Rank to lose £10m a month during lockdown

The Rank Group has estimated that it will lose £10m a month during the enforced lockdown, with measures introduced by the UK government saving the company £7m per month.

The parent company of Grosvenor Casino stated in a grading update that all but 600 of its 7,600 staff have been furloughed to save the business £8m a month, with a further £1m a month retained due to the business rates holiday.

In assuming that all the group’s venues will stay shut until June 30, underlying profit is expected to hit between £48m and £58m, with no dividend recommended to shareholders. In the opening quarter of 2020, Rank stated that like-for-like revenues were down by four per cent.

Rank also stated that it had requested a repayment from HMRC of £25.2m relating to VAT paid on slot machine revenue between 2002 and 2005, to help liquidity. A tribunal claim has ruled in favour of Rank, though an appeal is possible.

The group has also reached agreement with HMRC to defer £40m in tax and duty, scheduled to be paid in April, until June 30, 2020.
As of March 31, 2020, Rank’s available cash and facilities stood at £166m.

In response to the government’s call for contributions to the national effort, Rank stated: “The Rank Group’s board and our colleagues are conscious of the need to contribute to the wider societal effort at this time of national crisis. Our customers know that our venues are community hubs and far more than just places to gamble, and our non-furloughed colleagues have stepped up to ensure we are able to use our venues, wherever and however possible within government guidelines, to support key workers and vulnerable people in our communities.

“We have launched a new charity initiative in collaboration with Blue Light Card, the UK’s number one discount service for the NHS, Emergency Services, Social Care workers and Armed Forces. Rank colleagues are providing free meals to these key workers from some of our UK venues’ kitchens. We are also collaborating with a number of MPs and local councils to ensure whatever capacity we have in our kitchens is maximised to provide vulnerable people, including the homeless and elderly, with hot meals, cooked in Rank venues and distributed by our teams. Our colleagues are also calling our regular Mecca customers to check in on their wellbeing.

“We are acutely aware of the need for heightened vigilance in identifying any signs of gambling-related harm in our digital business, and have redoubled our safer gambling efforts, incorporating the Betting & Gaming Council’s ’10 pledge action plan’ and bolstering resource in our safer gambling teams.”