Rank Share Discussion Threads

[grizzly bare] 11/8/2009 18:18

A sea of red ........and Rank is blue.

Grizzly xxo

[quidnunc] 10/8/2009 14:04

Recent activity in the pennant unresolved but overall, looking bright.
Q.

[scrapman] 07/8/2009 10:24

sorry to be negative Griz , but what an abosoloute bag of sh 1
t this share is.

I should have heeded my own comments and cleared out , next time 80p is breached (if !) I think I will wash my hands of the whole sorry lot

[grizzly bare] 05/8/2009 16:37

Logan - we are only assuming that Guoco have in place agreements to purchase Rank shares from third parties once the price reaches a certain level and if they have, we dont know the extent to which they have entered such agreements. We can guess, but we dont know.

From a charting point of view, if the shareprice is under the complete control of Goldmans, then they seem to be using a charting textbook to determine its course. Look at the following very clear 3 channels.


free stock charts from www.advfn.com

Whatever, it looks a lot more encouraging now than it has for a long time!


Grizzly xx

[loganair] 05/8/2009 16:13

Grizzly - "The longer Guoco leave it the more it's gonna cost them!"

I doubt it very much, as we already know that Guoco have already agreed a price with other major share holders in Rank.

For example:

Guoco + Genting + Pru + (what was) BT/Hermes + Barclays = 69% of Rank

+ Aviva + FIL = 76% of Rank

What ever happens the chances are the rest including us small PI's will also follow suit.


"The share price seems now to be in a new long term uptrend channel." - Again IMO the share price is under the complete control of Goldmans and therefore in Ranks case charting is of little importance.

[killieboy] 05/8/2009 13:25

Is anyone else getting fed up with Grizzly's charts or is it just me!?

[grizzly bare] 05/8/2009 08:35

Challenging green line April peaks, but providing some resistance.



free stock charts from www.advfn.com


Grizzly xx

[grizzly bare] 05/8/2009 08:33

Guid ..very encouraging article. G Casino certainly seems to be a winner.

The longer Guoco leave it the more it's gonna cost them!

For a perfect world we need ....

..... the economy truly to have bottomed.

..... to ultimately win the VAT battle.

... to see Bingo taxed the same as other forms of gambling (which ultimately must happen when this government goes)

..... reintroduction of dividend.

The share price seems now to be in a new long term uptrend channel.

Grizzly xx

[guidfarr] 04/8/2009 22:46

Rank Finds Winning Streak As UK Casinos Offer Hope
3 Aug, 2009 / GamblingCompliance Ltd. / Scott Longley

Rank's chief executive said he believed his management team's persistence and optimism had at last been rewarded after two years of regulatory and economic turmoil which, at times, had appeared ready to swamp the UK-focused bingo to casino group.

Boss Ian Burke was speaking after the company produced an unexpectedly strong set of first-half results that caused the share price to rise over 11 percent on the day to 77.75p and saw analysts immediately move to revise their forecasts.

Since 2007, the company has been hit by changes to tax and machines regulation to both its casino and bingo businesses, the implementation of a smoking ban in England and Wales, and the buffeting of the recession. However, in the six months to June, it achieved strong growth in its casino operations and a leveling off a decline at its bingo operations.

Said Burke: "We were always confident the business had a future, even during the darkest days of 2007. Morale is good. The people who work in the business are very optimistic about it."

Burke praised their performance as a good one "in light of the circumstances" of the worst recession to hit the UK since the 1980s. "Our customers are still going out," he added.

The only blot on the otherwise strong figures came with the performance of the firm's online division which includes Mecca Bingo online and their sportsbook Blue Square. The betting arm in particular saw revenues plunge 42.9 percent to £4.4m, compared to total online revenues that fell 7.8 percent to £24.9m.

Burke repeated his calls for the government to reconsider the measure introduced in the budget to raise taxation on bingo from 15 percent to 22 percent. His company has been at the forefront of the campaign being waged by the bingo industry, which has to date signed up over 100 Westminster MPs and has the official support of the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party. "I have been frustrated," said Burke, who recently met with opposition leader David Cameron. "Our customers are very angry."

