LONDON – Rank Group, the owner of Mecca Bingo halls and online bingo site has seen its year on year sales rise by seven per cent in the third quarter of 2010 and hopes that its full year performance will see the company make profits of close to £50 million.
As the whole group saw a seven per cent increase in revenue, the interactive arm of Rank Group, which runs Mecca Bingo online as well as G Casino and Blue Square experienced a 26 per cent revenue rise for the third quarter of this year, which ended October 3rd.
The huge increase in Rank Interactive revenue in the previous quarter was accounted for by a great deal of investment in marketing and the relaunch of the Blue Square sports betting site (which grew by over 30 per cent in the period.)
Mecca Bingo halls had more people coming to the venues for the first time in ten years during the past six months, but compared to the same period in previous years the numbers remained the same. Rank also announced that it plans to reopen Mecca Bingo halls in Dagenham and Southend-on-Sea later this Autumn.
All of the land based gaming operations from Rank Group, including Mecca Bingo, Grosvenor Casinos and Top Rank España saw revenue increase in the period, with the Spanish arm surprising many people with its one per cent rise in takings during a difficult economic period in Spain.
A statement from Rank Group read: ““We note that the Government is still considering changes to the regulation of remote gambling in Great Britain as well as the taxation of amusement machines. We have made it clear that we would support these measures so long as they are delivered within the context of a broader equalisation of regulatory and fiscal conditions for land-based operators.”