NEWS
18 October 2018
Rank Group announces fall in revenue despite digital boost
By Tim Poole

The operator, which will announce a full trading update including revenue figures at its Annual General Meeting later today, saw digital revenue grow by 1.7%.

However, this was offset by a year-on-year fall in retail revenue of 6.1%, with Grosvenor Casinos suffering a 7.2% decrease and Mecca seeing its revenue fall by 5%.

Mecca did see revenue growth of 6.4% on its digital channels, although Grosvenor Casinos’ online revenue also fell 5.2% year-on-year.

Rank Group did not include YoBingo in its overall digital revenue numbers, which saw year-on-year revenue rise sharply by 46%. With these figures taken into account, Rank Group’s digital revenue grew 13.5%.

The company’s retail revenue decline has been a consistent theme, with Rank Group previously reporting a 41.4% year-on-year decrease in profit before tax for the financial year ending 30 June.

This was attributed to “disappointing performance” from Grosvenor Casino, while emphasis was placed by CEO John O’Reilly on a more digital focus going forward.

This year has also been a time of restructure for Rank Group, with O’Reilly himself only being appointed in April and overseeing changes in the senior management team.

The operator was recently fined £500,000 ($657,400) after a customer lost £1m in just 24 hours at Grosvenor Casino in 2016.