Gaming and Interactive growth drives net profit up 17.2% at Aristocrat in 2024

Published today (13 November), revenue during the 12 months to 30 September reached AU$6.60 billion (£3.38 billion/€4.05 billion/US$4.31 billion). This surpasses last year’s total at Aristocrat by 4.9%.

However, perhaps the most significant development for Aristocrat in 2024 was the formation of its new-look Interactive division. In June, the group revealed it was to combine its Anaxi and NeoGames operations into a single business. During the financial year, this division saw revenue jump 83.8%.

CEO and managing director Trevor Croker paid tribute to the new combination during his earnings comments. He described it as a “significant strategic milestone” for Aristocrat, saying it will benefit the group for years to come.

“We are progressing in the integration of NeoGames into the business,” Croker said. “The creation of Interactive was a significant strategic milestone and we are seeing momentum build across all areas of the business, with excitement and confidence about its prospects.”

North America drives gaming growth in 2024

Taking a closer look at performance in 2024, its gaming business was Aristocrat’s main source of revenue. It jumped 4.8% to $3.63 billion, of which $1.92 billion came from North America, up 6.1%, helped by the launch of new games during the period.

Revenue from gaming across the rest of the world fell 1.8% to $731.6 million. This, Aristocrat said, was impacted by lower unit sales in Australia and New Zealand, partly due to increased competition in the region.

On the flip side, the Pixel United division, its mobile gaming arm formerly known as Aristocrat Digital, saw revenue edge down by 0.5% for the 2024 financial year to $2.64 billion.

On this segment, Aristocrat yesterday (12 November) revealed it had agreed a deal to sell its Plarium Global mobile gaming business to Modern Times Group for up to $820 million. This comes amid a strategic review for Aristocrat, which will allow the group to refocus on growth across land-based gaming, real money gaming and social casino.

As for the all-new Aristocrat Interactive business, revenue for 2024 totalled $335.7 million, some way clear of $182.6 million in the previous year. This was helped by continued scaling of igaming across North America and Europe. The results include five months of NeoGames and a full year of Roxor being part of the business.

Aristocrat said its ilottery segment remains a market leader in the US, helped by growth in North Carolina and Virginia, as well as Alberta in Canada. Content growth was driven by new launches with major operators in the US, Canada and the UK, while the Platforms business, previously known as Gaming Systems, continued to take share across the US, Australia and New Zealand.

Net profit at Aristocrat tops $1.56 billion

During the financial year $963.7 million went to unallocated expenses, as well as costs associated with the amortisation of acquired intangibles.

Pre-tax profit was $1.93 billion, up 16.4%. The group paid $480.9 million in income tax but also benefitted from $103.1 million in amortisation of acquired intangibles after tax.

This resulted in $1.56 billion in total net profit, some 17.2% more than in 2023. In addition, EBITDA for the year was 18.5% higher at $2.45 billion.

Croker said of the group’s performance: “This was an outstanding result, reflecting Aristocrat’s ability to grow through mixed operating environments and control a range of levers to deliver earnings per share growth of 20%.

“Looking ahead, we continue to see strong momentum in our core business as we focus on portfolio performance and seek to capture the significant strategic opportunities in front of us.”

The group intends to implement the outcomes of its casual and strategic assets review and expects further net profit growth in 2025. This, it believes, will be driven by continued strong market share, revenue and profit growth from Aristocrat Gaming.

Also in relation to Aristocrat Interactive, the group said it is still confident of achieving its US$1.00 billion revenue target for the segment by FY29.