TIDMRNK

RNS Number : 8761J

Rank Group PLC

05 April 2018

5 April 2018

The Rank Group Plc

LEI: 213800TXKD6XZWOFTE12

Trading Statement

The Rank Group Plc (LSE: RNK) (Rank or the Group) announces the following trading update for the 40 weeks to 1 April 2018.

Rank today announces Group* like-for-like revenue for the 13 weeks to 1 April 2018 has declined by 2%. On a divisional basis, Mecca's venues revenue fell by 2%, Grosvenor's venues revenues fell by 9% and UK digital revenue grew by 17%.

 
                         Like-for-like      Like-for-like 
                       revenue for the    revenue for the 
                         13 weeks to 1      40 weeks to 1 
                            April 2018         April 2018 
 Mecca venues                     (2)%               (2)% 
                     -----------------  ----------------- 
 Grosvenor Casinos 
  venues                          (9)%               (3)% 
                     -----------------  ----------------- 
 UK digital                        17%                17% 
                     -----------------  ----------------- 
 Total Group*                     (2)%                 0% 
                     -----------------  -----------------

Rank's digital business continues to trade strongly. Following the Group's 2017/18 interim results statement, both UK venues businesses have been impacted by weaker than expected visits which have been compounded by two periods of cold weather. Grosvenor Casinos' underperformance has also been exacerbated by a negative contribution from its VIP players.

The Board is cautious about the UK consumer outlook and as a result expects the Group's UK venues to continue to be impacted for the remainder of the 2017/18 financial year and into 2018/19. As highlighted in Rank's recent interim results statement, a number of key operational actions have been identified and are being put into place to improve Grosvenor's performance over the medium to long term.

Taking all the above into consideration, management now expect the Group's full year operating profit to be in the range of GBP76m-GBP78m.

*including Enracha's performance

Forthcoming announcements

Rank will announce its preliminary results on 16 August 2018.

Ends

Market Abuse Regulation

The information contained within this announcement is deemed to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014. Upon the publication of this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain. The person responsible for arranging the release of this announcement on behalf of Rank is Clive Jennings, Group Finance Director.

 
 Contacts: 
 Rank 
 Sarah Powell - investor   Tel: +44 1628 
  relations                 504 303 
 Media Enquiries: 
 FTI Consulting LLP 
  (PR adviser to Rank) 
 Edward Bridges            Tel: +44 20 
                            3727 1067 
 Alex Beagley              Tel: +44 20 
                            3727 1045

Notes to editors:

   1.    Figures are not adjusted for customer incentives. 
   2.    Like-for-like excludes the effects of club openings, closures and relocations. 
   3.    All comparisons are with the same period in 2016/17.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END

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April 05, 2018 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)

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