Rank Group's profits down 14% |
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Sat, 04 Mar 2006 07:45
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LONDON: Leisure company Rank Group Plc. said it had a 14 per cent drop in 2005 full year profit but maintained it will spend 200 million pounds in buying back shares.
The company made an adjusted pretax profit of 85.4 million pounds on revenue of 810 million pounds, up 2.9 per cent.
Rank Group, which owns Mecca bingo halls, Grosvenor Casinos and Hard Rock cafes among other entities, said it could not find a buyer for its loss-making Deluxe Media division, which makes DVDs and CDs. It may now break up the unit and sell assets separately.
The company's chief executive Mike Smith said revenue from the gaming division had not been sufficient to offset the combination of operating cost increases and Blue Square's lower (betting) win margins. But, Hard Rock had higher revenues and profits with increased contribution from its hotels and gaming interests and the company-owned cafes, he added.
The company's operating profit from gaming fell 10 per cent to 106 million pounds, while Hard Rock increased operating profit by a quarter to 35 million pounds. At Blue Square, online poker and casino exceeded sports betting, but it was hit by unfavourable sporting results and reported a loss of 1.7 million pounds. Membership of casinos increased 46 per cent to nearly 455,000.
Deluxe Media made an underlying operating loss of 16 million pounds, with exceptional charges of 137 million.
Rank Group said it is rebasing its dividend following the 420-million-pound sale of its Deluxe Film division in January. The final dividend is set at 10.3 pence, totalling 15.3 pence a share.
The company's shares fell 3.1 per cent to 238-3/4 pence, valuing it at just under 1.5 billion pounds.
Chief executive Smith is leaving the company and is being replaced by Ian Burke, former head of Holmes Place gym chain.
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Leisure firm Rank Group is selling its Delux Film and Media unit 