Rank Group revenue rises 12% year-on-year for first quarter

The Grosvenor Casinos operator has reported a strong quarter with net gaming revenue of £197.5m.

UK.- Rank Group, the owner of Grosvenor Casinos and the Mecca bingo brand, has reported net gaming revenue of £197.5m for the three months to September 30. Revenue was up 12 per cent year-on-year on the back of strong growth both online and at land-based casinos.

Digital revenue was up 15 per cent year-on-year, and land-based revenue rose by 10 per cent. Grosvenor Casinos land-based venues generated £95.3m, up 13 per cent. That was on the back of a 2 per cent increase in visits and an 11 per cent increase in spending per visit.

Mecca Bingo’s land-based venues generated £34.7m, up 4 per cent. Visits were down by 1 per cent but spending per visit was up by 5 per cent. The Spanish bingo brand Enracha generated £9.6m, up by 9 per cent.

Meanwhile, digital revenue reached £57.9m. Grosvenor’s digital revenue was up 21 per cent and Mecca’s by 23 per cent. Digital revenue in Spain rose by 15 per cent.

Rank CEO John O’Reilly said: “We have continued to build on the momentum that we have generated over the past year and a half and I am very pleased with our start to this financial year. With all business units performing well, the double-digit growth in our Grosvenor venues and UK digital business is particularly encouraging. Customers are clearly enjoying the improvements we are making across our land-based estate and to our digital offering.

“Rank is now a stronger and more sustainable business and we are looking forward to the land-based legislative reforms coming to fruition in 2025.”

In August, Rank Group announced a dividend payment after its return to profitability in its last financial year. All units saw growth in the 12 months ending June 30, with net gaming revenue up 9 per cent at £734m. Like-for-like underlying profits doubled to £46.5m, beating the market consensus, while profits totalled £22m and £22.7m in H1 and H2 respectively.