Rank Group shares decreased 2.3% to 85.9p in late morning trading on Thursday after the gaming company revised its underlying operating profit lower to £40 million in FY 2022 following poor performance across its Grosvenor venues.
The company reached an underlying operating profit of £40.4 million, in line with its downward revised guidance.
Rank Group swung to a pre-tax profit of £82.1 million against a loss of £92.9 million the last year, alongside a post-tax profit of £66.2 million compared to loss of £72 million as venues reopened after Covid-19.
Meanwhile, the entertainment firm reduced its net debt to £162.6 million from £256.7 million.
The company reported an EPS of 14.2p against a loss per share of 16.5p the last year.
“It was a challenging year for our UK venues businesses, with unexpectedly softer trading across the Grosvenor estate in the second half of the year. Our nine London casinos, which account for over 38% of Grosvenor’s revenue in normal trading conditions, have seen very weak customer volumes with overseas visitors few in number, and only starting to return in the final few weeks of the year. The lower than expected Grosvenor trading in H2 led us to reset full year operating profit expectations as announced in Q4,” said Rank Group CEO John O’Reilly.
“Whilst we have been seeing improvements in London in recent weeks, the trading environment across the UK is likely to remain difficult in the months ahead with inflationary pressures squeezing consumer discretionary expenditure and cost increases, particularly in energy prices, putting pressure on profit margins.”
“However, we are taking actions to drive further efficiencies in the venues businesses, and we are seeing strong revenue growth in properties which have recently benefitted from our accelerated capital investment programme.”
Rank Group did not recommend a dividend for FY 2022.
