{"id":86158,"date":"2018-08-17T15:00:12","date_gmt":"2018-08-17T22:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=86158"},"modified":"2018-08-17T13:50:59","modified_gmt":"2018-08-17T20:50:59","slug":"rank-groups-grosvenor-casinos-squeezed-by-aml-clamp-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rank-groups-grosvenor-casinos-squeezed-by-aml-clamp-down\/","title":{"rendered":"Rank Group\u2019s Grosvenor Casinos Squeezed by AML Clamp Down, Weird Weather, and Lucky High Rollers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UK\u2019s biggest casino operator, Rank Group, said that the tightening of financial checks on high rollers and a spate of extreme weather in the British Isles — both hot and cold — contributed to a 41 percent drop in profits in the full year to June.<\/p>\n

\"Rank
The Rank Group was a movie production company that pivoted to gambling — a bit like a British MGM. During the golden era of the British film industry, its motif was this muscleman banging a gong, which has been adapted into its modern logo. It seems, though, the company just didn\u2019t hit that gong hard enough this year. (Image: Rank Group)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It also suffered from a large dose of lucky-gambler-itis, with lower winning margins reported in the VIP segment.<\/p>\n

Rank Group owns the Grosvenor<\/a> chain of 55 casinos across the UK, as well as Mecca Bingo, the country\u2019s second-largest bingo operator.<\/p>\n

Last year, the UK Gambling Commission ordered casinos to scrutinize their VIP customers more stringently, by inquiring into the source of their income.<\/p>\n

This was part of a wider government drive to battle money laundering, especially in London, where banks, real estate agents, and art dealers have been instructed to become more vigilant about whom they do business with.<\/p>\n

The Beast from the East<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Rank chief executive John O\u2019Reilly said in an earnings call on Friday that the extra checks were the principle reason for revenues at Grosvenor Casino dropping 6.1 percent at during the period.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were obliged to ask a number of visitors about the source of their wealth,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, if, for example, someone has cashed in chips over several evenings totaling more than, say, \u00a315,000, then we have to be vigilant.\u00a0While it could be totally legitimate money, we have to be sure. That takes time and effort, and left us with a backlog of checks to do, hitting sales and profits.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Meanwhile, in February, the normally temperate British Isles were hit by a weather front that the media dubbed the \u201cBeast from the East\u201d — a large arctic airmass that brought Siberian conditions to the UK.<\/p>\n

The phenomenon resurfaced in March, albeit it to a lesser extent. Several months later, the country was sweltering in a heatwave, and the hottest June on record. The weather contributed to a fall in visitation to both Grosvenor Casino and Mecca Bingo properties, Rank said.<\/p>\n

Shares Plunged on Profit Warning<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The company, which in 2016 spearheaded a failed attempt with 888 Holdings to buy William Hill<\/a>, was forced to issue a profit warning in April, causing its shares to plunge by almost 20 percent.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cInvestors have been betting against Grosvenor Casino and Mecca Bingo operator Rank Group since its profit warning in April and that seems unlikely to change after the final results today,\u201d said Ed Monk, an associate director for Fidelity Personal Investing\u2019s share dealing service.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThe company itself described the last year as \u2018challenging\u2019 and this was reflected in falling revenue that justifies the previous profit warning,\u201d he added<\/p>\n

But O\u2019Reilly, a former Ladbrokes exec who joined Rank\u2019s ranks shortly after that profit warning, urged investors to have faith.<\/p>\n

“I joined Rank because of its underlying potential,\u201d he said. \u201cWith the backdrop of a disappointing performance in 2017-18, we are moving quickly to identify the key priorities. We are taking steps to increase our focus on the customer, to accelerate growth in the digital business, to drive cost efficiencies across the business and to strengthen our organizational capabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The UK\u2019s biggest casino operator, Rank Group, said that the tightening of financial checks on high rollers and a spate of extreme weather in the British Isles — both hot and cold — contributed to a 41 percent drop in profits in the full year to June. It also suffered from a large dose of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":86160,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,10,18],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRank Group\u2019s Grosvenor Casinos Squeezed by AML Clamp Down<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Rank Group blames AML crackdown, bad weather, and lucky gamblers for plunge in profits for its Grosvenor Casino and Mecca Bingo chains.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rank Group\u2019s Grosvenor Casinos Squeezed by AML Clamp Down\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rank Group blames AML crackdown, bad weather, and lucky gamblers for plunge in profits for its Grosvenor Casino and Mecca Bingo chains.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rank-groups-grosvenor-casinos-squeezed-by-aml-clamp-down\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-08-17T22:00:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-08-17T20:50:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rank.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rank-groups-grosvenor-casinos-squeezed-by-aml-clamp-down\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rank-groups-grosvenor-casinos-squeezed-by-aml-clamp-down\/\",\"name\":\"Rank Group\u2019s Grosvenor Casinos Squeezed by AML Clamp Down\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rank-groups-grosvenor-casinos-squeezed-by-aml-clamp-down\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rank-groups-grosvenor-casinos-squeezed-by-aml-clamp-down\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rank.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-08-17T22:00:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-08-17T20:50:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Rank Group blames AML crackdown, bad weather, and lucky gamblers for plunge in profits for its Grosvenor Casino and Mecca Bingo chains.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rank-groups-grosvenor-casinos-squeezed-by-aml-clamp-down\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rank-groups-grosvenor-casinos-squeezed-by-aml-clamp-down\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rank-groups-grosvenor-casinos-squeezed-by-aml-clamp-down\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rank.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rank.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"The Rank Group was a movie production company that pivoted to gambling \u2013 a bit like a British MGM. 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