Aristocrat profits surge 29 per cent

Sales performance in the Americas and Australasia were the main reasons behind a 29 per cent increase in net profits at Aristocrat Leisure announced yesterday.

The Australian slots manufacturer saw a hike in its profits to €429.8m in the year to the end of September, up from €333.9m.

Revenue was up 25 per cent to €2.7bn from €2.1bn and the company upped its dividend to €0.20 a share for the second half, giving a full-year dividend of €0.34 which is up 22 per cent.

The company said that the successes in its two biggest markets came because it had invested heavily in its product portfolios and there were also currency and tax benefits to help push up the profits.

CEO Trevor Croker said that the company has more than a dozen mobile games in its pipeline to underscore its determination to dominate the digital sector, following its acquisition last year of developers Big Fish and Plarium.

In its outlook for 2020 the company said that it anticipated further gains in the land-based outright sales market in North America. Digital will contribute strongly and changes in group structure would begin to generate non-Australian cash tax savings.

Said Croker: “We delivered another year of high-quality profit growth, further extending our track record of share taking and organic momentum, driven by strong investment in talent, product portfolios and marketing across our land-based and digital businesses.”