19 October 2012
The Rank Group Plc trading update for 15 weeks to 14 October 2012
(all comparisons are with the equivalent periods in 2011)
The Rank Group Plc (‘Rank’ or the ‘Group’) announces 4% revenue growth for the 15 weeks to 14 October 2012, or 5% growth on a like-for-like basis. This performance was driven principally by strong trading in
As highlighted within Rank’s recent financial results announcement the Group has moved to brand based reporting; as a result the online and land based performances are shown together below by brand.
|
Group and segmental revenue to 14 October 2012* |
||
|
|
Like-for-like |
Total |
|
Grosvenor Casinos |
8% |
8% |
|
|
2% |
1% |
|
Top Rank Espana |
(9)% |
(9)% |
|
Blue Square Bet |
19% |
19% |
|
Group |
5% |
4% |
* Figures not adjusted for free bets, promotions and customer bonuses.
** Like-for-like excludes the effects of club openings, closures and relocations.
*** Top Rank Espana performance not adjusted for currency movement. In euros, revenue was flat.
Grosvenor Casinos
|
|
Like-for-like |
Total |
|
Venues based – Customer visits |
(5)% |
0% |
|
Venues based – Spend per visit |
13% |
7% |
|
Venues revenue |
7% |
7% |
|
Digital revenue |
72% |
72% |
|
Total revenue |
8% |
8% |
The Grosvenor Casinos brand grew total revenue by 8%, with growth across both channels.
The Grosvenor Casinos venues business grew revenue by 7% on a like-for-like basis with a 13% growth in spend per visits more than offsetting a 5% drop in customer visits. Revenue growth came mainly from a higher than usual win margin in
Grosvenor Casinos venues have continued to grow in terms of customers but like-for-like visits have declined as a result of lower visit frequency.
The growth in digital revenue is encouraging, however this channel comprised less than 3% of the overall brand revenue.
During the second quarter, we will complete the refurbishment of our existing Grosvenor casino in
|
|
Like-for-like |
Total |
|
Venues based – Customer visits |
(2)% |
(3)% |
|
Venues based – Spend per visit |
3% |
3% |
|
Venues based revenue |
0% |
(1)% |
|
Digital revenue |
11% |
11% |
|
Total revenue |
2% |
1% |
The Mecca brand grew total revenue by 1% and like-for-like revenue by 2%, with a strong performance from its digital channel.
Meccabingo.com continues to show strong growth at 11% which has been supported by the recent TV campaign at a cost of
The newly converted
Top Rank Espana
|
|
Like-for-like |
Total |
|
Venues based – Customer visits |
(5)% |
(5)% |
|
Venues based – Spend per visit |
(5)% |
(5)% |
|
Total revenue |
(9)% |
(9)% |
Top Rank Espana has held euro revenue in line with the same period last year, in spite of the worsening economic situation in
We continue the rollout of our enracha brand with the conversion of the Top Rank Universal club in
Blue Square Bet
|
|
Like-for-like |
Total |
|
Games revenue |
41% |
41% |
|
Sports revenue |
3% |
3% |
|
Total revenue |
19% |
19% |
Blue Square Bet achieved a 19% increase in revenue during the 15-week period partly driven by a
Blue Square Bet has initiated a transformational project to upgrade its sports products at an expected total capital cost of
• A partnership with the leading sports platform operator, Openbet, for an industry leading sports betting platform;
• The creation of a faster and more flexible multi-channel experience to support the ‘no nonsense’ brand proposition and to enable Blue Square Bet to offer sports products to over 2 million active customers of the other Rank brands; and
• Improving the quality, content and range of its sports products
Gala Casinos
Rank and Gala Coral Group Limited (“Gala Coral Group”) continue to assist the Competition Commission with its inquiry into the proposed acquisition of Gala Casinos Limited by Rank. Gala Coral Group and Rank are continuing their discussions in relation to appropriate amendments to the previously agreed terms in light of the reference to the Competition Commission. A further announcement will be made in due course.
VAT
On 5 October 2012 Rank received confirmation that the Group’s amusement machine claim is to be remitted back to the First Tier Tribunal to consider the question of similarity between certain types of amusement machines. This means that the current litigation may take longer to resolve but this delay has not altered Rank’s appraisal of its chances of success in this matter. This claim relates to the
Outlook
Since the start of the financial year Rank has achieved revenue growth, despite the continued difficult economic environment. While the outlook for the
Forthcoming announcements
Rank will announce its half year results on 31 January 2013.
ends
Conference call
A conference call for investors and analysts will be held at 10.00am (
International: +44 (0)1452 555 566
Passcode: 39390988
A replay of the conference call will be available from the Rank Group’s website (www.rank.com).
Contacts:
The Rank Group Plc investor relations
FTI Consulting
Marc Cohen 020 7831 3113
Notes to editors:
1. About The Rank Group Plc
The Rank Group Plc is a leading European gaming and betting business, based in the UK and listed on the London Stock Exchange (RNK.L). Its principal activities are the operation of bingo clubs and casinos with complementary digital gaming and bookmaking services.
Rank’s operations comprise:
· Grosvenor Casinos – 35 casinos in Great Britain; two casinos in Belgium; online and mobile offering via grosvenorcasinos.com
· Mecca – 97 bingo clubs in Great Britain; online and mobile offering via meccabingo.com
· Top Rank Espana – 11 bingo clubs in Spain
· Blue Square Bet – online and mobile gaming and betting offering via Bluesq.com
Rank’s businesses receive more than 28 million customer visits per year and the Group employs more than 9,000 team members.
For more information about The Rank Group, visit www.rank.com.
2. Mecca ‘Full House’
‘Full House’ is the project name for Mecca’s new concept clubs. The first Full House was opened in Beeston, Nottingham in May 2009. The club is branded as ‘Mecca – so much more’ and while it retains bingo as a core product it also features enhanced bar and restaurant areas (with cook to order), an electronic bingo lounge and a broad range of amusement machines.
3. G Casino format
G Casino is a modern gaming-based leisure venue. Launched in Manchester in June 2006, G Casino has since been extended to 19 locations. G Casino is differentiated from most traditional casinos through its broad range of gaming and non-gaming activities, with large poker rooms, sports lounges, restaurants and stylish bars as well as traditional and electronic casino games.
G Casino attracts significantly higher levels of customer visits and has a higher proportion of female customers than traditional casinos.
4. Regulatory notes
Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee report
On 24 September 2012 the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee published the findings of their inquiry into the effectiveness of the Gambling Act and made a series of recommendations. Three of the recommendations will be beneficial to Rank if they are implemented and are as follows:
· Portability of existing casinos licences;
· Reduction in the rate of bingo duty from 20% to 15%; and
· Giving the 1968 Act casinos the same freedoms as the 2005 Act casinos, potentially resulting in an increased allocation of slot machines for 1968 Act casinos.
Remote Gaming Duty
The Government has announced its intention to require those companies targeting UK citizens to gain a remote gaming licence from the Gambling Commission. HM Treasury followed this by announcing its intention to apply remote gaming duty (expected at 15% of revenue) based upon the location of the customer rather than the operator. This regime is scheduled to take effect from December 2014.
Machine Gaming Duty
In the 2012 Budget the Government stated that from 1 February 2013, the current system of machine income being subject to both VAT and AMLD (a fixed fee on each gaming machine) will be replaced by Machine Gaming Duty (‘MGD’). Two rates of MGD will be charged on amusement machine income, 20% (for machines with a stake of more than 10p or a prize of over
The introduction of MGD will lead to an increase in reported revenue and cost of sales for Rank, with a slightly adverse impact on operating profits.
This information is provided by RNS