Casino and bingo hall owner Rank Group has issued a significant profit warning as the hoped-for return of customers to its London venues has been lower than expected.

The firm said it now predicts its like-for-like adjusted operating profits to be roughly £40 million [US$49 million] for the year to end-June compared to the previously guided range of £47 million – £55 million.

The steep drop was blamed partly on the fact visitor numbers at its Grosvenor Casinos in particular had been down in 2022, and that in spite of some improvement since April, the hoped-for recovery had been “considerably weaker than expected”.

This was mainly due to a dearth of higher spending overseas customers to its London sites.