By Mike Cherney


SYDNEY--Australian gaming company Aristocrat Leisure said net profit rose in the fiscal first half and that it is raising its dividend following a strong performance in its slot-machine business.

The company said statutory net profit in the six months ended March 31 was 653 million Australian dollars (US$435 million), a rise of about 27%. Normalized net profit, stripping out one-time items, was more than A$658 million, a rise of more than 13%. Revenue rose 12% to more than A$3 billion.

Aristocrat raised its interim dividend to 30 Australian cents per share, compared to 26 Australian cents last year.

The company said the result was driven by North America gaming operations and global outright sales in its slot-machine business. It said its mobile-games division, Pixel United, delivered a resilient performance in a challenging environment. And its real-money online gaming business, Anaxi, delivered on its initial market entry commitments and signed agreements with partners, Aristocrat said.

"Aristocrat delivered a quality result over the period, demonstrating the ongoing resilience, competitiveness and diversification of our portfolio," said Chief Executive Trevor Croker.

Looking ahead, Aristocrat said its guidance to deliver growth in net profit--stripping out one-time items--over the full fiscal year is unchanged. It said it expected there would be continued strong revenue and profit growth from its slot-machine division.

It also expected an improved second-half performance from Pixel United, though the full-year result would be moderately below the prior year. The company added it would continue to invest in Anaxi.


Write to Mike Cherney at mike.cherney@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-17-23 1857ET