Gambling and gaming operator Aristocrat Leisure saw a 28.9% increase in its player purchases online over the six months to March 2021, while people were forced to spend more time at home because of the coronavirus pandemic lockdown. As revealed by the company, the increase was registered in all online offerings of the company, including role-playing programs, puzzles and casino-style games.
The announcement was made at a time when Aristocrat said the Covid-19 pandemic had resulted in an improvement of physical gambling machines. Furthermore, the results were officially unveiled pretty much at the same time when Aristocrat Gaming and Wests Newcastle addressed New South Wales (NSW) gambling regulatory body with their first proposal for trialling cashless gaming terminals in the state.
The largest manufacturer of gambling machines in Australia is also set to issue an interim dividend of AU15c after reporting a 1% revenue reduction in its half-year results to AU$2.2 billion. No interim dividend was paid by the operator in 2020.
Trevor Croke, the CEO and managing director of Aristocrat Leisure, explained that the company expects to face some volatile conditions and uncertainty in the near future, so it was closely monitoring key factors that would help it estimate the situation. He further noted that the gaming and gambling company enters the second half of the current fiscal year with excellent momentum, with the operator remaining resilient thanks to a strong balance sheet that would help it enhance its growth through some merger and acquisition deals.
Customers Get More Oriented to Digital Gaming and Gambling Options
The coronavirus pandemic has affected negatively gambling operators around the world, with brick-and-mortar casinos and other gambling venues being forced to cease operations as part of national Governments’ measures to tackle the further spread of the infection. Aristocrat Leisure has always felt the negative impact not only with its domestic operations but with its US assets as well. The company has stood down 1,000 staff members, laid off 200 workers and transformed another 200 full-time jobs into part-time positions.
The gambling and gaming operator announced that its revenue from its land-based operations has beome mostly stable, with the profits of its US division registering a 0.1% decline in comparison to the previous corresponding period. On the other hand, the volumes of the company’s gambling terminals sales fell by 10% due to the disruptions caused to purchasing decisions by the coronavirus pandemic outbreak.
In line with the global trends during the Covid-19 crisis, online purchases at Aristocrat Leisure registered a considerable increase in the six months to March 2021 when people were forced to spend more time indoors and brick-and-mortar gambling venues were shut. The gambling operator revealed that its online gambling revenue increased by 28.8% in the six months to the end of March 2021.
The announcement comes at a time when Victor Dominello, the Minister for Digital and Customer Service of NSW, confirmed that the gambling industry growth resulted in enhanced calls for the industry to embrace cashless gambling technology at least to try and tackle problem gambling and money laundering. As mentioned above, Aristocrat Gaming and Wests Newcastle have already proposed trialling cashless gaming terminals in the state of NSW.
- Author
Olivia Cole
