LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Gambling company Rank Group said on Thursday that it expects underlying LFL operating profit for the year to the end of June to be at the upper end or slightly ahead of the previously guided range following an improved performance in the third quarter.
The company, which owns the Grosvenor casinos and Mecca venues, had previously guided to profit of between £10m and £20m.

In an update for the quarter to the end of March, Rank said group like-for-like net gaming revenue (NGR) rose 13% to £174.4m. On a channel basis, venues LFL NGR grew by 12% and digital NGR was 16% higher.

Grosvenor venues saw LFL NGR rise by 15%, driven by growth in visitor numbers, with improved performance across London and the rest of the UK. Meanwhile, Mecca venues LFL NGR grew by 9% in the quarter, driven by a 4% increase in customer visits and a 5% increase in spend per visit.

Chief executive John O'Reilly said: "We are pleased that the momentum we saw at the start of the second half of our financial year has continued with positive NGR growth across all our businesses.

"Despite the challenging macroeconomic environment, the investments we have been making to improve the customer experience in our venues have helped drive the improved performance across both Grosvenor and Mecca. The digital business is benefitting from the build out of enhancements to the customer experience on our proprietary technology and we have a strong pipeline of developments to continue to grow market share into the future."

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