Supplier News

Australia – North America drives ‘outstanding growth’ for Aristocrat

By Phil - 15 November 2023

Aristocrat Leisure saw its revenue increase to $6.bn, representing an increase of 13 per cent in reported terms and seven per cent in constant currency compared to last year as the North American market in particualrly produced ‘outstanding growth.’

Net profit after tax and before amortisation of acquired intangibles (NPATA) of more than $1.3bn was 21 per cent above the prior corresponding period (PCP) in reported terms (13 per cent in constant currency). This reflected a superior product portfolio, ongoing investment and consistent execution, notwithstanding mixed conditions across some key segments.

Aristocrat Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Trevor Croker, said: “I’m proud of the high-quality result that we are announcing today. The growth that Aristocrat delivered over the period demonstrates the ongoing resilience, competitiveness and diversification of our portfolio, and sound fundamentals in the markets in which we operate. At the same time, we have been able to accelerate investment behind our successful growth strategy.

“The benefit of our strategic investments to grow and diversify Aristocrat was particularly evident in the strong seven per cent revenue and EBITDA growth in constant currency at Group level over the year. This was underpinned by an exceptional Gaming performance which more than offset an extended industry-wide moderation in mobile game demand, again highlighting diversification and scale as fundamental strengths of our business.

“We continued to invest to grow in attractive adjacencies and verticals, as we build further resilience in our operating portfolio, including through executing our ‘build and buy’ strategy in online RMG.

“Our newest operating business, Anaxi, delivered on its initial market entry commitments and continued to establish solid foundations for growth. At period end, Anaxi had signed content agreements with partners representing over 80 per cent of the US iGaming market. Roxor was acquired during the year and integrated into Anaxi as a core operating technology, accelerating the delivery of our strategy.

“We continued to invest in executing our ESG strategy over the year, driving improvements and further lifting maturity in our most important priorities. Responsible Gameplay is Aristocrat’s highest leadership sustainability priority, and we remained focused on aligning our core business systems, processes, policies and actions to match our commitments during the period. We also completed Australia’s first cashless gaming trial, with lessons learned already being factored into the next generation of trial technology. In terms of climate, Aristocrat took a big step forward with the development of an enterprise-wide Greenhouse Gas inventory off a 2022 baseline and also drafted and submitted science-based emissions reduction targets to the Science Based Targets initiative, with validation expected in the first half of calendar 2024.

“Strong free cash flow generation was applied to fund both organic and inorganic growth, while surplus cash of $811m 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 will continue to navigate challenges with a focus on portfolio performance and capturing the significant strategic opportunities in front of us, including delivering on our online RMG strategy with the proposed acquisition of NeoGames to close in the first half of calendar 2024,” Mr Croker concluded.

The Americas delivered a $143.3m increase in post-tax profit, driven by a 26 per cent increase in
North America Outright Sales units, supported by customer capital commitments, increased penetration of premium portrait cabinets and further successful expansion into strategic adjacencies. Class III Premium and Class II Gaming Operations installed base grew eight per cent to exceed 64,000 units, with average fee per day holding broadly stable at US$54.97.

Aristocrat said it retained position as the leading supplier in the US market, achieving portfolio performance of 1.4x floor average5 and exceptional portfolio strength demonstrated by Aristocrat
featuring in 19 of the top 25 premium leased games. It continued expansion into attractive adjacencies, including VLT in Canada, Oregon, Illinois, and New York, Washington CDS, and Historical Horse Racing in Kentucky, Louisiana, New Hampshire and Wyoming.

International Class III growth was driven by strong game performance and market recovery in Asia, and improved operating conditions in Europe.

Pixel United navigated mixed market conditions as the global mobile games market declined five per cent during the 12 months ended 30 September 20237. It retained leading positions in key genres, including #1 in the Social Slots segment, #2 in the broader Social Casino genre, #1 in the Squad RPG (Role-Playing Games) segment and #4 in the Casual Merge segment according to industry data.