Bingo revenue in Spain and Mecca soars as Rank praises Q3 progress.

 As the operator reported a 6% year-over-year growth in revenue, Rank Group said it continued to make "good" success in both its digital and land-based businesses in Q3.
 Place Q3
 Group revenue for the three months ending March 31 was £182.3 million (€212.8 million/$227.4 million), according to Rank's trading update.  The results for Q3 are shown like-for-like.

 Although they have shown the least degree of development, land-based Grosvenor venues continue to be Rank's primary source of income.  Grosvenor venues made £80.0 million in Q1, a 3% increase over the previous year.

 Even though Q3 is a traditionally slower time, Rank highlighted the significance of a 5% increase in visitor numbers during that time.  Weekly net gaming revenue (NGR) rose 2% annually to £6.2 million on average.  This amount is in line with Rank's objective of obtaining a weekly NGR of £7.0 million from the Grosvenor venues business.

 Revenue for Mecca's bingo venues increased by 12% to £37.3 million.  Once more, Rank attributed this to a 5% increase in visitors over the previous year.  Additionally, Rank benefited from "strong" business throughout the Mother's Day and Easter weekends, which resulted in a 7% increase in expenditure per visit.

 Rank's Enracha venues business saw greater land-based success in Spain.  Revenue rose 9% to £10.0m in this case. 

 Rank's steady digital growth in the first quarter
 Regarding the digital business, Q1 sales was £55.0m, a 6% increase.  Spain saw a 20% year-over-year growth in digital revenue, while the UK saw a 4% gain.

 In the UK, Mecca's NGR increased by 21%, while Grosvenor's increased by just 1%.  The second was attributed by Rank to a lower gaming margin with a few significant client wins.  

 For other digital brands in the UK, planned decreases in marketing expenditure resulted in a 13% drop in NGR.  Rank did, however, highlight the anticipated effects of a new content management system for the websites of Grosvenor and Mecca.  According to Rank, this would increase operational efficiency and speed to market for improvements to customer propositions. It went live in Q3. 

 Revenue so far this year is £544.9 million.
 Regarding the impact of Q3 on Rank so far this year, revenue for the nine months ending in March was £544.9 million.  Compared to the same time last year, this is 8% higher.

 The revenue from Grosvenor venues increased by 8% to £274.5 million over this time, while the revenue from Mecca venues increased by 10% to £104.5 million.  Furthermore, the Enracha venues sector in Spain had a 9% increase in income, reaching £29.5 million.

 For the reporting quarter, the digital business's revenue climbed by 7% to £163.4 million.

 According to Rank, performance has improved in April and will continue to do so for the entire year.  As a result, it anticipates operating profit to meet projections for the year that ends on June 30.

 "We are still making good progress in both our online and venue businesses," CEO John O'Reilly stated.  The board's expectations are largely met by Q3 trading. 

 "Performance keeps getting better.  We anticipate beginning the implementation of the government's white paper's crucial land-based changes in the upcoming months.

 O'Reilly recently discussed how Rank is "well positioned" to gain from the white paper's land-based reforms.  Rank anticipates that the Grosvenor Casino estate will have twice as many gambling machines as before the renovation began.  Additionally, proposals would permit electronic payments at bingo halls and casinos.

 Sell your Passion Gaming investment, Rank
 In other news, Rank has agreed to sell its stake in the Indian online rummy company Passion Gaming.

 Rank stated that the agreed price is a "nominal consideration," but the financial details of the agreement were not made public.  Additionally, Rank did not specify whose business would be purchasing the share.

 In the upcoming weeks, the disposal should be finished.