Rank sees FY operating profit of at least £68m as Q3 NGR jumps

(Sharecast News) - Gambling operator Rank on Wednesday forecast a higher-than-expected full year operating profit of at least £68m after a 5% jump in third-quarter net gaming revenue.

The owner of Mecca bingo and Grosvenor casinos said NGR for the three months to March came in at £205.4m, with year-to-date NGR up 6% year on year. Analysts were expecting annual operating profits of around £65m.

Rank added that the forecast took account of energy cost volatility which, based on current market prices and reflecting the group's hedging policy, was not expected to have a material impact on profitability in 2025/26 or 2026/27.

Growth was also expected in the fourth quarter at Grosvenor venues despite the Iran war creating uncertainty around international travel for wealthy punters from the Middle East, the company added.

Digital like-for-like NGR grew 4% with the UK business growing 2%. Rank said it had taken measures to mitigate the impact of the increase in the governments remote gaming duty to 40%, effective from April 1, including job cuts to protect marketing spend and customer incentives.

"Having implemented the actions required to mitigate much of the impact of higher RGD in our UK digital business, and with clear plans in place to drive sustainable revenue growth, the group is well placed to deliver the medium-term objective of generating at least £100m operating profit," said interim chief executive Richard Harris.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com

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