Mecca Bingo had a mixed 12 months to June 30, parent company Rank Group revealed.
Mecca’s revenue increased one per cent to £296.2m, with a 10 per cent increase in digital revenues offset by weaker performance at the company’s land-based venues.
The digital channel posted growth in customer numbers and visits, whereas the venues saw a decline. This, Rank said, resulted in total brand profit falling 12 per cent to £44.1m. The introduction of MGD in the period impacted amusement machine revenue. On a like-for-like basis there was a two per cent fall.
Across the group, however, revenue was up seven per cent to £625m and EBITDA before exceptional items increased two per cent to £108.8m. Following the acquisition of Gala’s casinos, Rank is now the largest casino operator in the UK. Operating profit at its Grosvenor Casinos venues increased 16 per cent.
Chief executive Ian Burke said the company had delivered “a solid set of results.”
The recent hot weather has “adversely impacted trading” in the first weeks of the new financial year, he said, but the company remains confident in its long-term prospects.
