Rank Group PLC Liquidity and Trading Update (2173W)
22 April 2021 - 4:00PM
UK Regulatory
TIDMRNK
RNS Number : 2173W
Rank Group PLC
22 April 2021
The Rank Group Plc
LEI: 213800TXKD6XZWOFTE12
22 April 2021
The Rank Group Plc (LSE: RNK) ('Rank' or 'the Group') provides a
liquidity and trading update for the quarter to 31 March 2021
Liquidity
The Group ended the quarter with total cash and available
facilities of GBP89.8m, comfortably achieving its minimum liquidity
covenant of GBP50.0m.
During the quarter the Group received a GBP13.4m duty refund
following the Supreme Court's decision in favour of another
taxpayer on the treatment of free gaming chips. The amount of
deferred rent has reduced to GBP13.9m from GBP17.3m at 31 December
2020.
Since the quarter end, the Group completed the sale of its
Blankenberge casino in Belgium and received the associated GBP25m
of cash sale proceeds, further bolstering cash reserves.
The Group expects to make its scheduled GBP19.7m term loan
amortisation payment on 31 May 2021. Based on HM Government's
current timetable for venues' reopening, the Group expects to
continue to meet its banking covenants.
Trading Update:
Like-for-like net gaming revenue ('NGR') was down 76% on the
prior year for the quarter ended 31 March 2021 ('Q3'), with Venues
revenue down 98% and Digital down 3%. Total NGR was down 72%.
During the quarter all UK venues were closed. In Spain, nine
Enracha venues were open and operating by the end of Q3 and
experiencing strong customer demand, albeit under very strict
capacity restrictions.
Digital delivered sequential quarterly NGR growth on Q2, LFL up
3% and total, including Stride, up 4%. Our focus remains on
continuing to grow Digital NGR and we expect a return to year on
year growth in Q1 2021/22.
In Q3, Grosvenor Digital NGR was down 2%, compared to Q2. Mecca
Digital continued to improve, with Q3 NGR up 4% on Q2. Stride NGR
was up 7% on Q2. Yo continued to accelerate, with NGR up 10% on
Q2.
John O'Reilly, CEO of Rank, commented:
"We have ended Q3 broadly where we expected to be and are now
very focused on the reopening of our UK venues from 17 May
alongside continuing to drive digital NGR growth. Our business has
inevitably been heavily impacted by the pandemic but, with the
strong support and dedication of our colleagues, we are now very
much looking forward to reopening our casino and bingo venues,
welcoming back our customers and providing the great entertainment
and omni-channel service in a COVID safe environment we know they
enjoy.
We continue to make good progress on the Transformation 2.0
plans which will drive the next phase of growth for the Group."
Rank expects to report Preliminary Results for the 12 months
ending 30 June 2021 on 19 August 2021.
Ends
Contacts:
Rank
Sarah Powell - investor relations Tel: +44 1628 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. Like-for-like excludes the effects of club openings,
closures, acquired businesses and foreign exchange.
2. All comparisons are with the same quarter in 2019/20.
3. Q3 is for the period 1 January to 31 March.
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