Rank Group profit to top £76m despite £5m UKGC settlement

Rank Group expects full-year underlying operating profit of at least £76 million, more than 11% ahead of the company-compiled consensus, after digital revenue accelerated through the fourth quarter and gaming machine income climbed at its Grosvenor venues.

The operator of Grosvenor Casinos, Mecca Bingo, Spain’s Enracha Casinos and a UK-focused digital business set out the numbers in a trading update on Tuesday, its second guidance upgrade this year. The £76 million figure compares with a company-compiled consensus of £68.2 million and sits above the roughly £63.7 million the market had projected at the third quarter. Rank will publish preliminary results for 2025/26 on 13 August.

Group like-for-like net gaming revenue rose 6% to about £834.1 million in the year to 30 June 2026, a level Rank said would beat its previous record of £795.3 million. Fourth-quarter NGR grew at the same rate to £208.9 million, with all four divisions in positive territory. Chief executive Richard Harris framed the result against the tax backdrop.

Our expected profit outturn for the year reflects the progress we have made in executing our plan for growth, despite the significant cost and taxation headwinds that we have incurred during the year.

Digital leads the growth

Digital, Rank’s second-largest revenue contributor after Grosvenor, delivered the strongest annual growth. Full-year NGR increased 8% to £248.5 million, while fourth-quarter NGR climbed 12% to £63.9 million. In the UK, digital revenue accelerated from 2% growth in the third quarter to 12% in the fourth.

The step up came as the UK Remote Gaming Duty rose from 21% to 40% on 1 April 2026, a change confirmed in the November 2025 autumn budget. To hold margins, Rank protected spend on performance marketing and customer incentives and cut above-the-line marketing, supplier costs and headcount. Its land-based venues sit outside the higher remote rate, though the group still carries the wider UK tax burden that has pressured operators through the year.

Gaming machines drive Grosvenor

Grosvenor Casinos generated full-year NGR of £397.3 million, up 5%, with fourth-quarter NGR rising 3% to £98.3 million. Rank said the quarterly figure held up despite disruption to international travel that it linked to the conflict in the Middle East.

Gaming machine revenue at Grosvenor rose 12% in the fourth quarter, up from 10% in the third. The improvement followed optimisation work and an expansion of the machine estate by about 850 terminals in the first half, a 60% increase, after UK legislation in July last year allowed casinos to raise the number of machines on the floor.

Gaming machine revenue growth remains a significant opportunity for the group.

Harris, who was named permanent chief executive the day before the update, has run Rank on an interim basis since the departure of John O’Reilly at the start of 2026 and served as chief financial officer from May 2022.

Mecca, Enracha and a Spanish fraud

Mecca Bingo reported full-year NGR of £143.0 million, up 4%, with fourth-quarter NGR also up 4% to £35.4 million. In Spain, Enracha Casinos recorded full-year NGR of £45.3 million, a 7% rise, and fourth-quarter NGR of £11.3 million, up 6%. Rank described both as performing in line with expectations and pointed to tight control of operating costs across all units.

The Spanish operation was hit by a €7.1 million ($8.2 million) payment fraud in December. Rank reported the matter to law enforcement and opened an internal investigation with the support of an external law firm.

The Gambling Commission settlement

Rank expects to book a £5 million provision in its 2025/26 accounts for a proposed settlement with the UK Gambling Commission over historical compliance failings at Grosvenor Casinos Limited. The company submitted the proposal on 20 May as a payment in lieu of a financial penalty, covering a review period from 1 November 2024 to 1 May 2025. The £5 million figure was calculated with reference to Grosvenor’s gross gambling yield over that window and Commission guidance effective from October 2025.

The regulator has indicated it is minded to accept the proposal, with a finalisation letter still awaited. Rank said remedial actions had been substantially implemented in the first half.

We have engaged constructively with the Gambling Commission to address historical compliance issues dating back to a prior year and remedial actions were substantially implemented during the first half of 2025/26.

The disclosure adds to a run of Commission enforcement against UK-facing operators, following a £2 million settlement with Paddy Power Betfair over customer protection failures and an £825,000 penalty on Betfred. It also lands in the same week the Commission agreed a separate £4.75 million settlement with Evolution tied to a black market review. Grosvenor has settled with the regulator before, paying £700,557 in January 2022 over social responsibility failings.

Shares climb ahead of full results

Rank shares rose on Tuesday, trading up about 4.5% at 98.7p in London after touching 106.4p earlier in the session. The stock remains below the 166.2p high reached in July 2025 and above the 86p low struck in March 2026. Rank reaffirmed its medium-term target of at least £100 million in operating profit. The 13 August preliminary results will show how much of the digital and gaming machine momentum survives contact with the higher tax rate, and whether the Commission signs off the Grosvenor settlement as proposed.

Source: Rank Group