Rank to expand YoBingo! into Portugal
London-listed operator also planning to launch YoCasino! brand in Spain
Rank Group has said it will look to expand its successful YoBingo! business into Portugal following a better-than-expected performance of the brand in the Spanish market.
Speaking exclusively to EGR, CEO John O’Reilly confirmed the operator is currently looking to launch a Portugal-facing version of its YoBingo! asset and will expand its existing Spanish business with the launch of the YoCasino! brand.
Earlier this week, Rank Group revealed a 41% growth in revenue for the YoBingo! business during H1 2018/19, which has given the business a 42% share of the Spanish bingo market. Rank only acquired the business in May 2018, and O’Reilly said YoBingo! had “continued to deliver the growth we had hoped for rather than expected”.
Spain and Portugal have become increasingly important markets for companies eyeing regulated European growth, with Italy facing an advertising ban and higher tax rates.
Elsewhere, digital operations proved to be the big growth area for Rank during H1, with revenues growing by 15.8% during the period. Revenues from its Mecca operations grew by 7.5% during H1, growth which the business attributed to the launch of its best odds bingo game.
Speaking about the growth in the digital business, O’Reilly said the business had not “been as strong historically as we should be” and that the company was focusing on the development and growth of its digital offering.
O’Reilly added: “We’ve made some decent progress in the first half of this year, but we’ve got a lot of ground to make up. It’s very much a focus for the group and its how we grow and develop our digital business both in the UK and internationally.”
Despite this focus on digital, O’Reilly confirmed the business has no plans to move away from its land-based operations, which is still a prominent part of the groups three-year transformation process.