In its figures, Rank's casino unit – including the new G Casino brand - saw total revenues rise 4.4 percent to £106.7m while operating profit rose 17.6 percent to £14.7m. At Mecca Bingo, revenue fell very slightly to £116.3m from £116.9m while operating profit fell 16.3 percent to £19m. Top rank Espana saw revenues rise to £18.1m from £17.7m, though the company said this was due to the strength of the euro against sterling.

The company said the success of its G Casino brand – which is expected to grow from seven sites at present to 20 by the end of 2012 – had demonstrated the firm's ability to reach out to non-traditional casino customers through improved food and drink and entertainment offerings and by making the environment more inclusive. It pointed out that average weekly customer visits at G Casinos were 45 percent higher than at its other regional properties.

Burke said the company hoped to translate the lessons learnt from the reinvigoration of G Casinos to its bingo halls where a new concept offering has recently opened in Nottingham. "We're applying customer insight to our different businesses," he said.

Burke added that the hope was that new concept bingo halls would help the company reverse the admissions number which continued to decline by 5.1 percent, despite spend per head rising 4.8 percent.

Investec's Matthew Gerard said declining admissions would prove to be the biggest challenge ahead for the new Mecca Bingo operation head Mark Jones, but added: "We expect a new focus on product, club and game format and marketing to yield more positive results from next year."

Gerard noted that Grosvenor Casinos had performed better than expected, and suggested there was more to come from the G Casino brand. "The early evidence suggests the G Casino developments planned for the next four years could generate a material uplift in profits for Grosvenor."

Vaughan Lewis at Morgan Stanley pointed out the company had benefited from strong cost control. He added that the firm had also reported lower than expected interest charges. "Net debt of £208m is already below the £215m level we expected at year end, although with capex continuing on new units, we do not expect a big surprise here."

[grizzly bare] 04/8/2009 16:33

Today's Daily Telegraph .....

Goldman Sachs upgraded Rank from neutral to buy, on the basis that first-half results beat consensus forecasts and trading remains solid.

Interesting that it should come from Goldman Sachs!

Grizzly xx

[grizzly bare] 03/8/2009 17:17

Too much too soon!

Big downward correction today.

Grizzly xx

[grizzly bare] 03/8/2009 08:41

Well we've broken through long term green line downtrend upper resistance.

We are attempting breakout through medium term blue line downtrend upper resistance.

Orange line uptrend upper resistance line maybe not so easily broken. If we reach or get near it there will be a bouncing off.

Too much too soon!



free stock charts from www.advfn.com



Grizzly xx

[grizzly bare] 01/8/2009 06:38

Nice to see the longterm green downtrend resistance broken at last.

Nice orange/magenta uptrend channel in place.




Grizzly xx

[loganair] 31/7/2009 17:40

I rather like this little snippet from the results:

"During the next week, we expect to receive payment of GBP6.8m from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs ('HMRC'), representing the interest due on the GBP59.1m VAT refund paid to the Group in November 2008."

Another £6.8m in to the coffers of Rank..... Getting better and better....

[scrapman] 31/7/2009 16:45

well , a few "O" trades making an appearance , and decent volumes ,

any chance that Guoco , have got their 1% ready for the next move ?? or yet another false dawn

[scrapman] 31/7/2009 11:00

what do we do now , all bail out ready for the retrace to 70p , or could this at last be the start of a run back ,

anyone heard when HMRC are supposed to state their appeal dates yet

[grizzly bare] 31/7/2009 08:15

How nice is it to see a positive reaction in the share price for a change to good news.

Up 7p to 77p as I type.

Let's hope we dont see it evaporate as the day goes on.

Grizzly xx

[quidnunc] 31/7/2009 08:01

Given the recession, thats quite respectable
Q.

[grizzly bare] 31/7/2009 07:51

Well the half year results are out.

Pretty good given the economy. Quite encouraging.

Half year earnings per share of 4.5p would equate to 9.0p per year notwithstanding the alterations to taxation in this years Budget.

On a P/E ratio of only 10 this would give a share price of 90p without any premium for a possible bid from Guoco or further VAT refunds.

So what will happen to the share price today I wonder?! wj

Grizzly xx

[quidnunc] 30/7/2009 16:56

a volte face? hmmmmm
Q.