Rank returns to profit after 89.5% revenue boost in H1

Rank’s Grosvenor venues brought in the most revenue, at £161.6m. This is up by 275% year-on year. The digital division brought in £92.1m for the first two quarters, up by 7.2% year-on-year. Its Mecca Bingo venues contributed £65.7, a rise of 70.1%, while the Enracha venues brought in £14.1m, a rise of 66.5% from the year prior.

“Our venues performed well following the reopening in May 2020, with revenues rising until the second half of Q2 when growing Covid-19 case numbers, the emergence of the Omicron variant and the resultant return of restrictions on consumers softened demand,” said John O’Reilly, CEO of Rank.

“Our digital business performed strongly in the half and is now much better positioned to continue to deliver on our digital ambitions.”

Rank added £200,000 to the total to adjust for the impact of venue closures and foreign currency changes, leaving the underlying net gaming revenue at £333.7m.

Cost of sales came to £198.4m, a further £63.1m year-on-year. This left gross profit at £135.3m, up 217.6%. Other operating costs at £123.2m, combined with other operating income at £90.9, brought the overall operating profit to £103.0m for H1, up £155.9m year-on-year.

A combination of finance costs, other financial gains and losses and total net financing income brought profit before taxation to £102.1m, up £161.5m.

Following taxation at £20.6m, the overall profit for the period totalled at £81.5m, up £131.1m year-on-year.

“While the trading environment continues to be challenging and cost headwinds are applying additional pressure on the hospitality sector, we have proven that with no restrictions, our trading rebounds quickly,” continued O’Reilly.

“There remains some uncertainty as to how Covid-19 will impact our businesses over the coming months, but we are accelerating our transformation investments and are competitively very well placed to benefit as consumers emerge from the pandemic.”