The Rank Group announced Thursday its preliminary results for the 12 months ended 30 June 2020.
According to the company, its strong pre-COVID-19 results demonstrate the efficacy of its new strategy and the actions taken to address the coronavirus impact position Rank well for recovery.
"With positive momentum from the transformation program, Rank performed very strongly during the first part of the year and into the second half. Despite continued good growth in our digital brands, with our venues closed from mid-March, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Group has been significant. However, with the huge commitment and dedication of our colleagues, very tight cost control across the business and the support we have received from Government, we have carefully navigated the past few months and are now beginning to successfully emerge. We know the recovery will take time, but the underlying strength of our business provides us with confidence that we are well equipped to return to full strength," said John O’Reilly, Chief Executive of The Rank Group.
"We’ve been encouraged by the first few weeks of trading following reopening and whilst the supplyside constraints, including social distancing and changes to the way we operate table gaming, are going to be challenging over the coming months, the response from customers to the extensive safety measures we have in place has been very positive," he continued.
"The need to deliver on Rank’s long-standing promise to excite and to entertain our customers has never been more important. The post-lockdown expectations of customers who are looking for ways to safely enjoy their leisure time and spend will be higher than ever, and we are determined to ensure our brands are well-positioned to benefit from this shift. Our venues, in particular, are ultra-safe and invariably benefit from being large in size. This gives us extra opportunities to offer something special to our casino and bingo customers within a COVID-19 safe environment and we are looking forward to welcoming more of our customers back," John O’Reilly concluded.
Strong Performance pre-COVID-19
The Group entered lockdown with significant momentum to revenues and profits driven by its transformation strategy, a tightly controlled cost base and a strong balance sheet
For the eight-month (pre-COVID-19) period to 29 February 2020:
Successful actions taken during COVID-19 pandemic
Encouraging progress since venues were allowed to reopen in July and August
Other operational highlights