Rank gets 60 million pound VAT back

LONDON (Reuters) - Bingo and casino group Rank (RNK.L) said on Monday it received almost 60 million pounds in a VAT repayment from the government following a legal case.

The legal battle centres on the VAT the company is changed on bingo games played during the interval at its Mecca Bingo halls.

Rank has taken issue with the fact that some of these games are taxed VAT and some are not, depending on the value of the payouts. It argues that all the games are essentially the same and under EU rules should all be taxed the same.

However the company pointed out the 59.1 million pounds may have to be returned, plus interest if the government is successful in its appeal.

The appeal is set to be heard in the UK's High Court in the first half of 2009.

Shares rose 2 pence, or 3 percent, on the news, but one analyst said he thought the victory was worth 6 pence to 7 pence per share.

"I would have though it would have gone up a bit more than it has done today but were in very difficult markets so can understand what's happened," he said.

(Reporting by Ben Deighton, Editing by David Cowell)