Rank Group Plc has revealed that trading under lockdown conditions for its most recent quarterly reporting period has resulted in a 72% fall in group like-for-like revenues. This morning, the LSE gambling group published a Q3 2020/2021 trading and corporate liquidity update for the period ending 31 March, which stated that its Grosvenor and Mecca venue net revenues performance had …
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UK bingo’s biggest land-based operators, Mecca and Buzz Bingo, have joined forces to launch ‘National Bingo Day’ on Sunday 27 June – providing a vital boost for all British bingo venues returning to business from lockdown. Accustomed to being celebrated across the US, Buzz and Mecca have launched Britain’s version of ‘National Bingo Day’, championed by the Bingo Association. Helping …
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Sue Yoxall, co-founder and executive director of mkodo, discusses meeting the increased demand for digital entertainment, and why changes to submissions on both Google Play and Apple provides an opportunity for operators to take advantage of a new player demographic, especially as new markets such as the US and Germany begin to open in 2021. Yoxall also addresses a tilting …
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Rank Group Plc has reaffirmed its confidence in being able to navigate the continued challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic has placed on its business. Publishing its H1 2020/2021 interim results for the six months ending 31 December 2020, Rank has recorded underlying group-wide losses of £42 million – representing a 171% swing on 2019/2020 profits of £59 million. As previously …
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Having navigated March and April’s COVID storms, the betting industry was served a political whiplash across European jurisdictions as the months of May and June saw governments order tighter customer controls across all gambling verticals. SBC – European governments order tougher controls on gambling’s compliance duties Following direct orders from the government, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) imposed a series …
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Rank Group Plc has quelled press speculation that it will undertake a new share placement to raise working capital to help its venues and properties mitigate autumn lockdown proceedings and further COVID-19 impacts. The LSE gambling group issued its response to a Sky News report, which detailed that Rank would pursue a £70 million emergency funding round, undertaken through a …
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Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has been warned by UK casino leaders that “hundreds of Scottish jobs’” have been placed at risk following the SNP’s enforcement that casino venues should be temporarily shut. New Scottish Government COVID-19 emergency measures enforced that any region placed under ‘Level 2’ requires local casinos to close entirely. Bosses have called on the Scottish First …
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Kindred Group Plc has reaffirmed its market-leading position within Belgium by agreeing to acquire Rank Group subsidiary Blancas NV for a total valuation of £25 million (cash and debt-free basis). Blancas NV is the operating firm of the ‘Casino Blankenberge’ located in the Belgium Flemish province of West Flanders and functions as one of nine casinos allowed by the Belgium …
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Playtech Plc has announced its latest ‘tier-1 gambling extension’ as Rank Group Plc renews its lead online bingo supplier agreement with the FTSE technology group for a further five years. Rank’s bingo extension follows its decision to upgrade all igaming provisions (online casino and poker) onto Playtech systems, supporting the heritage UK gambling operator’s group transformation objectives. Playtech will continue …
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The closure of casinos across Greater Manchester and South Yorkshire has been branded as a ‘senseless’ move by Jonathon Swaine, managing director of Rank Group, after the regions entered England’s new tier three restrictions. The new measures will mean that a number of Rank’s Grosvenor Casinos and Mecca Bingo venues will be forced to close their doors, having only recently …
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