Supplier News
Australia – Aristocrat buoyed by acquisitions and growth
By Phil - 29 May 2015
The integration of VGT and growth in its domestic market were two key factors for Australian slot giant Aristocrat Leisure reporting a 73.5 per cent increase in revenue for the six months to 31 March 2015.
Group results for the reporting period were well ahead of the prior corresponding period, with normalised net profit after tax and before amortisation of acquired intangibles (NPATA) of $110.1m.
The group stated: “Outstanding revenue, shipshare and profit growth in the Australian outright sale market, the addition of the VGT business, further share and fee per day growth in the Class III premium gaming operations segment and a strong performance in digital gaming underpinned this result.”
Aristocrat said it was ‘extracting sustainable benefit from strategic investments in targeted games, products and talent, and accelerating the growth of recurring revenues in the Group’s revenue mix.’
Aristocrat also achieved further share and average selling price growth in the North American outright sales segment, despite contracting demand, and maintained its leading share position across Asia Pacific with strong sales into new Macau openings.
Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Jamie Odell, said: “The six months to 31 March 2015 have been genuinely transformative for Aristocrat. We have taken major steps forward in our product-led, share-taking strategy, asserted our focus on driving scale and profitability in critical recurring revenue segments and cleaned up remaining legacy distractions and non-core operations.
“Clearly, the acquisition and successful integration of VGT has been a significant factor in our performance half on half, but our results also reflect accelerating operational momentum across key markets and segments.
“Aristocrat is delivering on our promise to grow recurring revenues in order to reduce performance volatility and generate superior, sustainable returns for shareholders. Year on year, we have more than doubled the percentage of total Group revenues deriving from recurring sources to 47 per cent, and growth across all our key recurring revenue segments is a particularly important and positive feature of this result.
“We expect NPATA performance over the second half of fiscal 2015 to be broadly in line with the first half, and to maintain our established trajectory of full year profit growth. This result will be driven by improved operational performance across key markets and segments, constrained by a smaller US outright sales market, continued low churn in Asia and higher D&D investment as we position for further growth in 2016.
