Rank Share Discussion Threads

[guidfarr] 14/12/2009 17:21

after all the recent stream of good news I'm starting to wonder how this stock moves...it has always been a frustrating stock for me

[grizzly bare] 12/12/2009 04:34

Cheers Logan that clears that one up.

Still inching towards green.This downtrend channel has now been intact for 2 months.


free stock charts from www.advfn.com


Grizzly xx

[loganair] 11/12/2009 17:13

Grizzly Bare - It is definately the highest price paid in the last 12 months.

In todays Times

"SMS made a 3.7p bid for Mama, but was forced to raise the offer to 4.75p two days later after being wrapped over the knuckles by the Takeover Panel who pointed out that that it had bought shares at the higher figure within the previous 12 months.

[grizzly bare] 11/12/2009 10:37

"HMRC warned, however, that the appeal against the High Court decision would continue. The hearing will take place in April next year, and HMRC warned that if successful, it would mean that any repayments made as a result of the earlier ruling would need to be repaid with interest."

....of course it's going to continue. Politic. Puts it off until after the election and then the Conservatives have the problem
.

Grizzly xx

[guidfarr] 11/12/2009 10:21

Bingo Boosted (Again) As HMRC Gives Way On VAT
11 Dec, 2009 / GamblingCompliance Ltd. / Scott Longley
The UK's bingo industry received its second boost within the space of 48 hours after Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) announced that it now accepted that all games of bingo should be VAT free.
The move follows the judgment in favour of bingo hall operator Rank in the High Court in the summer, which upheld the findings of a VAT tribunal that ruled that the tax authorities had incorrectly levied VAT on games of interval bingo.

That decision – which concluded that the authorities had breached EU rules on fiscal neutrality - cost HMRC £59.1m. A further claim for £26m related to the taxation of slot machines is pending a decision from the VAT tribunal, but accountancy firm Deloitte has estimated the decision could cost the government up to £500m should the rest of the leisure industry follow Rank's lead.

Rank has submitted a claim for VAT overpaid on main stage bingo for periods from July 2004. If successful, Rank estimates that the net cash benefit arising from this claim will be approximately £16m (before interest).

The news today will also spell good news for the debt-beleaguered Gala Coral, which is also pursuing a claim with relation to VAT paid on main stage bingo games.

The HMRC announcement came a day after the government accounted in the Pre-Budget Report (PBR) that it was cutting the rate of duty on bingo to 20 percent from 22 percent after a period of intense lobbying by the industry.

A Rank spokesperson said the move on bingo VAT "seems to be a sensible move". A spokesperson for Gala Coral said it could not comment on the news due to the ongoing nature of its case.

Tony McClenaghan, senior indirect tax partner at Deloitte, said the news was "very positive". "We believe that this is the right approach for an industry that has suffered in the last few years with an increasing burden in taxation. The strong decision of the High Court that we obtained in the Rank case successfully underpins the reason for the announcement today – endorsing an important principle of Community laws, namely fiscal neutrality, which requires all forms of bingo to be treated in an equal way for tax purposes."

In a statement, HMRC said that since the High Court judgment it had received representations that suggested the ruling applies more widely to other forms of bingo. It added: "Having considered this carefully, HMRC accepts that the judgment has a wider application to other forms of bingo participation games."

HMRC warned, however, that the appeal against the High Court decision would continue. The hearing will take place in April next year, and HMRC warned that if successful, it would mean that any repayments made as a result of the earlier ruling would need to be repaid with interest.

[loganair] 11/12/2009 09:33

Another £16m (Before Interest) could be coming Ranks Way. There may well be a couple of £Million of Interest due to Rank as well.

That currently makes a total in the region of £80m plus due to Rank from HMRC in over paid VAT. IMO this is what Guoco is waiting for, the claims for overpaid VAT is finally sorted out in Ranks favour before making their take over bid.

RNS Number : 9582D
Rank Group PLC
11 December 2009

Rank Group announcement on main stage bingo VAT claim

The Rank Group Plc ('Rank') notes the recent guidance received from Her
Majesty's Revenue & Customs ('HMRC') regarding claims for VAT overpaid on games of bingo. HMRC's 'Revenue & Customs Brief 75/09' states that VAT claims on main stage bingo will be treated in the same way as similar claims relating to interval bingo.


Rank has submitted a claim for VAT overpaid on main stage bingo for periods from July 2004. If successful, Rank estimates that the net cash benefit arising from this claim will be approximately GBP16m (before interest).


