Deutsche Bank cut its price target on Rank Group from 285p to 235p after the owner of Hard Rock cafe admitted it had failed to sell Deluxe Media, seen as the final stumbling block to the group’s ambitions to become a more focused gaming and leisure company.
Mike Smith, chief executive, said Deluxe Media might have to be broken up to be sold.
Smith did not rule out working on a buy-out bid of the leisure group when he retires at the end of the month but he said it was “unlikely”.
Rank’s shares fell 5p to 241.5p after it announced a 20% fall in full-year pre-tax profits from £63.2m to £50.7m on turnover up from £787.6m to £810.3m.
Operating profit at Hard Rock rose from £27.9m to £34.8m. Smith said growth would continue as the chain moved to a franchise model.
Financial Times 04/03/06 page 14, page 32 (FT Markets Week – London)
The Times 04/03/06 page 58 (Need to know), page 59 (The week’s biggest movers)
The Daily Telegraph 04/03/06 page 30 (DataBase), page 32 (Business Comment, main)
