Australian slot manufacturer Aristocrat Leisure Industries is targeting social media gaming companies to grow its digital division, thanks to the huge earnings boost from last year’s acquisition of Class II slot supplier Video Gaming Technologies.
In an extensive interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Aristocrat CEO Jamie Odell said the company’s big jump in profits—67 percent to $110.1 million in the six months ending March 31—can be attributed in large part to the $1.3 billion purchase of VGT, as well as a boost from participation games such as Game of Thrones.
Odell also told the newspaper he is on the hunt for more social gaming content suppliers after buying game-maker Product Madness in late 2012.
“We feel like we’ve got natural growth as mobile continues to grow, but to really accelerate growth we’ll probably have to look at other opportunities,” Odell told the Herald. “We started off with a small acquisition (Product Madness), which has proved to be highly successful. Now that we’ve got that confidence level and the skill sets, then certainly for the right returns profile, we’d be open to a deal on a larger scale than that.”
Profit for Aristocrat’s digital division jumped to A$15.7 million, and VGT earnings contributed US$86.2 million.
“VGT’s current earnings run rate is far exceeding what it was achieving when Aristocrat first acquired the business,” Citi gaming analyst Michael Goltsman told the Herald. eraldHHh “The buoyancy of the local Midwest economy and VGT’s floor optimization program has driven consistent improvements in fee per day. But they definitely bought (VGT) at a good time.”
