News: Aristocrat Leisure to pay US$212M in damage

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Aristocrat Leisure Ltd (ASX:ALL) says it will pay US$212 million in damages, after a settlement was reached in litigation concerning convertible bonds in the US.

The gaming provider says following the final judgements by the United States District Court, neither Aristocrat nor the bondholders would appeal any aspect of the case in exchange for a further US$10 million reduction of the total damages payable by Aristocrat.

The company says it is now in the process of paying damages to the bondholders.

In August Aristocrat declared an interim dividend of 3.5 cents per share, representing a payout ratio at the lower end of its target, accounting the pending damages payment from the convertible bonds litigation as a contributing factor for the dividend.

Aristocrat reported a profit after tax of $49.53 million for the first half of the year, a turnaround result from the loss of $33.14 million reported for the first half of fiscal 2009.