Rank Grows Q1 Revenue 5% to £216.1m as Mecca Stalls and Three Grosvenor Casinos Close

Rank's casinos are still growing, and their fastest-growing line is gaming machines, the product a Budget in 13 days may tax at twice the rate. Its bingo clubs stood still for the quarter, it closed three casinos, and its profit guidance now assumes the tax regime stays as it is.

• The Rank Group's like-for-like net gaming revenue (NGR) rose 5% to £216.1 million in the quarter to 30 September, with digital up 6% to £64.9 million and Grosvenor venues up 6% to £108.1 million, according to its trading update on 15 October
• Mecca's bingo clubs were flat at £32.2 million as visits fell 3%, which Rank attributes largely to the prolonged hot weather, while the Spanish Enracha venues grew 7%
• Grosvenor's gaming machine revenue rose 14%, and Rank closed three casinos during the quarter, in Swansea, Reading Central and Sunderland, saying they were no longer economically viable in the medium term
• Rank expects full-year operating profit in line with market expectations "based on the current industry tax regime in the UK", and chief executive Richard Harris said any rise in Machine Games Duty would lead to more closures, as the BGC puts 16,000 jobs at risk from a 40% rate
• Group growth has slowed from 12% and 9% in the same quarter of the past two years, with the Budget on 28 October

Rank's Casinos and Digital Business Grow While Its Bingo Clubs Stand Still

The Rank Group, which owns the Grosvenor casino and Mecca bingo brands in Britain and the Enracha venues in Spain, reported like-for-like NGR of £216.1 million for its first quarter, 1 July to 30 September, up 5% on the same period last year. Digital NGR rose 6% to £64.9 million and venue NGR 5%, according to its RNS trading update. Like-for-like figures exclude closed clubs, currency movements and new markets.

The UK digital business grew 6%, with the Mecca brand online up 7%. Rank calls its customer metrics resilient despite Remote Gaming Duty rising from 21% to 40% in April 2026 and reduced above-the-line marketing. International digital NGR grew 4%. The comparison with Entain, whose UK and Ireland online NGR rose 14% in its third quarter, published the same morning, is not flattering for Rank.

Grosvenor's venues grew 6% to £108.1 million on visits up 1% and spend per visit up 5%. Gaming machine revenue rose 14%, electronic gaming 5% and table gaming 3%. During the quarter it closed Grosvenor venues in Swansea, Reading Central and Sunderland, which it says were no longer economically viable in the medium term. It has not said how many staff worked there or what the closures cost, and because like-for-like figures exclude closed venues, the 6% is measured without them. Separately, Grosvenor is paying £5 million to settle a Gambling Commission review, announced this month, for which Rank booked a provision in its 2025/26 results.

Mecca's venues were flat at £32.2 million. Visits fell 3% and spend per visit rose 3%, and Rank says the prolonged period of hot weather in the UK was a significant contributor to the softer visits. Enracha grew 7%, driven by 11% growth in electronic gaming.

A Profit Promise With a Tax Condition

Rank says it is confident of delivering like-for-like operating profit in line with market expectations for the year, "based on the current industry tax regime in the UK". It does not state the consensus figure. Chief executive Richard Harris said Budget speculation "continues to weigh heavily on investor sentiment" and that any increase in Machine Games Duty (MGD) "will increase costs, reduce venue viability, lead to venue closures and job losses, reduce tax receipts and halt investment". He said HM Treasury recognised those arguments last year, when the November 2025 Budget raised Remote Gaming Duty, left MGD unchanged and abolished bingo duty, worth about £6 million a year to Rank.

Chancellor John Healey presents the Budget on 28 October. The Times reported in September that the Treasury is considering doubling MGD, and the Treasury has confirmed nothing. Harris told the Press Association last month that a 40% rate would close about a third of Rank's estate. G3 Newswire's report on the update linked the three closures to that warning; the update itself gives medium-term viability as the reason and does not attribute the closures to tax.

The Growth Is in the Product the Treasury Is Looking At

Grosvenor's 14% rise in machine revenue is the best number in the update, and it comes from a deliberate bet. A year ago Rank began rolling out additional B1 gaming machines, expecting to add 850 by the end of December 2025, according to its first-quarter update then. Part of this year's 14% is therefore likely to be extra machines rather than more play on each; Rank does not split the two. Either way, machines grew far faster than tables or visits. That makes Rank's venue strategy unusually exposed to MGD, which is charged on machine takings and which the Treasury is reported to be considering doubling. Machines are where its land-based growth now comes from, and it is not alone in its dependence on them: Betfred paid £54.5 million in machine duty in its last full year, more than its profit.

Mecca Has Blamed the Summer Before

Hot weather may well explain Mecca's flat quarter, but the explanation is not new: two years ago Rank blamed slow July trading at Mecca on sunny weather and England's run at the Euros. Mecca's visits fell 1% in the first quarter of both of the past two years and 3% this time, and growth has come from spend per visit. Last year it reported £35.5 million for the same quarter on the larger estate it ran before closing nine clubs in the year to June, according to its annual results. The abolition of bingo duty has not yet shown up as more people in the halls. A bingo estate with falling visits and no growth has the least room in the group to absorb a higher machine duty.

The Guidance Is Only as Good as 28 October

A company that says it will meet expectations "based on the current industry tax regime" is telling investors the forecast changes if the regime does. Rank has already closed three casinos under the current rates, and Genting closed its Coventry casino this month, also before any change. The industry's warnings are lobbying, but Rank's quarter, with growth slowing from 12% and 9% in the past two first quarters to 5%, does not show a business with growth to spare to absorb a doubled duty.

Rank's quarter shows casinos growing on machines and bingo clubs standing still, both under today's tax rates. Whether either still holds after 28 October is the question its interim results on 28 January will have to answer.