Investments paying off for Rank Group

Rank Group chief executive John O’Reilly said investments in retail customer experience and enhancements to its digital technology factored in an increase in net gaming revenue for both venues and digital channels in its latest quarter.

Group like-for-like NGR for the third quarter ended March 31 was up 13 per cent to £174.4m.

Venues NGR increased by 12 per cent, with digital following suit at 16 per cent.

Mecca venues’ NGR grew by nine per cent in the quarter and Grosvenor venues’ NGR went 15 per cent, to help Rank’s land-based operations enjoy an uptick in performance.

Rank’s Mecca venues benefitted from a four per cent increase in customer visits as well as a five per cent increase in spend per visit.

As for Rank’s digital arm, there was strong growth across both the UK and Spanish businesses of 15 per cent and 19 per cent, respectively.

Mecca and Grosvenor saw digital NGR increase by 23 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively, with Rank’s other UK digital brands up seven per cent in the quarter.

O’Reilly said: “We are pleased that the momentum we saw at the start of the second half of our financial year has continued with positive NGR growth across all our businesses.

“Despite the challenging macroeconomic environment, the investments we have been making to improve the customer experience in our venues have helped drive the improved performance across both Grosvenor and Mecca.

“The digital business is benefitting from the build out of enhancements to the customer experience on our proprietary technology and we have a strong pipeline of developments to continue to grow market share into the future.”