The Rank Group Plc, parent company of Grosvenor Casinos, is losing £10 million/$12 million-month-but its online assets will help it through the coronavirus crisis.
The Rank Group, parent company of Grosvenor, has furloughed 7,000 employees but CEO John O’Reilly is confident it will survive. (Image: Rank Group Plc)
That figure is down from the previously reported £17 million/$20 million in monthly losses thanks, in part, to aid from the government.
Tapping into the UK’s financial rescue package, Rank will save $9.7 million by furloughing 7,000 members of staff. Government subsidies will ensure those granted a leave of absence will have 80 percent of the wages covered.
Rank Group Trading on Digital Upswing
The poker and gaming operator has also been given a business rates holiday worth $1.2 million. In tandem with financial support, Rank’s April 20 report points to a spike in digital gaming revenue.
With Grosvenor casinos and Mecca bingo halls shut, online activity has increased by 21 percent year-on-year in Q3. The majority of revenue has come from Rank’s online poker and casino platforms.
Poker players will have already seen evidence of this prior to the trading update. With the GUKPT made into an online affair, tournament activity on Grosvenor Poker has surged since mid-March. This surge has directly contributed to Rank’s digital growth during the opening quarter of 2020.
According to corporate broker for the Rank Group, Peel Hunt, online activity and government aid will keep the company afloat during testing times.
“Rank is positioned to trade through the aftermath of Covid-19 on a cash positive basis even on our assumption of revenue falling 50 percent,” analysts for Peel Hunt said in a press release.
CEO of Rank, John O’Reilly, doubled down on this assessment, saying that the company has a “robust financial position.”
Online Assets Reflect Strength of Gaming
As an operator with online and offline assets, the Rank Group was always likely to survive the coronavirus lockdowns. That’s not a unique position. All major operators have interests in both sectors.
However, for any that don’t, the current situation may speed up a move towards becoming a multi-channel operator. Indeed, the industry’s current state of relative health is due, in part, to its adoption of new technology.
Instead of rejecting the internet in the early noughties, operators welcomed it. That’s not only allowed the industry to thrive in the modern day but survive during unprecedent times.
Like its peers, the Rank Group won’t come through the coronavirus crisis unscathed. However, its CEO is confident the company will pick up where it left off when it’s safe to do so.
source https://casinonewsblogger.com/rank-group-furloughs-7000-employees-but-ceo-remains-confident/
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