Aristocrat has reported double-digit revenue and EBITDA growth for 2022 amid a warning that next year’s results might be impacted by lower profit from Pixel United and further investment in real-money gaming brand Anaxi.

Aristocrat’s share price fell by more than 5% on Wednesday (16 November).

For the financial year ended 30 September 2022, Aristocrat posted an EBITDA increase of nearly 20% to A$1.85bn and a 13.9% rise in net profit after tax to A$1.05bn.

The results were underpinned by a 17.7% increase in group revenue to A$5.6bn, with the company pointing to an “exceptional performance” in its North American gaming operations and in outright global sales in spite of “supply chain issues and mixed operating conditions across its key markets”.

Aristocrat Gaming contributed 54%, or nearly A$3bn, to the total revenue, while social gaming platform Pixel United generated 46%.

However, Pixel United, which reports in US dollars, saw revenue decline marginally by 0.6% to $1.8bn (A$2.67bn) in 2022 compared to 2021.

Aristocrat Gaming’s Americas revenue accounted for $1.7bn (A$2.52bn), a nearly 25% increase on 2021. Revenue in Australia and New Zealand increased by 15.5% to A$461.7m.

In 2022, Aristocrat moved to cease operating its mobile games in Russia after it invaded Ukraine. This market had historically contributed about 3% of Pixel United bookings.

As a result, normalised profit after tax increased 27% year-on-year to A$1.1bn.

Aristocrat CEO Trevor Croker: “While we are focusing first on the North American iGaming vertical, we ultimately aim to be the leading gaming platform within the global online RMG industry. We will continue to invest behind this key adjacent growth opportunity as we build Anaxi over the medium-term.”

Aristocrat CEO and managing director Trevor Croker said: “Aristocrat’s performance underlines the ongoing implementation of our growth strategy. Throughout the year, we continued to invest in competitive product portfolios to drive further share growth across key segments, greater operational diversification and deeper business capability.”

“Strong performance in Aristocrat Gaming more than offset headwinds in the Pixel United business, again highlighting the increasing diversification and resilience of our Group,” he added.

Croker further highlighted that the company made further progress in its ‘build and buy’ strategy to scale in online real money gaming (RMG), with the launch of its new business, Anaxi.

“While we are focusing first on the North American iGaming vertical, we ultimately aim to be the leading gaming platform within the global online RMG industry. We will continue to invest behind this key adjacent growth opportunity as we build Anaxi over the medium-term,” Croker said.

Looking ahead, the company said it expects the Aristocrat Gaming business to continue performing strongly. Aristocrat also said it planned further investments in Anaxi.

However, the company warned the Pixel United business is expected to deliver lower growth in bookings and profit in 2023 compared to previous years, which could have affected investor confidence and sent the stock down 5%.

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