Here’s on appeal case we’ll all be hoping gets thrown out for the good of the industry. In a statement the Rank Group has said the HMRC will appeal against the VAT and Duties Tribunal ruling that would give the company a £36 million VAT rebate. It’s not expected the appeal will be held until […]
Tag: Rank
Big News Roundup – Closures, SkyBingo, Gala TV, Rank And Callers Competition
With the Online Bingo Summit this week, and the run-up to it previously, I’ve let lots of little stories slide under the radar and go unmentioned. So, to right that wrong, here’s a bit of a headline blast for you. First up I wanted to flag a couple of Bingo hall closures, which as you […]
Rank Sees Improved Revenues And No More Closures
An interim trading report from Rank has some good news for the company’s future. It’s showing improved trading figures. According to the report, trading was down on the same period as last year (prior to the introduction of the smoking ban) as was expected. On like-for-like sales there was a drop of 14%, admissions down […]
Mecca Bingo Profits Down 8%
The Financial Times have a piece on the Rank Groups profits for last year, that sees the trend of losses continue. Rank chief executive Ian Burke mentions that 2008 will be a “challenging year” for business. As a part of their plan, the group has sold their pension plan to Goldman Sachs, which will free […]
Ladbrokes Out Of Rank Running
I just spotted news from the FT that Ladbrokes have decided against moving into the casino market in the UK, and will not be bidding on any of the 16 licenses for casinos that have come out of the failed super casino plan of the UK government. You might be wondering what this has to […]
Rank, Parlay And Virtue Fusion Takeover News
Well, lots of news the last week around the industry about potential takeovers. Firstly, the FT reports that the Rank Group have another party interested in them, the latest of recent months to declare a major interest in buying the UK group behind the Mecca Bingo chain. The Asia based Guoco currently only have a […]
Duke Chasing Rank
There’s been more movement in the chase for Mecca the last couple of weeks that I’ve yet to catch up with. Just before Christmas, the private equity group Duke Street Capital made an offer to buy Rank. Speculation about a take over at Rank continues, and Duke Street Capital join the list of parties associated […]
Rank Scraps Share Dividend
As I mentioned earlier, Rank issued a trading report today that has seen their recent problems continue. Sales and admissions are down, and the near future is described as “challenging.” Share prices dropped slightly, but given the speculation that continues about a take over of the company, the drop was comparatively small given the bad […]
UK Property Developer Gets Share Of Rank
More shares news from Rank, over the weekend it was reported that Richardsons Capital had built up a 9.3% stake in the company. The UK company specialise in property development and has traded in the CFDs rather than actual shares. The FT reports that the company director Lee Richardson considers the company grossly undervalued. A […]
Malaysian Group Get 10% Share In Rank
News and speculation around Rank continues to grow as the Times reports on a secretive share buy out by the Malaysian group Genting. Genting already have a stake in a number of UK leisure businesses, and their 10% stake in Rank is considered to put them in a place to defend against a take over […]
