Rank Group revenue rockets to nearly £200m in Q3, thanks to UK casinos

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Rank Group, which owns and operates Grosvenor Casinos and Mecca Bingo sites in the UK, as well as having an expanding online presence, have released their third-quarter results for financial year 2024.

Across the whole group, Rank experienced a 10.9% annual increase in group net gaming revenue to £195.6m for the quarter ending 31 March. 

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The Rank Group was founded in 1995. Despite initially operating in the cinema industry, the group pivoted to casinos and other gambling operations in 2006.

It currently operates more than 50 Grosvenor casinos and nearly 100 Mecca bingo clubs in the UK. It also has two casinos in Belgium and 10 bingo halls in Spain, as well as substantial online offerings. 

The group’s land-based and online casinos, as well as its bingo operations, all posted annual increases, although Spanish online revenue did dip a little during the period.

Additionally, the group expects to post operating profit in line with expectations when it publishes full-year results in August. This is despite the challenging market conditions created by the UK government’s impending regulatory changes. 

Today, Rank Group are the largest casino group in the UK and, despite potentially challenging regulatory changes likely to hit the sector this year, its CEO John O’Reilly said:

“Since announcing our interim results in January, we have continued to deliver strong growth and expect to deliver group like-for-like operating profit for the full year in line with expectations.

"This is notwithstanding the uncertain economic environment and significant cost and regulatory headwinds we face from the start of Q4.”

The largest share of Rank’s £195.6m revenue came from its land-based Grosvenor casinos. Revenue across the period was £90.4m: an annual increase of 13%.

This was driven by an impressive 14.5% jump in money from table games, as well as a 9.5% increase in electronic roulette revenue. Improvements have been made to several of the group’s larger venues, including in Leicester and across London.

While physical casinos generate the most revenue, it was Rank Group’s online efforts that saw the greatest gains for the quarter. Digital revenue was £58.4m, showing a 15.4% year-on-year increase. 

The UK performed especially well, posting 18.3% gains over the period. The group attributed this performance to upgraded online platforms, new applications, and an improvement in customer experiences.

Recently, the group underwent a period of improvements to its online games, which is now largely complete, and this will likely see the offering of new products in the coming months.

Mecca Bingo still forms a decent segment of Rank’s products. Bingo halls generated £36.6m in revenue during the quarter, a slight increase of 1.9% compared to the year before.

These gains were seen despite falling visitor numbers, which were down 1.8%, due to a 3.8% increase in average spend. 

For the financial year-to-date, covering nine months ending 31 March, total revenue stands at £597.4m, which is up 12.2% compared to the year before.

Full results are expected to be released on 14 August; and these are likely to be impacted by upcoming regulatory changes. 

O’Reilly said: “We expect the government to publish the statutory instruments for land-based casino reforms in the coming weeks. We anticipate the rollout of additional machines and sports betting to commence during the summer.”