SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Rank Group Plc reaps the benefits of its business transformation programme, as all units contribute to corporate growth despite remaining pressures.
Publishing its preliminary 2023/2024 results for the 12 months ending 30 June, the LSE gambling group has reported a 9% increase in net gaming revenues (NGR) to £734m (FY2022/23: £671m).
Of significance, the year’s accounts detail that like-for-like underlying profits have doubled to £46.5m, as Rank outperforms its market consensus.
Leadership hails the returned profitability momentum of Rank units, helping the LSE group achieve H1 and H2 profits of £22m and £22.7m.
A breakdown of performance saw Rank Venues (Grosvenor Casino and Mecca Bingo) register revenues of £508m, up 8% on 2022/2023 comparatives of £468m.
Venue growth was achieved by Grosvenor reporting a 9% increase in customer visits, offsetting a 1% decline in overall customer spend per visit.
Mecca Bingo registered an 8% increase in its NGR contribution, as venue KPIs detailed that customer visits increased by 2% and spend per visit increased by 6%.
Further positives saw management highlight Mecca Bingo’s KPI that 44% of the 187,000 new customers in the year were under 35 years old.
Meanwhile, boosted by Grosvenor and Mecca cross-channel opportunities and the continued growth of the Yo brand in Spain, the Rank Digital unit grew revenues to £226m, up 12% on 2022/2023 results of £202m.
Year trading saw Rank Digital execute a number of technical and operational objectives, including the launch of the Grosvenor in-house developed app and the successful build of the central engagement platform, housing a centralised database for all UK-facing brands.
Group CEO, John O’Reilly, commented: “This has been a year of strong financial, operational, and strategic progress for Rank. We are continuing to rebuild profitability following the impact of lockdowns and the material inflationary pressures experienced in recent years. Trading continues to improve due to ongoing investment in our people, our products, and the facilities within our venues businesses, and the continued development of the proprietary technology which is driving the growth of our digital business.”
Year trading saw Rank book a total capital expenditure of £46.7m, attributed to key investments in group venues, technology, and staff.
Improved financial results saw Rank return to a free net cash flow position of £27m, as leadership declared statutory operating profits of £29.4m. Year profits included net impairment charges of £7.6m and £6.6m relating to the amortisation of acquired assets of Stride Gaming and Yo Bingo.
Year accounts were closed by Rank’s board recommending a dividend reward of 0.85p per share for investors, reflecting leadership’s confidence in maintaining growth and the positive financial position of the LSE group.
CEO John O’Reilly concluded: “We have started the new financial year as we finished the previous one, with good momentum across all businesses. With inflation receding, disposable incomes improving, investment continuing to be made in the customer proposition, and a strong pipeline of growth initiatives underway, we are confident in the future prospects of the Group.
We are well-positioned to take advantage of the much-needed land-based reforms, which will help to further modernise our casino and bingo propositions to better meet the expectations of today’s customers, and we look forward to the Government confirming the timetable for the required secondary legislation.
It would not be possible to deliver this improved performance without our excellent colleagues who continue to excite, entertain, and protect their customers, support their local communities, and contribute fully to the progress we are continuing to make.”