In 2008, the VAT & Duties Tribunal ruled that the application of VAT to revenue from games of interval bingo contravened the European Union principle of fiscal neutrality. In June 2009 this ruling was upheld by the High Court. HMRC continues to appeal the ruling and its appeal will be heard by the Court of Appeal in April 2010.

[guidfarr] 10/12/2009 18:21

UK Bingo Gets Tax Cut – But Calls For More

10 Dec, 2009 / GamblingCompliance Ltd. / Scott Longley

The UK's bingo industry pledged to continue the fight to persuade the government to reduce bingo tax still further after the chancellor announced during the pre-budget report (PBR) that it would cut the rate of bingo duty to 20 percent.
The government said yesterday the move had been taken after "new evidence" had been provided by the bingo industry regarding the taxation on bingo clubs.

Back in October a report commissioned by the Bingo Association from accountancy firm Ernst & Young (E&Y) suggested the government had got its sums wrong when it raised bingo duty to 22 percent from 15 percent, saying that a rate of 18 percent would have raised the cash that the government stated at the time it was hoping to gather.

Ian Burke, chief executive at Rank said the climbdown from the 22 percent rate of duty announced with the budget back in April was a "step in the right direction". But he continued to question why bingo would still find itself being taxed at a higher rate of duty than comparable activities.

"It is still not clear why Britain's bingo clubs should be subject to a higher tax rate than that applied to other forms of gaming and betting."

His sentiments were echoed by Paul Talboys, the chief executive of the Bingo Association, who said the decrease was a "positive step" but complained that the move wouldn't be introduced until next April when the next budget is due.

"We are pleased that Treasury has listened and digested the actual 'facts' of bingo tax and revised the GPT rate. However, the reasons for its delayed implementation until the next budget are not apparent and will mean that the much needed benefit, particularly for smaller independent clubs, will not be felt until April 2010. I only hope that they can all make it."

Stephen Hignett, tax partner at Olswang, said the news that the announcement of the date for when the reduction would take place would have to wait until April was "very disappointing". He added; "So the chancellor's headline-grabbing comment (which got one of the biggest cheers from the Commons) will give no immediate relief for the struggling bingo industry."

Also in the PBR, the chancellor Alistair Darling made mention of the possible move towards a gross profits tax regime for gaming machines, saying that the government was reviewing the responses received during the recent consultation and would "continue to engage with the gaming machine industry" before any decisions are taken.

Rank is behind Mecca Bingo, the second-biggest bingo hall operator in the country with 103 properties, and the company said the move would result in a £2.5m full-year benefit to operating profit.

Anbreen Khan, a director at accountancy firm Deloitte's indirect tax practice said the move to 20 percent would translate into significant yearly savings for each bingo club.

"Although, the cut is only 2 percentage points – it shows that the government is paying heed to a strong campaign from the industry against shouldering a significant burden of taxation," she added.

James Hollins, analyst at Daniel Stewart, pointed out that this was the "first time in recent memory" than Rank has seen a direct benefit come from the UK government's PBR.

The bingo industry has been conducting a heavy lobbying campaign against the 22 percent rate of tax, questioning why a 'soft gaming' industry was seemingly being singled out when harder forms such as betting were taxed at 15 percent of gross profits.

The Ernst & Young report was preceded in the summer by an industry-organised demonstration outside parliament that attracted speakers from across the political spectrum who stood up to defend the industry.

The Bingo Association said in October that 23 bingo clubs had closed in the year to date, making a total of 117 since 2006 when the smoking ban was first introduced in England and Wales. It said that admission in 2008 fell over 16 percent in England and Wales and over 8.5 percent in Scotland.

[grizzly bare] 10/12/2009 17:06

Guid - the European Directive on Takeover Bids came out in 2004 and had to be implemented by member countries by 2006 I believe. It said the period had to be between 6 months and 12 months, but I dont know what the UK decided.

Living out here in the middle of the rice fields of Thailand I have lost touch with such things I'm afraid.

But whether it be 6 months or 12 months, if you look at the graph, it would certainly be well under 100p that they have paid.

Grizzly xx

[loganair] 10/12/2009 14:31

guidfarr - I thought it was the highest price Guoco paid over 12 months. If the question is what is the lowest price Guoco can make its bid at.

[grizzly bare] 09/12/2009 16:48

Well better than nothing.

