14th Aug 2014 07:40
LONDON (Alliance News) - The Rank Group PLC Thursday raised its dividend by 10% after posting strong revenue growth in its last financial year, boosted by casino acquisitions, although its profit was hit higher exceptional costs.
The casino and bingo venue owner reported a pretax profit of GBP17.4 million for the financial year ended June 30, down from a profit of GBP28.9 million a year earlier, after the group booked GBP35.4 million in exceptional costs, compared with GBP19.2 million the prior year.
Group revenue - which is revenue before adjusting for free bets, promotions and customer bonuses - rose 13% to GBP707.7 million from GBP625.0 million a year earlier, boosted by newly-acquired casinos, although it said it saw some weakness in customer visits and spend in London.
Statutory revenue on the other hand rose 14% to GBP678.5 million from GBP596.2 million.
The group raised its dividend by 10% to 4.10 pence per share, and said it is well positioned for future growth, helped by the upcoming cut in UK bingo duty and major capital investment programmes in its Nottingham, Bournemouth and Luton casinos. It said it will also get the full-year benefits from its GBP8.9 million investment into new products in its acquired casinos.
"Performance improved in the second half of the year following a challenging first six months... In the short term the introduction of a digital point of consumption tax will impact performance but our strong brands and market leading positions ensure that the group is well placed and provides long-term opportunities," said Chief Executive Henry Birch in a statement.
In March, the UK government said bingo duty will be cut to 10% next year, down from 20%, to support bingo and encourage investment.
Rank said its financial position remains strong, and trading so far in its new financial year has been in line with market view.
"Since the beginning of July performance has been in line with management's expectations and ahead of last year. While such a short trading period can be distorted by external factors, we are satisfied with the underlying trends," it said.
Rank shares were down 0.1% in early trading Thursday, at 169.90 pence per share, recovering opening losses.
By Rowena Harris-Doughty; [email protected]; @rharrisdoughty
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