Aristocrat bets on mobile

Gaming machine maker Aristocrat Leisure expects to launch a product for smartphones and tablets within the next 12 months.

Chief executive Jamie Odell says Aristocrat's strategy of expanding its activities to providing content for online, social media and mobile gaming is playing out very well.

More than 2 million players have installed Aristocrat's Heart of Vegas slot machine Facebook app since its launch in September.

A second social media app will be released in the first half of Aristocrat's fiscal 2013-14 year, which ends on September 30, and a mobile version of Heart of Vegas will be launched in the second half, Mr Odell said on Tuesday.

"We expect very strong growth," he said. "Strategically, this is very, very important for our business and clearly we are accelerating the mobile launch and the technology as fast as we can."

Mr Odell expects online, social and mobile gaming to generate tens of millions of dollars of earnings in the near future.

Aristocrat continues to grow its online distribution of games in regulated European wagering markets, with more than 200 Aristocrat games deployed across a network of 30 operators by the end of its 2012-13 year. The company would continue to roll out Aristocrat content into newly regulated US jurisdictions while expanding its European reach, Mr Odell said.

The company made a net profit of $107 million in the year to September 30, up 17 per cent from $91.7 million in the previous year.

Shares in Aristocrat dropped 14¢, or 2.9 per cent, to $4.63. AAP