The Rank Group has shed light on a regulatory settlement proposal with the Gambling Commission (GC), which included a proposed payment of £5m in lieu of a financial penalty, in response to historical failings.
Rank stated with its recent full-year trading update for the 12 months ending 30 June 2026 that the GC regulatory settlement proposal was submitted on 20 May, following receipt of the commission’s preliminary findings into its Grosvenor Casino operating licence.
The company added that the payment was calculated referencing its gross gambling yield during the review period of 1 November 2024 to 1 May 2025.
Richard Harris, Chief Executive Officer of Rank Group, noted: “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.”
According to Rank, the GC has confirmed it is ‘minded to accept the settlement proposal’, but a finalisation letter is yet to be issued. However, the group’s separately disclosed items (SDI) section in its 2025/26 financial statements is expected to include a £5m provision related to this regulatory settlement.
Growth across verticals
The group also published its preliminary results for the fourth quarter and the full year, reporting a 6% year-on-year (YoY) increase in like-for-like net gaming revenue for both reporting periods. All Rank segments underwent growth in both reporting periods.
Rank noted its digital operations NGR grew by 12% YoY in Q4, with its UK operations up by the same amount. However, the operator also highlighted the cost mitigations it has made to protect marketing and customer incentives in response to the rise in remote gaming duty, including marketing spend, supplier costs and headcount reductions.
For its land-based operations, Grosvenor venues’ NGR rose by 3% YoY, with gaming machine performance improving by 12% following optimisation work. Maximising gaming machine performance was labelled ‘a significant growth opportunity’ by Rank following a terminal increase of 850 in H1.
The operator added that Mecca and Enracha venues’ performance has ‘continued in line with expectations’.
Harris named permanent CEO
Before publishing its trading update, Rank named Harris as its permanent CEO earlier this week, ending his time as interim CEO, which began when he replaced the retiring John O’Reilly.
The operator highlighted Harris’ management of the business over the last six months, stating he has ‘proven that he is well placed to lead Rank as it embarks on an exciting next stage in its development’.
Regarding the trading update, Harris commented: “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.
“We have worked hard to mitigate the impact of the RGD increase, whilst protecting digital revenues and optimising performance in our land-based businesses.
“Our UK digital business has performed well since taxes increased in April and we are continuing to see growth in our Grosvenor business as the machine performance optimisation work progresses. Gaming machine revenue growth remains a significant opportunity for the Group.”
Rank is scheduled to publish its preliminary results for 2025/26 on 13 August, where it expects to report full-year underlying operating profit ahead of expectations, being at least £76m.
Harris added: “The Group remains focused on our ambition to deliver at least £100m operating profit in the medium term, evolving Rank’s longer term strategy and maximising shareholder value.”
Q4 and FY25 results
Group
- Q4: £208.9m – 6% YoY uptick.
- FY25: £834.1m – 6% YoY growth.
Grosvenor venues
- Q4: £98.3m – 3% YoY increase.
- FY25: £397.3m – 5% YoY uptick.
Digital
- Q4: £63.9m – 12% YoY growth.
- FY25: £248.5m – 8% YoY increase.
Mecca venues
- Q4: £35.4m – 4% YoY uptick.
- FY25: £143m – 4% YoY growth.
Enracha venues
- Q4: £11.3m – 6% YoY increase.
- FY25: £45.3m – 7% YoY uptick.
