Rank Group Announce Profits Warning to be Half Forecasted

The Rank Group who own Grosvenor Casinos and Mecca Bingo have issued a profits warning of nearly half the forecast profits.

For the five months to 30 November the company reported flat revenues compared to the same period last year with cost of living and the World Cup impacting severely on revenues.

In the announcement the company said a return to growth will take longer than anticipated with the current challenging economy, news on the profits warning saw a fall of shares by 8% on already weakening shares for Rank.

John O’Reilly, chief executive of Rank, said: “Weak consumer confidence and pressure on disposable income is resulting in a tougher than expected trading environment for our UK venues businesses, particularly in Grosvenor where we are seeing customers spending less per visit.

“Whilst we expect these challenges to continue to impact our recovery into the second half of the financial year, we have implemented a series of measures to deliver incremental cost savings and to drive revenues.”

With the announcement the company now forecasts like-for-like underlying operating profits between £10 million to £20 million for their financial year ending 30 June, Rank had expected profits around £40 million originally.