin our abatement activities and expect to see this reflected through reduced emissions in the years ahead. We have been active in educating and engaging our people, and completing critical work in preparation for mandatory climate reporting and delivery of our public climate commitments.
“$533 million of cash was returned to shareholders through dividends and on-market share buy-backs in the period, in line with the Group’s capital allocation framework. Looking ahead, we continue to see strong momentum in our business as we align our portfolio to capture the significant strategic opportunities in front of us. We expect an acceleration in operating momentum in the second half of the year as we capitalise on product rollout and technology initiatives across our portfolio. We remain committed to our capital management strategy and our ongoing on-market share buy-back program,” Mr Croker concluded.
North America delivered a four per cent increase in profit, driven by continued growth in the Gaming
Operations footprint, supported by the depth and strength of the portfolio. Aristocrat’s Class III Premium
and Class II Gaming Operations installed base grew by 2,500 net units over the period, exceeding 73,600 units and growing market share to over 42 per cent. Market-leading fee per day decreased to US$52.73 across the expanded footprint due primarily to product and channel mix.
Clear revenue leadership in North America was maintained, given the combination of strong ASPs and 28 per cent ship share. Outright sales revenues were five per cent lower, largely driven by the anticipated release of the Baron Portrait cabinet in the second half, while growth in adjacencies continued to gain momentum, with unit sales increasing 31 per cent. This included continued expansion in the Quebec Video Lottery Terminal (VLT) and Georgia Coin Operated Amusement Machine (COAM) markets, and Aristocrat’s entry into the Historical Horse Racing (HHR) market in Alabama. It achieved portfolio performance of 1.4x floor average and product leadership demonstrated by Aristocrat featuring in 20 of the Top 25 Premium Leased games.
In Australia/New Zeland, ship share declined to 30 per cent reflecting increased market competition and delayed purchasing in anticipation of the launch of the BaronTM cabinet in the second half of the year.
Rest of the World revenue decreased nine per cent compared to the PCP, mainly driven by lower unit sales
across the regions and lower ASP in ANZ. Profit decreased 20 per cent with margins declining 550
basis points to 42.1 per cent reflecting negative operating leverage.
An increase in Aristocrat Interactive revenue reflected the inclusion of NeoGames, with strong
iLottery growth and the continued scaling of Content across North America and Europe. The iLottery segment remained a market leader in the US6, with growth driven by the NPI JV7, with particularly strong contributions from North Carolina and Virginia.
