Grosvenor drives 13% rise in Rank digital revenues

Rank Group recorded a 13% rise in online revenues for the 46-week period to 14 May 2017 following a strong performance from the operator’s Grosvenor Casinos brand.

Digital revenues from Grosvenor increased 35% year-on-year, while a slight 2% like-for-like rise for Mecca reflected the firm’s migration to the new Bede platform in Q1 16.

Consultancy firm Regulus Partners attributed Grosvenor’s 35% online growth to “a more flexible platform, better operations management and a low base.”

Edison Investment Research also issued a positive statement on the figures, saying: “Digital revenues are back on track. The core business is highly cash generative, enabling progressive dividends, as well as potential M&A.”

According to today’s short trading update, Rank Group’s overall revenues were impacted by a sluggish offline performance, leading to marginal 1% increase in group revenues.

Grosvenor Casinos’ venues suffered a 1% decline due to a lower gaming margin, with lower customer visits to Mecca venues resulting in a 2% drop in revenues.

However, the operator recently moved to improve its retail estate in April by extending its casino contract with Playtech to include additional slot and table managements systems across the entire Grosvenor estate.

Rank is also expected to move into its new headquarters in Maidenhead in the coming weeks after last year deciding to close two UK offices.

The company’s share price was down 0.30% this morning, trading at 205.29p.