Aristocrat Names Dafne Guisard CEO-Elect as Trevor Croker Retires in April 2027

^{The Las Vegas Strip. Aristocrat’s next chief executive will relocate from London to Las Vegas to take up the role. (Photo: Dietmar Rabich / Wikimedia Commons)}

Aristocrat Leisure has named Dafne Guisard, a former Entain chief operating officer who joined the slot maker this year, as CEO-elect to succeed Trevor Croker, who intends to retire in April 2027. The board announced the change to the Australian Securities Exchange on 12 November, alongside its full-year results.

Guisard’s appointment is subject to any necessary regulatory pre-approvals. She is expected to take over in April after what the company called a comprehensive transition, and will relocate from Aristocrat’s London office to Las Vegas to run the group from there.

From Entain to the Corner Office

Guisard joined Aristocrat’s executive team in early 2026 as chief commercial officer for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and has since also taken responsibility for the Product Madness social casino business. Before that she was chief operating officer at Entain and chief strategy, digital and transformation officer at Kraft Heinz, and spent nine years at Anheuser-Busch InBev.

Aristocrat said the board took external advice and considered both internal and external candidates. Chairman Neil Chatfield said the board considers Guisard “the ideal choice to succeed Trevor”, citing “the benefits of an internal appointment, including performance continuity and scope for a seamless transition”.

Croker will remain with the company and support Guisard for twelve months from the announcement. By the time he steps down he will have served more than a decade as chief executive and 18 years in senior leadership, a period in which the board says the company’s market capitalisation grew fourfold.

The Numbers Behind the Handover

The leadership news came with results for the year to 30 September 2026. Group revenue was A$6,092.4 million, down 3.2% in reported currency but up 3.8% at constant currency. Statutory net profit after tax fell 16.4% to A$1.37 billion, because the previous year had been lifted by income linked to the Plarium sale. At constant currency, net profit after tax rose 9.9%.

The online business shows the tension between growth and profit. Aristocrat Interactive’s segment profit fell 6.2% to A$122.6 million from A$130.7 million, even though revenue rose 17% in both Interactive content and iLottery. The group says it now holds 8% of the online slots market, a share that has more than doubled.

That push has already reached players, with Lightning Link making its online debut among the land-based hits ported to online casinos. Aristocrat has also kept its target of US$1 billion in Interactive revenue by fiscal 2029, counting its share of joint-venture revenue.

Product Madness, the social casino arm Guisard now oversees, grew revenue 2% while the wider market shrank, lifting its market share to 24%. Aristocrat’s own filing puts the unit’s fiscal 2025 revenue above US$1 billion.

Dividend and Outlook

Directors approved an unfranked final dividend of 51.0 cents a share, worth about A$302 million. The group expects further growth in profit before amortisation of acquired intangibles at constant currency in fiscal 2027, the first year in which Guisard will take the chief executive’s seat.

The new CEO inherits a company that has been widening its reach beyond slot cabinets, including its recent win of the Monopoly slots licence from Light & Wonder. Describing the handover on the results call, Guisard called it an evolution rather than a reset.