Profit down 26 per cent at gambling group Rank as footfall declines
Gambling group Rank has reported a drop in pre-tax profits after being hit by slowing sales at its Grosvenor Casinos and a decline in traffic at its Mecca Bingo halls earlier in the year.
The figures
Rank said that pre-tax profit for the full year was £34.6m, a 26 per cent drop on the £46.7m it reported last year.
Operating profit for the full year was down 22 per cent, falling to £39m.
Overall revenue for the group increased slightly, rising one per cent to £695.1m. Its Mecca Bingo halls and Grosvenor Casinos both fell 3 per cent, but the group was boosted by a 17 per cent increase in digital revenue.
Rank’s basic earnings per share declined, falling 20 per cent to 7.4p. The group announced a dividend per share of 7.65p, an increase of 3 per cent.
Rank’s shares were up 0.79 per cent by lunchtime, at 153.4p.
Why it’s interesting
Today’s results are a tale of two halves, but the recovery Rank began to make in the second half was not enough to offset weak performance in the first.
Declining footfall continues to be an issue for Rank, with customer visits declining nine per cent at Mecca Bingo and four per cent at Grosvenor Casinos.
The group introduced measures to raise revenue and cut costs in December last year, and said in today’s results that it had made £10.7m of cuts during the year, with an additional £9.3m of savings expected to be made next year.
What Rank said
Chief executive John O’Reilly said: “We are pleased with the Group’s second half performance and the full year results, especially given the challenges we faced in the first half of the year.”
“The transformation programme is pivotal to our growth strategy both in the UK and internationally,” he added. “We are excited by the important initiatives that are being implemented across each of our businesses.”
“We have made a good start to the transformation of Rank and there remains a lot of improvement to be delivered.”