Rank Group Plc Regulatory News (RNK)

15 October 2015

The Rank Group Plc ("Rank" or the "Group")

Interim management statement for the 15 weeks to 11 October 2015

(all comparisons are with the equivalent periods in 2014)

Today Rank announces a 8% increase in like-for-like revenues for the 15-week period to 11 October 2015. Total revenues increased by 7%.

* Figures not adjusted for free bets, promotions and customer bonuses.

** Like-for-like excludes the effects of clubs openings, closures and relocations.

*** Includes contribution from Enracha

Henry Birch, chief executive of The Rank Group Plc, commented:

"The Group has had a good start to the financial year. We are seeing a continued strong performance from our Grosvenor Casinos brand, particularly in its digital channel and London casinos, as well as an improving admissions trend in our Mecca venues combined with good growth in Mecca's digital business."

"We continue to work on our five strategic priorities, particularly the development of our new digital platform which is on track to be launched in calendar Q1 2016 and we will provide a more detailed update at our forthcoming interim results in January 2016."

Grosvenor Casinos

Venues revenue growth has been driven by a combination of increased admissions, staking levels and an improved win margin.

London has seen strong growth in revenue, up 19% compared to 6% in the provinces. VIP activity in London has helped drive a strong win margin in the period, up by over two percentage points on last year's equivalent win margin. We are pleased to see good growth in our provincial clubs, with increased staking levels and good slots growth driving a 6% increase in revenue.

Grosvenor digital revenues increased 56% in the period driven by improvements in VIP management, continued growth in our customer base following cross-sell from our venues and strong growth from our mobile products.

Mecca

Venues like-for-like revenue grew by 2% with an increase in spend per visit offset by a reduction in customer visits, although the rate of decline in admissions has continued to slow (1% versus the 3% seen for the whole of 2014/15). Total revenues fell by 2% following the closure of a number of clubs in the last 12 months.

Digital revenues in the 15-week period rose by 10%, with mobile accounting for over 50% of revenue in recent months.

Outlook

The Board is encouraged that all of the Group's businesses continue to make progress in line with management's expectations and it remains confident in the Group's prospects for the year.

Ends

Conference Call

A conference call for investors and analysts will be held at 8.00am (London time) on Thursday, 15 October 2015. Dial in information follows below:

UK (free call): 0800 694 5707

USA (free call): 1 646 741 2120

International: +44 (0)1452 541 003

Passcode: 54482347

A replay of the conference call will be available from the Rank Group's website (www.rank.com).

Contacts:

Media enquiries:

Notes to editors: 

1. About The Rank Group Plc 

The Rank Group Plc is a leading European gaming and betting business, based in the UK and listed on the London Stock Exchange (RNK.L). Its principal activities are the operation of casinos and bingo clubs with complementary digital gaming.

Rank's operations comprise:

· Grosvenor Casinos - 56 casinos in Great Britain; two casinos in Belgium; online and mobile offering via grosvenorcasinos.com

· Mecca - 88 bingo clubs in Great Britain; online and mobile offering via meccabingo.com

· Enracha - 9 bingo clubs in Spain; online offering via enracha.es

2. Enracha

Enracha's contribution has been included within the Total Group numbers provided. Due to Enracha's small contribution to the Group it has not been analysed out further.

For more information about The Rank Group Plc, visit www.rank.com.