Investment accounts
Adult accounts
Child accounts
Choosing Fidelity
Choosing Fidelity
Why invest with us Current offers Fees and charges Open an account Transfer investments
Financial advice & support
Fidelity’s Services
Fidelity’s Services
Financial advice Retirement Wealth Management Investor Centre (London) Bereavement
Guidance and tools
Guidance and tools
Choosing investments Choosing accounts ISA calculator Retirement calculators
Share dealing
Choose your shares
Tools and information
Tools and information
Share prices and markets Chart and compare shares Stock market news Shareholder perks
Pensions & retirement
Pensions, tax & tools
Saving for retirement
Approaching / In retirement
Approaching / In retirement
Speak to a specialist Creating a retirement plan Taking tax-free cash Pension drawdown Annuities Investing in retirement Investment Pathways
Rank Group on track for full year after strong third quarter
(Sharecast News) - Rank Group reiterated its full-year guidance on Thursday, after third-quarter revenues were boosted by strong trading at Mecca bingo. The FTSE 250 gaming group said like-for-like net gaming revenues (NGR) rose 6% in the three months to 31 March, to £182.3m.
Within that, Grosvenor casino revenues rose 3%, to £80m, while Mecca venues jumped 12% to £37.3m.
That was driven by a 5% increase in customer visits and a 7% increase in spend per visit, "particularly benefitting from strong trading over the Mother's Day and Easter weekends", Rank noted.
Digital NGR rose 6% to £55m, with growth of 4% in the UK and 20% in Spain.
In the year to date, underlying NGR sparked 8% to £544.9m.
Looking to the fourth quarter, Rank said performance had "continued to improve in April, and we expect like-for-like operating profits for the year ending 30 June to be in line with the group's expectations".
Chief executive John O'Reilly added: "We continue to make good progress across both our venues and online businesses, with third-quarter trading very much in line with the board's expectations.
"Performance continues to improve, and we have the very important land-based reforms from the government's white paper to look forward to, which we hope to start implementing in the coming months."
Rank said earlier this year it was well positioned to benefit from the changes to the UK's gaming and gambling industry outlined in the white paper.
These included doubling the number of gaming machines in the Grosvenor casino estate and allowing electronic payments at bingo and casino venues.
Shore Capital, which has a 'buy' rating on Rank, called the trading update "encouraging".
It continued: "We see no change to full-year forecasts and continue to see the potential, including from proposed gambling reform, for profitability to reach £100m over the medium term.
"The standout was arguably Mecca, although solid progress was seen at Grosvenor and its core digital brands."
As at 0930 BST, shares in Rank were up 1% at 72p.
Share this article
Related Sharecast Articles
Important information: This information is not a personal recommendation for any particular investment. If you are unsure about the suitability of an investment you should speak to one of Fidelity’s advisers or an authorised financial adviser of your choice. When you are thinking about investing in shares, it’s generally a good idea to consider holding them alongside other investments in a diversified portfolio of assets. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns.
Award-winning online share dealing
Search, compare and select from thousands of shares.
Expert insights into investing your money
Our team of experts explore the world of share dealing.
Policies and important information
Accessibility | Conflicts of interest statement | Consumer Duty Target Market | Consumer Duty Value Assessment Statement | Cookie policy | Diversity and Inclusion | Doing Business with Fidelity | Fidelity gender pay report | Investing in Fidelity funds | Legal information | Modern slavery | Mutual respect policy | Privacy statement | Remuneration policy | Security | Statutory and Regulatory disclosures | Whistleblowing policy
Please remember that past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance, the performance of investments is not guaranteed, and the value of your investments can go down as well as up, so you may get back less than you invest. When investments have particular tax features, these will depend on your personal circumstances and tax rules may change in the future. This website does not contain any personal recommendations for a particular course of action, service or product. You should regularly review your investment objectives and choices and, if you are unsure whether an investment is suitable for you, you should contact an authorised financial adviser. Before opening an account, please read the ‘Doing Business with Fidelity’ document which incorporates our client terms. Prior to investing into a fund, please read the relevant key information document which contains important information about the fund.
This website is issued by Financial Administration Services Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) (FCA Register number 122169) and registered in England and Wales under company number 1629709 whose registered address is Beech Gate, Millfield Lane, Lower Kingswood, Tadworth, Surrey, KT20 6RP.
