Global poker machine maker, Aristocrat, has settled on what is now the country's biggest corporate class action case.

PHILLIP LASKER, PRESENTER: Global poker machine maker, Aristocrat, has settled on what is now the country's biggest corporate class action case.

The Federal Court has approved a final settlement figure of just under $145 million. The money will be distributed among 2600 shareholders who invested in the company between 2001 and 2003.

Lawyers for the shareholders argued the board had misled the market over a number of years.

The shareholder victory comes on the same day Aristocrat reported a 43 per cent slide in first half profits.

Desley Coleman reports.

DESLEY COLEMAN, REPORTER: On the 1st of December 2003 Paul Oneile took up the role of chief executive at Aristocrat.

On that very day the company was served with a class action writ.

Today the lawyers of 2600 shareholders celebrated the end of the five-year battle with a $144.5 million settlement.

BERNARD MURPHY, LAWYER, MAURICE BLACKBURN: It's a very good result for the thousands of shareholders whose rights we represented in this case. It's a return of about 80 cents in the dollar of their pre-interest losses.

DESLEY COLEMAN: The poker machine maker was accused of misleading shareholders by overstating its 2001 and 2002 profits.

And when the true position of the company was revealed in 2003 Des Randall, the chief executive at the time, was sacked for lying to the board.

Aristocrat shares then tumbled from close to $5 to just 75 cents - wiping $2 billion from the value of the company.

STUART WILSON, AUSTRALIAN SHAREHOLDERS ASSOCIATION: This is a big win for shareholders. A few years ago something like this wouldn't have happened. But now shareholders are being more activist, being more critical of their companies and taking to the courts when necessary.

BERNARD MURPHY: This case does send a clear message to corporate boardrooms around Australia, which is that if you are going to mislead your shareholders, if you choose to mislead the share market, that you are taking a real risk.

DESLEY COLEMAN: Aristocrat Leisure has confirmed that the company "will incur a net cost of approximately $40 million", which is around nine cents per existing share.

The remainder of the $145 million settlement figure is covered by Aristocrat's insurers.

PAUL ONEILE, CEO, ARISTOCRAT LEISURE: Obviously it will be a great weight off the company, it's been a distraction for several years - for the best part of five years - and I think now it will enable management of the company to get on with its real business.

DESLEY COLEMAN: After the expense of a full court hearing, the settlement between shareholders and Aristocrat was reached before a final judgment of the Federal Court.

PAUL ONEILE: It's about the risk of not closing the case versus continuing with the case so there is no admission at all of any liability or any guilt.

DESLEY COLEMAN: Investors who were part of today's class action can expect their payouts in the next two or three months.

For shareholders still betting on Aristocrat, today's first half profit figures provided little joy.

Although disappointing, the result was broadly in line with market expectations, which had been lowered by the company's own revised forecast in July.

Profit dropped to $71 million, down 43 per cent.

However investors appeared to back the company and pushed up Aristocrat shares two per cent to $5.72.

CRAIG SHEPPARD, GAMING ANALYST, COMMSEC: I thought the outlook statement today was quite good it was measured, it was concentrating on where the company's strategic advantages are, and it concentrated heavily on the expectation it had for new technology. I think ultimately Aristocrat is a technology company and providing more details on how that technology will drive earnings in the future was a real positive.

DESLEY COLEMAN: In the meantime, Aristocrat Leisure now stands in the history books as the subject of the nation's biggest corporate class action.