Listen to this article:Rank Group, the operator behind Mecca Bingo, has said that its bingo and digital operations helped it achieve a strong start to its 2025-26 financial year, with first-quarter net gaming revenue rising to £210.2 million. Bingo boosted Rank Group, with an overall 9% increase year-on-year and showed progress across both online and retail operations.
For the three months ending 30 September, the company exceeded the £197.5 million recorded in the same period last year. Rank said that the growth was due to continued improvements in customer experience, a more streamlined digital offering, and the benefits of recent land-based reforms.
The group saw revenue growth across all four of its core business areas, with digital delivering the best performance. Like-for-like revenue in the digital division climbed 13% to £61.6 million, supported by a 31% increase in Grosvenor’s digital operations and a 9% increase in Mecca’s online business.
In Spain, however, net gaming revenue dropped by 1% due to previously identified platform capacity challenges. Rank has said that these issues are being resolved, with a new bingo platform due to go live in the second quarter. The company has said that the upgrade will support renewed growth and improve player engagement in the Spanish market.
Rank’s land-based operations also produced encouraging results and benefited from August’s changes to UK casino regulations. The Grosvenor venues division continued to be the group’s best performer and generated £102.7 million in revenue, up 8% from the previous year.
The rise was driven by a 5% increase in customer visits and a 3% rise in spend per visit. Growth outside London was particularly impressive at 10%, while the capital city saw a more modest increase of 4%. Rank said that a relatively quiet summer trading period in London was balanced by the improved performance of its Victoria Casino, where a major refurbishment was completed in July.
Breaking down the segment further, electronic table gaming revenue grew 11%, with Rank describing this as a clear “return on investment” from recent terminal upgrades. Traditional table games revenue increased 3%, while gaming machine revenue climbed 12% after the rollout of additional B1 machines across the Grosvenor estate.
The growth came after new UK land-based rules were introduced that allow casinos to install more gaming machines and potentially introduce in-house sports betting. Rank previously confirmed it is looking at opportunities to launch sports betting across its UK venues as part of its wider growth strategy.
Elsewhere, Mecca venues saw a 5% rise in revenue, despite a 1% fall in customer visits, as average spend per customer rose 6% year-on-year. In Spain, Enracha venues reported a 5% increase in quarterly revenue.
Rank Group’s chief executive, John O’Reilly, welcomed the group’s impressive start to the year and said that Rank is on course to achieve its full-year goals despite broader cost pressures.
“We have started the year strongly. We’re confident of delivering group like-for-like operating profit in line with expectations, notwithstanding the significant cost increases we have incurred in employer national insurance contributions, the national living wage and the new statutory levy.”
He also confirmed that the group’s plan to increase the number of gaming machines it has is making good progress.
“We are pleased to be rolling out additional gaming machines in our Grosvenor venues. We’re on track with our installation programme and now expect a total of 850 incremental machines to be added to our estate before the end of H1 2025-26.”
On a separate note, O’Reilly spoke about growing speculation regarding potential gambling tax changes in the upcoming UK budget, with reports suggesting a shift to a single rate for all remote gambling.
“Speculation regarding tax changes in the upcoming budget is, inevitably, hanging over the business. We are engaged with the treasury on the implications of tax changes on the viability of our venues, employment levels, future investment and the customer.”
“Last year the group generated £44.6 million in profit after tax, having paid HMRC and local authorities £188.0 million in taxes. Rank Group, with its strong UK focus, is certainly paying its fair share.”
However, while there may be worries regarding a change to the tax system, the Rank Group benefits from bingo growth and has every reason to be happy with its performance so far this financial year.
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