Leisure group Rank has been showing off its new-style bingo club to analysts and has received some positive responses.
Like its rivals, Rank's bingo business has suffered from the smoking ban and the removal of slot machines, although it recently reported signs it was stabilising.
Now it is opening new bingo and casino sites, and Evolution's analyst Ivor Jones has just reported back from a trip to Margate last night.
"The bingo club was busier than expected and had a better food offer and better smoking area than we have seen before," he said. "Take up of good quality electronic bingo offer appeared to be high. The casino used the G Casino format we have seen elsewhere, designed to appeal to a mass-market audience. We saw no radical new departures last night but we did see a business with ideas for the eventual improvement of its product.
"Overall there was a good atmosphere in a club with a pleasant design and it was easy to see why admissions were running above budget, particularly after a brief look at the centre of Margate where what was not run-down was boarded up."
Jones, whose pictures of the visit can be seen here, has set a 175p target for Rank shares. They closed down 0.25p at 87.75p, despite a recent spate of stakebuilding which has led to the company being tipped as a takeover target.
Overall the market has held onto its gains, with the FTSE 100 closing 57.1 points higher at 5717.5.
Finally, for our Phorm followers, shares in the controversial online advertising group have fallen further today, down another 12.5p to 1735.5p.
