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Casino software and game provider Aristocrat Leisure, who headquarters in Australia has shown good profits for the first half of its financial year despite a drop-in land-based casino revenue. This is due in large part to a deferred tax asset of around A$1.0 billion (the equivalent of £537.8 million, €598.2 million or US$657.7 million) which was the result of changes to the groups structure.
These changes meant the Australian-based Aristocrat Leisure was able to net a A$1.6 billion in comprehensive profit for the six months running to the end of March 2020. Revenue for this first half of the tax year stood at $2.25 billion for the six months. This was a growth of 7% on the previous year where revenue amounted to $2.11 billion.
Strong Growth In Digital Business
Another factor that contributed to the company’s growth in revenue was the recent growth that the company has seen in their digital offerings. Aristocrat Leisure’s digital division offers a variety of free-to-play casino games from studios such as Big Fish Games, Product Madness and Plarium. Digital revenue jumped to $1.04 billion for the six-month period, a 27.3% increase from the previous period.
Over the first half of its financial revenue digital revenue accounted for 46.4% of the company’s total revenue. This digital growth meant that Aristocrat Leisure could record a healthy profit despite the closure of land-band casinos and business across many of the markets the company operates within. In fact, due to these closures, the brand saw land-based revenue from the Americas fall by 4.8% while revenue from its local Australian and New Zealand land-based operations fell by 10.8%. For the period, 27.3% of the brand’s revenue came from gaming operations while its Class III sales and other activities accounted for 26.3% with revenue from the Class III arm down by 6.4%.
A World Leader
Since its founding in 1953, Aristocrat Leisure has grown into a world-wide brand operating in over 90 countries with licenses in 300 gaming jurisdictions. The brand, which was responsible for inventing the first Poker machine in the world, expanded from Australia into Europe in the 60s and began making their now widely used ‘Aristocrat Nevada’ in 1961.
In the 1970s, the casino company made history yet again with the launch of the first ever five-reel slot machine and the company was publicly listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in 1996.