Rank sees online gaming surge

Rank said interactive revenues jumped by 28 per cent over the past ten weeks as the new mobile phone versions of Meccabingo and Blue Square proved popular among the company’s existing 300,000 online users.

It said the growth in gambling with smartphones reflected the way the market is going, with users typically younger than its traditional club-based customer. The Mecca Bingo to Grosvenor Casino group said revenues overall rose by 7 per cent in the ten weeks to June 19, driven by more casino customers and the online surge.

The Grosvenor chain has done well in London and the provinces, with visitor numbers up 12 per cent and spending up 1 per cent.

Mecca Bingo was solid, with sales up by 2 per cent on a like-for-like basis, although Top Rank in Spain continues to struggle following the introduction of a smoking ban in the country. Sales over the period were down by nearly a fifth.

Rank also said it had received £160m this year from the UK tax office for overpaid VAT and associated interest. The government has appealed against the ruling, with a European hearing this month, but the company has lodged claims for a further £275m it says it has overpaid.

Rank first began pursuing its tax claim in 2006 and put in a series of legal claims dating back to 1973 after it said its amusement machines had been taxed differently to other equivalent forms of gambling.