Rank Group lifted as Mecca reopens

The price of shares in FTSE 250 gambling firm Rank Group (LON:RNK) increased by 1.97% to 147.86% (as of 11:05 BST) after the company announced that its Mecca chain of bingo halls would start to reopen from tomorrow. Social distancing measures will be in place and cleaning schedules will be intensified. Underlying operating profits for the year are now expected to be towards the lower end of prior guidance, but management believe that they will return to cashflow positivity once the Mecca and Grosvenor chains are reopened.

CEO John O’Reilly commented: “I am pleased that we will be able to start welcoming our loyal Mecca customers back into their clubs on Saturday and we are all looking forward to doing what we do best. As ever, the health, safety and wellbeing of all our customers and colleagues remains front and centre of everything that we do, and we have created safe environments for our customers to come and enjoy themselves once again.Our Grosvenor venues are also ready to safely open and we are working hard to ensure we receive the support of Government to reopen our casinos soon. Our colleagues are very keen to get back to work to pick up the progress we had been making prior to lockdown“.