Rank Group posts uplift in first half revenue

Finance News

Rank Group’s half year like-for-like net gaming revenue in H1 was up 9% year-on-year with all businesses seeing an increase in revenue.

LFL underlying operating profit increased to £21.7m (H1 2022/23: £2.7m), reflecting both the growth in NGR and the operating leverage of the Group.

High wage inflation of 8% (£8.3m higher LFL employment cost in H1) was largely offset by declining energy prices (£5.4m LFL saving on the prior period).

£120m of new debt facilities agreed in January 2024, comprising £30m Term Loan to October 2026 and £90m Revolving Credit Facility to January 2027.

The group’s strong financial position is enabling ongoing investment in our venues and digital businesses and positions the group to take full advantage of any future improvement in the macro-economic climate and the planned and much needed reforms in the UK Government’s review of gambling legislation.

Our UK facing casino, bingo and digital businesses successfully completed Gambling Commission compliance assessments in calendar year 2023. The UK digital business also successfully concluded a Gibraltar Commissioner assessment during the period.

The group’s ESG strategy continues to make good progress, with the Net Zero plan significantly contributing to reduced energy usage in the period and further improvement in colleague engagement scores.

The Group delivered an operating profit of £16.2m for the period, compared to an operating loss of £103.0m in the prior period.  The improvement in operating profit was due to improved NGR performance across the Group and no impairment charges in the current period, compared to net impairment charges of £95.4m in the prior period.

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