Buzz Bingo hails ‘reset’ as chain posts best results since Covid-19 pandemic

The company behind Buzz Bingo cut its pre-tax loss as its sales passed the £200m mark during its latest financial year, according to new figures.

The Nottingham-headquartered group has posted a pre-tax loss of £30.8m for the 12 months to January 13, 2024, compared to a loss of £53.6m in the prior period.

Buzz Bingo previously made a pre-tax loss of £51.8m in the year to January 2022, £130.6m in 2021 and £31.7m in 2020.

Newly-released documents have also revealed that its revenue increased from £195.1m to £206.9m in the year.

The last time Buzz Bingo posted a revenue of more than £200m was the £279.8m it reported in the year to January 2020.

Buzz Bingo has described its latest financial year as a “reset” for the group with its underlying EBITDA increasing by 14 per cent.

It added that net gaming revenues rose by six per cent and online grew by 31 per cent year-on-year.

During the year, Buzz Bingo closed ten clubs, taking its total estate to 81 locations.

The group said that it “took difficult but decisive action in the year” to meet the challenges of the cost-of-living crisis and inflation.

As a result of the closures, the average number of people the company employed in the year fell from 2,590 to 2,184.

Ahead of the Covid-19 pandemic, Buzz Bingo employed 3,400 people.

Buzz Bingo is owned by Intermediate Capital Group. It used to operate as Gala Bingo before a rebrand in September 2018.

The Gala brand continues to run its own online bingo and casino offerings under the ownership of Entain plc.

In July 2020, Buzz Bingo announced plans to permanently close 26 halls in the UK with the potential loss of 573 jobs.

‘We remain confident in the future’ – Buzz Bingo boss

Chief executive Dominic Mansour said: “We delivered a solid performance in 2023, with strong online growth ahead of the market, and underlying profitability up 14 per cent.

“2023 was a year in which we focused on resetting the business’s foundations, and putting in place our omnichannel strategy to deliver sustainable growth.

“With our strategy now firmly in place, we are continuing to maintain the momentum into the current year, and are pleased that EBITDA for the first half is up nearly a quarter, in clear evidence that our turn-around plan is delivering.

“Our omnichannel strategy positions Buzz uniquely in the market. We have an extremely loyal, high frequency retail customer base and much of our online growth owes to the successful implementation of our ability to convert retail players to play online.

“We remain confident in the future, capturing the opportunity that exists for Buzz, and ultimately delivering sustainable profitable growth.”

The future of Buzz Bingo

Buzz Bingo said that in the year to date, its underlying EBITDA has increased by 22 per cent and its like-for-like revenue is tracking five per cent above the prior year.

The company added that the growth in its retail and online revenues are set to “deliver another record year”.

Buzz Bingo added: “The group remains well-positioned to capture the anticipated growth in bingo as consumer confidence continues to grow, with players from younger demographics increasingly attracted
o the experience bingo offers.”