Sales growth Ranks well for gaming group

Rank, which owns the 14 Mecca Bingo halls and two Grosvenor casinos in Scotland, said that revenue grew by 3 per cent in the year to 27 December, with a boost of 6 per cent in the final 12 weeks.

The group highlighted the success of its Grosvenor casino arm, which opened a new venue in Dundee during the last quarter. Aimed at those unaccustomed to gambling but looking for a fun flutter and night out, it reported like-for-like customer visits up 5 per cent over the year, with revenue up 3 per cent.

In contrast, Mecca Bingo experienced a flight of gamers, with visits down by 4 per cent and like-for-like revenue flat for the year.

The results were better than expected in a tough time for the bingo industry, said Shore Capital analyst Greg Johnson. He said: "The consumer side is not bad as far as previous years are concerned when the bingo industry was hit by the smoking ban and wasn't a growth industry. If you look historically at bingo they have seen sharp declines in spend."

He added: "Rank has seen improvements in recent weeks and its online division has gone up."

With Spain still reeling from recessionary woes, annual revenues at Rank's Spanish arm, Top Rank Espana, fell by 9 per cent on a euro basis over the year. With upper and middle-class Spaniards still stretched financially, Rank's 11 Spanish bingo halls were inevitably going to feel the pinch.

Johnson said: "Bingo in Spain draws ABs, rather than the Cs here. Bingo players in Spain are more likely to have a decent glass of wine rather than players, say, in Glasgow.

"The Spanish economy has been hit far harder than us. While like-for-like sales are down 4 per cent (over 12 weeks] it looks worse than it is because of the euro movement."

Rank was also out of pocket by an extra 5 million after being billed by HMRC this year under what the industry called a double taxation regime.

After complaints, the Treasury binned VAT paid on bingo participation fees in April, but increased bingo duty rates from 15 to 22 per cent, before a slight climbdown to 20 per cent in the Pre-Budget Report last month.