Sydney, June 30, 2026, 04:02 AEST
- Aristocrat Leisure Limited ASX:ALL closed Monday at A$60.51, up 3.10%, while the S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) rose 0.68% to 8,823.4.
- Aristocrat’s June 29 buyback filing shows A$1.391 billion spent through June 26, leaving about A$1.109 billion under the A$2.5 billion program.
- At Monday’s close, the remaining buyback would retire about 18.3 million shares, roughly 1.4 million fewer than at the average price paid so far.
- The report is pre-open in Sydney; ASX normal cash trading starts from 09:59:45 Sydney time and runs to 16:00.
Aristocrat Leisure Limited ASX:ALL goes into Tuesday with a buyback that is still large, but now less cheap. The stock closed Monday at A$60.51, up 3.10%, after trading between A$59.40 and A$60.62 on volume of 1.63 million shares. The S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) gained 0.68% on the same day.
The latest filing says Aristocrat bought 193,344 shares on June 26 for A$11.34 million. It had bought 24.56 million shares before that for A$1.379 billion. The on-market program was raised to up to A$2.5 billion in May and runs to May 12, 2027.
That puts total stock bought through June 26 at 24.76 million shares for A$1.391 billion, or an average A$56.18 a share. Monday’s close sits 7.7% above that average. At A$60.51, the remaining A$1.109 billion would buy about 18.3 million shares. At the average price paid so far, it would buy about 19.7 million.
| Buyback measure | Latest figure | Investor read |
|---|---|---|
| Monday close | A$60.51 | 7.7% above average buyback price |
| Shares bought through June 26 | 24.76 mln | About 4.0% of buyback filing class |
| Cash spent through June 26 | A$1.391 bln | 55.6% of A$2.5 bln program |
| Cash left | A$1.109 bln | About 18.3 mln shares at Monday close |
| Lost buyback capacity vs past average | About 1.4 mln shares | About 0.23% of filing class |
The price creep matters because the same cash cancels less stock. The remaining buyback is equal to about 3.0% of Aristocrat’s A$36.41 billion market value, but the share-count gain falls as the purchase price rises.
The daily filings show Aristocrat was close to the permitted top end last week. On June 24 and June 25, the highest price it paid matched the highest price allowed under ASX listing rule 7.33, at A$57.99 and A$58.86. On June 26, the highest price paid was A$59.31, below the A$59.62 allowed level.
June 26 was the heaviest of those three disclosed sessions. The company bought 193,344 shares that day, equal to 9.2% of the 2.09 million shares traded in the stock, based on Aristocrat’s own price table. By Monday, the stock had moved above the last disclosed buyback price range, with a high of A$60.62.
The operating base is still doing most of the work. In the half year to March, Aristocrat reported normalised NPATA of A$794.0 million, up 8.4% as reported and 16.3% in constant currency. Revenue was flat as reported at A$3.03 billion, but rose 6.4% in constant currency.
Chief Executive Trevor Croker said the half had “market share gains in key segments” and a “balanced approach to capital allocation”. He also said the company remained committed to the on-market buyback.
| Segment | HY26 revenue | HY26 segment profit | Profit change, constant currency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gaming | A$1.961 bln | A$1.063 bln | +10.3% |
| Product Madness | A$805.6 mln | A$373.3 mln | +3.8% |
| Interactive | A$262.0 mln | A$95.2 mln | -8.9% |
Gaming supplied about 69% of segment profit in the half. Interactive supplied about 6%, but it carries the larger growth target: Aristocrat’s investor deck keeps a US$1 billion Interactive revenue target for fiscal 2029 and sets margin expansion as a goal.
The near-term cash return does not stop at the buyback. Aristocrat’s 50-cent interim dividend is due to be paid on July 1.
