With foreign exchange (FX) tailwinds at its back, Aristocrat Leisure (ALL) delivered a 14% increase in the first half of 2023 NPATA (net profit after tax before impairment and amortisation), operating cash flow and dividends coming along for the ride,” Raymond said. “Strip out the effect of a strong US dollar, however, and the result was a little more muted, with constant currency growth in NPATA of 4%.
“On top of that, the result was a tale of two businesses, with the land-based gaming business in the Americas growing rapidly and taking share of a buoyant market, while the digital gaming business Pixel United saw earnings decline in a softening global market for mobile games.
“We believe Pixel United is likely to experience challenging conditions and deliver softer growth for the next 12-18 months, though its profits should at least show signs of improvement in the second half of 2023.
“We have lowered our group net profit estimates by 1.5% in financial year 2023 and 1.7% in financial year 2024.
“As ALL continues to dominate the US land-based gaming market, there’s still a lot of growth to come near term.
“Stay positive,” Raymond advised.
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