Inching towards that green line.



Grizzly xx

[guidfarr] 09/12/2009 16:25

a bit of good news finally!

Rank welcomes reduction in bingo duty

09 December 2009 @ 03:15 pm BST
Next Markets Article

The Rank Group has welcomed the cut in bingo duty from 22% of revenue to 20% in the Pre-Budget Report today (9 December).

The change, which takes effect at the time of the Government's 2010 Budget statement, will result in an estimated 2.5m full-year benefit to operating profit for the group's Mecca Bingo business.

Mecca Bingo operates 103 licensed bingo clubs across Great Britain.

Group chief executive Ian Burke said: "Today's announcement is a step in the right direction.

"However, it is still not clear why Britain's bingo clubs should be subject to a higher tax rate than that applied to other forms of gaming and betting."

Story provided by Business Financial Newswire

[grizzly bare] 08/12/2009 06:20

RNS Number : 7184D
Rank Group PLC
07 December 2009
The Rank Group Plc

- Notification of Major Interest in Shares

BlackRock, Inc.

On 7 December 2009, The Rank Group Plc ("Rank") received notification, under the obligations imposed by DTR5 of the FSA's Disclosure & Transparency Rules, from BlackRock, Inc. ("BlackRock") that, as at 1 December 2009, BlackRock had a notifiable interest in the voting rights attached to 20,700,114 ordinary 138/9p shares representing 5.30% of the total voting rights in Rank made up as as follows:


Indirect voting rights attached to shares
- 15,465,421 representing 3.96% of the total voting rights in Rank


Nominal voting rights arising from contracts for difference
- 5,234,693 representing 1.34% of the total voting rights in Rank


Notes


BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited effectively holds the voting rights
that are the subject of this notification.


On 1 December 2009, the business of Barclays Global Investors ("BGI") was
acquired by BlackRock. The combined holdings of BlackRock and BGI in Rank
following the acquisition triggered this disclosure requirement.

[grizzly bare] 05/12/2009 03:07

Well this looks like the boundaries of the downtrend channel. A breakout through the green line would be very possitive but it may head back towards magenta if the downtrend channel continues.


free stock charts from www.advfn.com


Grizzly xx

[guidfarr] 04/12/2009 15:00

blue and strong for once which is how it should be!

[grizzly bare] 02/12/2009 04:59

With regard to the recent downtrend the magenta line seems confirmed as bottom support.

Upper resistance has been produced by both the pale blue line and the green line.

Will be intersting to see how this develops.





Grizzly xx

[guidfarr] 29/11/2009 20:14

lol only I consider Branson nothing more than an opportunist hawker - if i'm not mistaken once he even tried bidding for northern rock...

[grizzly bare] 29/11/2009 08:51

I think he'd probably call it "Virgin G Spot"

Grizzly xx

[scrapman] 27/11/2009 16:08

I wonder if Virgin Group have ever looked at Rank ,

I know they have online sites , just imagine what Branson could do with the casino brand ,

" VIRGIN G "

[grizzly bare] 27/11/2009 15:39

The G casino format certainly seems to be producing good results for Rank.

Grizzly xx

[guidfarr] 27/11/2009 15:16

Rank unveils new G Casino

* 27th November 2009
By Simon Liddle
* Print this page
* Email this page

The Rank Group is to officially open its new £5m G Casino in Sheffield, UK, on December 9, replacing the city's Grosvenor Casino.

The 23,500sq.ft casino, which features 10 gaming tables, 33 electronic gaming terminals and 24 jackpot slot machines, is expected to create up to 50 new jobs for the local area.

"We're delighted to launch the UK's10th G Casino in Sheffield and look forward to introducing a new leisure venue to the city," said Ian Turver, general manager of the new casino. "The G brand is all about giving people a great alternative for a night out and the new Sheffield casino does just that. It differs from the Grosvenor Casino in that we'll be putting as much emphasis on the non-gaming activities such as the live entertainment and the restaurant as we will the gaming. This means the new venue will appeal to many different types of people, whether they've been to a casino before or not."

[grizzly bare] 27/11/2009 03:16

Well 76.75p close. So came back a bit in a very bad Dubai day for the market.

Obama/Goldman Sachs ......longtime bedmates I'm afraid. Supported him politically and financially from the beginning and helped put him where he is.

Grizzly xx

[bleepy] 26/11/2009 14:37

The Obama/ Goldman Sachs Small Business Scam?