Rank Group, which includes Mecca Bingo and Grosvenor Casinos, dropped by 66 per cent in the year to the end of June.

Profits after tax fell from £27.6 million a year before to £9.4m with net gaming revenue down 15 per cent from £685.1m to £585.1m.

It says that actions to address coronavirus have positioned Rank well for recovery and it is preparing for the next phase of the group’s transformation with new three-year plans being developed for each business unit aimed at driving revenue growth and delivering further cost and ways of working efficiencies.

Significant progress has been made on the embedding of safer gambling across the group including being the first bingo operator to add safer gambling controls for time and spend to its gaming machines.

Chief executive John O’Reilly said: “With positive momentum from the transformation programme, Rank performed very strongly during the first part of the year and into the second half. Despite continued good growth in our digital brands, with our venues closed from mid-March, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the group has been significant. However, with the huge commitment and dedication of our colleagues, very tight cost control across the business and the support we have received from Government, we have carefully navigated the past few months and are now beginning to successfully emerge.

“We know the recovery will take time, but the underlying strength of our business provides us with confidence that we are well equipped to return to full strength.

“We’ve been encouraged by the first few weeks of trading following reopening and whilst the supply-side constraints, including social distancing and changes to the way we operate table gaming, are going to be challenging over the coming months, the response from customers to the extensive safety measures we have in place has been very positive.”