| Rank Shows Resilience after Difficult Months |
| Written by Mark Bennett |
| Sunday, 31 July 2011 16:07 |
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The half yearly report showed that the tough economic climate had not deterred bingo players and casinos goers. Revenue for the six months to 30th June rose to £294m from £281.1m over the same period the previous year, while adjusted pre-tax profits rose to £26.3m from £25.1m. The number of visits increased 1.5% to 11.5m and the spend per visit climbed by 1% to £22.71, the company said. Rank added that trading has continued to go well in the four weeks since the end of June, with like-for-like revenues up in each of its businesses. In the first half of the 2011, revenues from its casinos arm rose by 5.8 per cent to £125.2m, while the bingo division saw a 6.6 per cent increase to £146.3m. Both divisions were helped by a strong performance from the fast growing online operations where revenues rose by 24.1 per cent to £34m after nearly 70,000 downloads of the new meccabingo smartphone app. The one weak spot was Top Rank in Spain, where revenues fell, but overall revenues rose by 4.6 per cent to £294m, with underlying pre-tax profits up by 8.6 per cent to £26.4m.Bottom-line profits soared to £175.3m as Rank booked £81.9m for a VAT refund and an additional £80.3m of interest after a ruling in its favour in its ongoing dispute with HM Revenue and Customs. HMRC has appealed, but Rank also has an additional £275m of VAT claims pending. “During the first half of 2011 we have maintained the progress of recent years as rising customer numbers drive profit and revenue,” chairman Ian Burke said. “We have a portfolio of some of the strongest brands in UK gaming and the ability to reach our customers through our estate of well-invested venues, our high quality websites and increasingly via mobile channels.”
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