12th May 2016 11:51
LONDON (Alliance News) - Casinos and bingo halls operator Rank Group PLC on Thursday said like-for-like revenue grew in the 19 weeks to May 8, and it anticipates meeting its expectations for the full year.
Rank Group, which runs the Grosvenor Casinos and Mecca Bingo brands, said like-for-like revenue for the period grew 3.0%, with 4.0% growth from Grosvenor and 1.0% growth at Mecca.
Total revenue for the period rose 2.0% year-on-year, up 3.0% at Grosvenor and down 1.0% at Mecca. Digital revenue for the period rose 6.0%.
Rank Group said growth at Grosvenor was driven by a "solid London performance" with stable customer visits and a 2% increase in spend per visit. Grosvenor's digital channel also continued to deliver strong growth, with revenue in that area up 35%, driven by customer growth and improved functionality from its new digital platform, Rank Group said.
Meanwhile, like-for-like growth at Mecca was boosted by improvements to product and service, Rank said, although like-for-like customer visits were down 1%. The slip in total revenue was due to the closure of venues, while disruption following recent platform migration led to a 5% decline in digital revenue.
Rank Group said it expects the roll-out of new content and functionality to have a positive impact on Mecca's performance going forward, adding that is expects the group's full-year performance to be in line with management expectations.
"I am pleased with the group's performance during this 19-week period. We have seen continued like-for-like revenue growth across all of our brands and the performance in our Grosvenor digital business has been particularly encouraging," said Chief Executive Henry Birch.
"During the period we launched our new digital platform which was delivered both on time and on budget. This is an important development for the group and we look forward to the benefits the increased functionality will bring," he added.
Rank Group will release its full-year results for the year to the end of June on August 18.
Shares in Rank Group were up 4.6% at 248.30 pence on Thursday afternoon.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance and Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
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