As reported by the Australian: “The world’s second-biggest poker machine
maker, Aristocrat Leisure, is remaining coy about how much it will provide
for litigation expenses this year after provisions jumped 73 per cent to
$28.94 million last year. “Chief executive Paul Oneile was loath to talk
about current litigation funding, saying only that it was a fact of life in
the gambling industry. “Aristocrat provided $28.94 million in litigation
expenses in calendar 2005 – up from $16.74 million the previous year – as it
battled a $190 million class action from shareholders who watched the
company’s share price fall dramatically between September 2002 and May 2003.
Mr Oneile became CEO in November 2003. “.Yesterday Aristocrat released
first-half results that showed declining revenues but a record after-tax
profit of $104.7 million. “Aristocrat revenue was dragged down by falling
sales in Japan because of new gaming rules which demand that payouts are
reduced but made more frequently. “.Despite the problems in Japan, once
Aristocrat’s biggest foreign market, net profit rose 3 per cent on the back
of a marginal decline in revenue to $495.9 million.”