Australian gaming machines innovator Aristocrat Leisure Limited has reportedly recorded a net profit of $269 million for the six months to the end of March as its business continued to recover from the disruption of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to a report from Inside Asian Gaming, the Sydney-headquartered firm explained that its overall earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization for the six-month period rose by 6% year-on-year to about $584.7 million to take its attendant net profit after tax but before amortization up by 12% to approximately $321.1 million. The source detailed that the developer put these improvements down to ‘exceptional product performance and customer engagement’ as well as ‘stronger than expected consumer sentiment and economic conditions’ in the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
Considerable compensation:
The results for Aristocrat Leisure Limited come some two months after the company agreed to pay out roughly $31 million in order to settle a pair of American class-action lawsuits related to its Big Fish Games Incorporated subordinate. This enterprise the Australian company purchased from Churchill Downs Incorporated in 2017 was being sued in the western state of Washington over historic allegations that it had been offering online games of chance prohibited under local laws.
Rapid recovery:
Trevor Croker serves as the Chief Executive Officer for Aristocrat Leisure Limited, which is also the parent of American gaming machines behemoth Aristocrat Technologies Incorporated, and he reportedly pronounced that the year-on-year swells in profit and revenues had been due to ‘above industry-average growth in bookings.’ He moreover purportedly asserted that ‘overall demand continued to be elevated’ owing to his company’s ‘diverse portfolio of world-class titles’ in addition to its efforts at maintaining a ‘strong investment in user acquisition, live ops, new game content and features.’
Reportedly read a statement from Croker…
“These results reflect the fact that we have the right strategy and made the right choices to sustain our investment in outstanding people and product, customers, talent and culture throughout the coronavirus-impacted period. As a result, we have continued to take share and maintained our leadership of key gaming markets and segments while also growing our share in digital games, where we are now a top-five game publisher in tier-one western markets.”
Continuing consternation:
Looking into the future and Croker reportedly proclaimed that Aristocrat Leisure Limited expects full-year economic conditions around the world ‘to remain uncertain’ due to ‘ongoing coronavirus-driven volatility’ and that it intends to continue watching a variety of ‘key factors’ encompassing such dynamics as ‘consumer sentiment, gaming venue patronage and currency headwinds.’
Croker’s statement reportedly read…
“We will continue to rigorously execute our strategy over the second half of the fiscal year with increased investment in design and development, user acquisition to support new game launches and existing games and strategic capabilities that will sustain our longer-term growth.”