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Rank blames expansion for £5m interactive loss

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Feb 28, 2003

The company's Interactive Gaming division, which last month shelled out £65m on online and phone-betting business Blue Square, took £2.4m in commission from bets made on its sites in its first full year of operation.

However it also bore the costs of new product development and investment to help it gain 75,000 registered customers on its two gaming sites by the end of the year.

Rank claimed the sites, Rank.com and the HardRockCasino.com operation launched in July, were generating annualised stakes of £90m by December, but the costs of setting up the latter resulted in an operating loss of £5m.

The company is hoping to generate further growth this year through its purchase of Blue Square at the end of last month, which will give it a "full suite" of online gaming products in preparation for the upcoming deregulation of the market.

As well as casinos, bingo and sports betting, the company plans to offer online services in its bingo halls and casinos once the move is completed.

Together, it claims the two companies are generating £400m per year in stakes. The firm said it had also already identified potential costs savings of £5m per year.

Excluding its interactive group, Rank posted an 8% rise in sales to £472.1m and an operating profit of £109.8m, up 13% on 2001.





"www.bluesq.com ":http://www.bluesq.com

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