REG - Rank Group PLC - Trading Statement

RankAnnouncement

20/04/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 8306W  Rank Group PLC  20 April 2023

Trading statement

The Rank Group Plc

LEI: 213800TXKD6XZWOFTE12

 

20 April 2023

The Rank Group Plc (LSE: RNK) (Rank or the Group) announces the following
trading update for the quarter to 31 March 2023.

Group like-for-like ('LFL') Net Gaming Revenue ('NGR') for the third quarter
ended 31 March 2023 was up 13% to £174.4m. On a channel basis, venues LFL NGR
grew by 12% and digital NGR was up 16%.

 LFL NGR           Q3 2022/23  Q3 2022/23  Q3 YTD 2022/23  Q3 YTD 2022/23

                   £m          % change    £m              % change
 Grosvenor venues  77.9        15%         231.3           1%
 Mecca venues      34.8        9%          100.3           6%
 Enracha venues    9.2         8%          26.9            19%
 Digital           52.5        16%         153.3           11%
 Group             174.4       13%         511.8           6%

 

Grosvenor venues grew LFL NGR by 15% driven by growth in visitor numbers, with
improved performance across London and the Rest of UK.   Average weekly NGR
in the quarter was £6.1m, up 15% on the comparable period and up 2% on Q2
2022/23 which benefited from strong Christmas trading.

Mecca venues LFL NGR grew by 9% in the quarter, driven by a 4% increase in
customer visits and a 5% increase in spend per visit. Average weekly NGR in
the quarter was £2.7m, up 9% on the comparable period and up 10% on Q2
2022/23.

Digital NGR grew by 16% in the quarter with strong growth across both the UK
(+15%) and Spanish businesses (+19%). In the UK, both Grosvenor and Mecca
performed strongly in the quarter with NGR up 23% and 15% respectively. Rank's
other UK digital brands were up 7% in the quarter.

Outlook

As highlighted in previous years, the start of Q4 is traditionally a quieter
period for our Grosvenor venues. However, due to the improved performance seen
in Q3, the Board now expects the Group's underlying LFL operating profit for
the full year to 30 June 2023 to be at the upper end or slightly ahead of the
previously guided range of between £10m and £20m.

 

 

John O'Reilly, Chief Executive, said:

"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. 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. The
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."

Forthcoming announcements

Rank will announce its preliminary results for the 12 months ending 30 June
2023 on 17 August 2023.

Ends

 Contacts:
 Rank
 Sarah Powell - investor relations  Tel: +44 1628 504 303

 Media Enquiries:
 Edward Bridges                     Tel: +44 20 3727 1067
 Alex Beagley                       Tel: +44 20 3727 1045

 

 

Notes to editors:

1.     Net Gaming Revenue represents Gross Gaming Revenue after customer
incentives.

2.     Like-for-like excludes the effects of club closures, club
re-openings and FX.

3.     All comparisons are with the same period in 2021/22.

4.     Q3 is the period 1 January to 31 March.

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