Gaming technology vendor Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ASX: ALL) has announced a record profit and revenue for the year ended 31 December 2004.

 Key features of the result were:

• Record revenue of $1.15 billion, an increase of 12.5 per cent on 2003;
• Record net profit of $174.7 million, compared with $54 million for 2003;
• Profit from international operations increased to 70.1 per cent of group trading profits, up from 58.9 per cent in 2003; and
• Operating cash flow rose 22.3 per cent to $250 million, with cash on hand exceeding debt by $119.6 million at year end.

Chief executive officer and managing director of ALL Paul Oneile said, “Our 2004 performance is clear evidence that we have a very strong business worldwide and are implementing dynamic strategies to ensure Aristocrat continues to build shareholder value through product innovation and sound management practices.

“We are well placed to build on our position as one of the world’s leading gaming solution providers, with broad-based demand for our products across more than 200 international jurisdictions now contributing 70 per cent of our trading profit.
 
“With the Australian market now mature, we are continuing to build our international presence. A major influence on our result was the greatly improved contribution from our US operations.

“Aristocrat Leisure’s underlying business continues to be robust and we are building momentum in profit and sales across the majority of our markets. After such a strong 2004 result, I am confident that we will see further profit growth in the current year.”

ALL closed down  31c to finish on $10.54 on very heavy volume.