Shares in Aristocrat Leisure Ltd (ASX: ALL) are trading higher after the company announced it was extending its share buyback by another $750 million.
The gaming company said it had bought back $701.1 million already since February 2025, and given the company's strong cash generation, had decided to extend.
As the company said:
The board has approved an increase in the on-market share buy-back program to allow up to a further $750 million in shares to be bought back over an additional 12-month period ending 5 March 2027 (up to $1.5 billion in aggregate). The on-market share buy-back program will continue to be conducted on an opportunistic basis and Aristocrat reserves the right to vary, suspend or terminate the on-market share buy-back program at any time.
The company's Chief Executive Officer, Trevor Croker, stated that the company was able to conduct the extended buyback while also expanding the business.
He said in a statement:
With the $750 million on-market share buy-back program previously announced in February 2025 nearing completion, and our consistently strong cash flow generation, we are able to continue to pursue a mix of returns to shareholders via dividends and share buy-backs while also investing in strategic acquisitions and organic growth initiatives.
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Strong performance
In its most recent profit announcement in November, Aristocrat reported full-year revenue had increased 11% to $6.29 billion and net profit was up 9.4% to $1.42 billion.
Mr Croker said at the time that it was a strong result with double-digit growth across most key metrics.
The group delivered strong revenue and EBITDA growth over the year, again benefitting from strong organic growth and an outstanding portfolio of content across the group. This result once again highlights our market leadership and scale as fundamental strengths of the business , supported by a focus on efficiency and extracting operating leverage as we grow.
Mr Croker said the company had taken "foundational steps that will set up Aristocrat Interactive to accelerate performance, and allow us to fully utilise our content, scale and capabilities''.
He added that the company would continue to pursue strategic merger and acquisition opportunities "in a disciplined and consistent manner''.
Aristocrat shares were 2.4% higher at $58 on Friday morning, not far off their 12-month lows of $54.20.
The company was worth $34.82 billion at that price. Aristocrat is paying an unfranked trailing dividend yield of 1.6%.
Aristocrat will hold its annual general meeting on February 19.
