Rank Group saw a 12% increase in revenue for the first quarter of its 2024-25 financial year. The increase was attributed to solid double-digit growth across both its Grosvenor Casinos venues and digital operations.
For the quarter ending 30 September, Rank’s net gaming revenue reached £197.5 million, a notable increase from the £179.6 million reported during the same period last year.
In its trading update, Rank drew attention to positive performance across both physical and digital segments. Digital revenue grew by 15% compared to the previous year, while land-based revenue was up by 10%.
Rank Group is the parent company of online Mecca Bingo and Grosvenor Casinos, operating both their land-based venues and online platforms.
Grosvenor Casinos led the way for the land-based sector, with revenue climbing 13% to £95.3 million. This cemented its position as the group’s primary income source. The growth was fuelled by a 2% increase in visitor numbers and an 11% rise in spend per visit. The group also noted that these gains were steady across both London and other UK locations, which resulted in better-than-anticipated margins.
There was also good news from the Mecca Bingo land-based business, where revenue increased by 4% to £34.7 million. Rank pointed out a 5% rise in spend per visit, although the overall number of visits dipped by 1% year-on-year. Visitor traffic improved towards the end of the quarter after a slow July, which Rank put down to sunny weather and England’s participation in the Euro 2024 football tournament.
Furthermore, Rank’s Spanish land-based brand, Enracha, saw its revenue increase by 9% to £9.6 million.
The digital side of Rank’s business is where the company saw the most growth. In Q1, revenue grew by 15% to £57.9 million and there was consistent growth across both the UK and Spanish markets. In the UK, digital revenue saw an overall rise of 15%. The Grosvenor saw a 21% increase, while Mecca Bingo’s digital operations saw a 23% uplift. Similarly, digital revenue in Spain was up 15% year-on-year during the quarter.
In further good news for Rank’s digital customers, earlier this month, the group announced a partnership with Spinomenal. The deal will see Spinomenal’s games integrated into Rank’s online brands through Light & Wonder’s OpenGaming platform.
It means that players will soon be able to enjoy popular slots such as Fairytale Beauties, Majestic King and Majestic White Rhino. It is understood that the games will be available at both Grosvenor Casino and Mecca Bingo, and they will also receive future releases from Spinomenal.
Commenting on the strong Q1 results Rank said that it was confident it would meet its expectations for like-for-like operating profit. In a statement, 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.”
The positive results come after a period of struggle for Rank Group. Following the pandemic, fewer than expected big-spending overseas gamblers returned to London casinos and there were weak domestic visitor numbers, which forced the group to repeatedly downgrade its earnings outlook. However, last year, the company was finally able to resume dividend payments thanks to improved trading and a stronger financial position.
Rank Group will release its interim results for the first half of the financial year on 30 January 2025.