Casino slot machine maker and digital games provider Aristocrat Leisure Ltd says its international-markets segment for ‘Class III’-standard casino slots “grew post-tax earnings by AUD36.9 million [US$24.6 million]” in its latest financial year to September 30.
The improvement was “due to new, large openings in the Philippines, as Asian and European markets continued to emerge slowly” from “post Covid-19 lockdowns”, it said in its annual report filed on Wednesday to the Australian Securities Exchange.
The firm added that profit margins in International Class III also improved as Asian and European markets reopened.
The aggregate International Class III segmental margin as a percentage of revenue stood at 36.6 percent. The firm said the negative 20.9 percent segmental margin in 2021 reflected the fact there had been “effective closure of these markets in the reporting period”.
International Class III revenue and profit increased 140.5 percent and 521.3 percent respectively, to AUD108.0 million and AUD39.6 million compared to the prior corresponding period, also due to “new openings in the Philippines and the reopening of EMEA [Europe, the Middle East and Africa],” said Aristocrat Leisure. Though it also noted that “border closures continued to impact operator gaming revenue and capital expenditure budgets in Europe and Asia during the period”.
In November, Aristocrat Leisure had reported a group-wide net profit after tax and before amortisation of acquired intangibles – known in Australian regulatory terms as NPATA – of AUD1.05 billion for its fiscal-year ended September 30. That was up 13.9 percent in year-on-year terms.
In its annual report released on Wednesday, the firm said that its real-money bet, online gaming brand Anaxi continued to make progress.
“Anaxi remains on track to be present in half of the currently-regulated iGaming jurisdictions in the United States in early calendar-year 2023,” stated Aristocrat Leisure.
It also noted that an agreement – announced in late September, just before financial year end, to acquire – for an undisclosed consideration – Roxor Gaming Ltd, a United Kingdom-based game developer, would “accelerate delivery of Anaxi’s growth plans”.
This was via use of Roxor’s remote gaming server and publishing technology.
