Aristocrat details North American excitement & cashless enthusiasm

Aristocrat

Aristocrat has voiced enthusiasm at cashless gaming progress in the Australian state of New South Wales, with the group also detailed expectations, and excitement, at further North American growth throughout the current year.

Speaking at the group’s 2023 AGM, the former of these issues was first tackled by Neil Chatfield, Aristocrat Chair, who touched upon the “significant attention” that cashless tech in electronic gaming machines has been garnering. 

“We are proud to have achieved support for an Australian-first trial of cashless gaming technology in NSW, including new RG functionality, in partnership with a major customer, the NSW government and the regulator,” Chatfield noted.

This trial, it was added, represents “several years of work” as well as “millions of dollars” in investments after initially being launched to market last year. 

“We look forward to the trial’s completion, and the assessment of the independent researcher, who was appointed by the regulator in line with the usual, mandated product development process in NSW,” he said.

Beginning a CEO address, Trevor Croker touched upon “the ongoing execution of our successful, sustainable growth strategy” through the past year. This saw revenue reach A$5.5bn, up 18 per cent, with net profit rising 27 per cent to A$1.1bn.

“Once again, we focused on investing in competitive product portfolios to drive market share gains. We also continued to invest in strategic adjacencies – including in our ‘Build and Buy’ strategy to enter and scale in online RMG,” Croker continued.

Before switching to focus on the land-based and online gaming ecosystem, attention was first switched to the ultimately doomed, and much publicised, acquisitive pursuit of Playtech.

“We are excited by the opportunities ahead for Anaxi”

Trevor Croker, Aristocrat CEO.

Via the completion of A$1.3bn in equity raising regarding the lapsed purchase, Croker noted that “the business subsequently refinanced our debt, achieving better terms, extended maturities, a more diversified capital structure and competitive pricing – underlining our ability to support our long term growth ambitions”.

These ambitions stretch to the US’ gambling space, where it is said an “exceptional performance” was recorded on a retail basis, which complemented “significant progress” in executing the group’s RMG strategy.

Acknowledging that progress has been encouraging in the current financial year on a land-based basis, Aristocrat noted that was particularly the case across North America.

However, citing macroeconomic uncertainties, the company noted that it is “closely monitoring possible impacts on consumer sentiment from elevated inflation and higher interest rates, and the evolution of supply chains”.

Switching focus to the digital domain, the purchase of Roxor Gaming closed earlier in the month, a move that is designed to “accelerate Anaxi’s strategy to grow in the igaming market”. The entity is live in the UK and New Jersey markets, with Ontario also going live during the current quarter.

With the Americas a constant theme throughout, Croker touched upon a recent BetMGM alliance, before asserting that “we anticipate a number of other agreements over the year, as the build-out gains momentum”.

He continued: “Anaxi is also launching a first-of-its-kind mobile on-premise solution for tribal gaming operators. This product allows patrons to connect with and play Aristocrat’s class-II gaming content via their mobile devices while on trust land. 

“Anaxi’s mobile on-premise solution will be live with the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma in the first quarter of this year.

“We are excited by the opportunities ahead for Anaxi and look forward to keeping you updated on our progress.”