Rank Group posts £180m in Q1 NGR on digital and venue growth

Rank Group has posted Q1 2023-24 net gaming revenue (NGR) growth of 11% year on year (YoY) to £179.6m.

For the period 1 July to 30 September, the Maidenhead-based operator’s digital NGR was up 7% YoY to £51.8m, while land-based NGR grew 12%.

Looking at digital operations, UK NGR increased 6%, with Grosvenor and Mecca noting 14% and 9% increases, respectively. Digital NGR was up 6% in Spain

Within its UK-facing venues, Mecca saw an 11% growth to £34.7m, with a 4% increase in customer visits and a 7% increase in spend per visit.

Grosvenor venues’ NGR grew 13% to £84.2m, thanks to a 9% visit increase and 4% spend per visit increase.

Venues in London returned an 8% jump in NGR, while the rest of the UK’s NGR grew 16%. There was a 10% jump in average weekly NGR growth to £6.4m, compared to Q4 2022-23.

Rank’s Spanish land-based bingo business, Enracha, reported a 9% NGR growth in Q1 to £8.9m.

John O’Reilly, Rank Group CEO, said: “I am pleased to report that Rank has made a strong start to the year. After an encouraging second half of 2022-23, we have maintained the momentum through the first quarter of 2023-24 and have made good progress in driving revenue and profit growth across the group.

“Going forwards, we remain focused on delivering the key growth initiatives within our digital business and preparing our UK venues for the critical modernising reforms in the government’s review of the gambling legislation.

“These reforms, which are planned to be implemented by next summer, will help Grosvenor and Mecca to better meet the needs of our existing and prospective customers,” he concluded.

In terms of outlook, Rank said high inflation and interest rates made the trading environment “challenging”.

However, the group added that it was on track to deliver 2023-24 full-year revenue and profit growth in line with expectations due to the business’ strong Q1 performance.