Aristocrat profits halved on US downturn
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Gaming company Aristocrat Leisure says its disappointing profit outcome for the June half is a result of economic weakness in its two biggest markets.
Aristocrat's net profit for the first half of 2008 has almost halved to just over $70 million because of the economic downturn in the American and Australian economies.
Revenue in Aristocrat has fallen by 23 per cent from the same period last year, while it fell by 16 per cent in North America.
Aristocrat's chief executive Paul Oneile says Americans have been paring back their gambling expenditure in the face of a slowing economy.
"The overall gaming market has been down month on month now for several months, largely in response to the economic conditions over there, and as I alluded to as a result of petrol prices, the fact that people aren't travelling as much as they were previously, and the general economic circumstances," he said.
