The company reported a net profit of A$71.38 million (US$61.04 million) for the six months to June 30, down from A$125.87 million in the prior corresponding half, which was a little above its guidance for a profit of A$70 million.

The company today also settled the largest class action settlement in Australia in the Federal Court.

Aristocrat will pay out more than A$144 million to thousands of shareholders after the court found it had misstated earnings on two occasions and issued a subsequent profit forecast that was unattainable, resulting in a share price plunge and losses for its shareholders when the true state of the company was revealed.

Chief executive Paul Oneile today declined to comment on the outcome and concentrated on the interim result.

He said company was gaining traction with sales of its new machine, Viridian, and the games on its Gen7 platform.

"We only got first the approvals (for the games) in NSW in April, so for the first quarter we weren't selling much into the NSW market at all," Mr Oneile said during a teleconference.

"Since those approvals have come through, our sales have picked up significantly so we're actually going into the second half obtaining a much greater market share of the overall news sales than we had in the first half."

Aristocrat blamed its disappointing first half performance on unfavourable economic and regulatory conditions in the group's two largest regions, Australia and North America.

"Market conditions in general are not expected to improve over the balance of the year," it said.

Total revenue for the half year was A$466.3 million, down from A$558.1 million in the first half of 2007.

Aristocrat posted earnings falls in Australia, New Zealand and North America, but improved profits in Japan.

Mr Oneile said the first half of 2008 had been particularly challenging with replacement demand in the group's key markets running at historic lows.

"At the same time, we have suffered from operator reluctance to purchase product ahead of the availability of our new Viridian cabinet and Gen7 platform and a larger library of content."

In Australia, revenue fell 23.2 per cent while profits dropped 37.2 per cent.

"The combined impact of smoking bans, increased taxes and the economic effects of higher interest rates and petrol prices on venue gaming turnover resulted in a significant decline in platform sales (40.5 per cent) representing an unsustainable implied 40 year replacement cycle."

In North America, revenue fell 15.6 per cent and profit was 19.9 per cent lower in local currency terms.

Japanese profit increased by A$23.6 million to A$26.6 million.

"Unit volumes were the key driver with a total of 32,280 units sold, up from 11,063 in the prior corresponding half," the company said of Japan.

Aristocrat declared an interim dividend of 14 cents per share, steady on the prior corresponding half.

Its shares rose 13 cents to A$5.72

(AAP)

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