Mecca Bingo owner hit by high energy costs and wage inflation – but bets on things improving
Mecca Bingo owner Rank Group reported a 52 per cent decline in like-for-like underlying operating profit for the year as it was hit hard by energy bills and raising wage inflation.
But, the gambling giant is also raising its outlook for the year as the economy stabilises.
In April, the business raised its profit guidance for the year from a previous range of between £10m and £20m to £20.3m, but this was down on the prior year’s expectations of £42.5m.
The gambling firm, did however, report a seven per cent rise in total gaming revenue up £679.7m up from £633.2m last year.
Rank Group, which has 152 locations across the UK via its Mecca Bingo and Grosvenor casino sites, also said net gaming revenue at its Mecca sites showed signs of a slow recovery rising slightly by seven per cent.
This was due to an older cohort of bingo customers who have been “slowest to return” post-pandemic.
Despite this, Rank Group sounded confident for the year ahead, noting that energy costs are expected to drop to £20m for the year down from £28.6m last year.
“The return of customers to our Grosvenor and Mecca venues continues to pick up and our second half numbers give cause for optimism after a very challenging couple of years,” John O’Reilly, chief executive of The Rank Group Plc, said.
“During that time, our UK venues have faced a surge in energy costs, high wage inflation, a tightening in the regulatory environment, the slow return of overseas visitors to London’s casinos and the more general pressures on the consumer’s discretionary expenditure,”
He added: “However, energy costs have stabilised, inflation appears to now be easing, customers continue to slowly return to both our Grosvenor and our Mecca venues and we now expect to deliver good levels of revenue and profit growth.”