Ring A Bell, If Not A Gong, Iconic Rank Is Back In Business
It’s not exactly bang the gong time but mid-table gamers Rank Group are pushing for promotion after reporting very respectable growth across all verticals in a “robust” Q3 trading quarter.
Rank, once the doyen of British entertainment, as lovers of afternoon TV reruns can testify, now expects its Full Year 2022/2023 earnings guidance to reach the top of expectations.
The company’s iGaming arm, Rank Digital, led the charge with an overall 16 percent, year-on-year, increase in Net Gaming Revenue (NGR) of £52.5 million (US$65.36m/€59.59m) — broken down to 15 percent in the UK and 19 percent in Spain.
Group NGR for the quarter, ending this March 31, totalled £174 million (US$216.63m/€197.51m); a 13 percent like-for-like hike.
Real world flagship Grosvenor and Mecca venues enjoyed a revenue increase of 12 percent.
“We are pleased that the momentum we saw at the start of the second half of our financial year has continued with positive NGR growth across all our businesses,” said John O’Reilly Group CEO of the LSE-listed gaming icons.
“Despite the challenging macroeconomic environment, the investments we have been making to improve the customer experience in our venues have helped drive the improved performance across both Grosvenor and Mecca.
“Our digital business is benefitting from the build-out of enhancements to the customer experience on our proprietary technology.
“And we have a strong pipeline of developments to continue to grow market share into the future.”
Boosted by its improved Q3 performance, the Rank Board has now upped its estimate of Full Year operating profit to touch £20 million (US$24.9m/€22.7m).
Not quite enough to finance a modern film, but more than enough to build a housey-housey.
