Rank Group Plc has announced a financial performance for the year ending June 30, 2026, that has surpassed expectations, even in light of a regulatory settlement with the UK Gambling Commission.
On Tuesday, the gambling operator, which oversees Grosvenor Casinos, Mecca Bingo, Enracha Casinos in Spain, and a UK-centric digital gaming business, projected that its underlying operating profit for the year would reach at least £76 million, significantly above the £63.7 million forecast from their Q3 update.
In terms of net gaming revenue (NGR), the company reported a year-on-year increase of 6%, bringing the like-for-like NGR to approximately £834.1 million for the fiscal year. This upward trend continued into the fourth quarter, where like-for-like NGR reached £208.9 million, also a 6% increase compared to the same period last year.
Breaking it down by division, Grosvenor Casinos yielded NGR of £397.3 million for the year, marking a 5% rise, while its NGR for the fourth quarter increased by 3% to £98.3 million. The digital segment was the standout performer, showcasing an 8% increase in full-year NGR to £248.5 million, with the fourth quarter seeing a robust 12% jump to £63.9 million. Mecca Bingo venues reported full-year NGR of £143.0 million, a 4% increase, with a similar 4% rise in fourth-quarter NGR to £35.4 million.
In Spain, Enracha Casinos achieved an NGR of £45.3 million for the fiscal year, a 7% yearly improvement, while the fourth quarter's NGR rose 6% to £11.3 million. Last December, the operator dealt with a €7.1 million ($8.2 million) payment fraud impacting its Spanish operations, prompting Rank to report the incident to law enforcement and to initiate an internal investigation with an external law firm’s assistance.
Performance at both Mecca Bingo and Enracha Casinos met expectations, and Rank emphasized strict control over operating expenses across all divisions during the year.
Additionally, Rank has announced it will include a £5 million provision in its 2025/26 accounts for a proposed regulatory settlement with the UK Gambling Commission. This arises from preliminary findings of an ongoing review of Grosvenor Casinos Limited’s license compliance for the period spanning from November 1, 2024, to May 1, 2025. On May 20, Rank submitted a settlement proposal, offering a payment of £5 million in lieu of a potential financial penalty, determining the amount based on gross gambling yield and recent Gambling Commission guidelines effective from October 2025. The company is currently waiting for a finalization letter from the regulator and noted that remedial measures have been “substantially implemented” during the first half of the year.
Rank highlighted significant improvements in gaming machine revenue, especially at Grosvenor venues, which experienced a 12% increase in the fourth quarter, a step up from the 10% growth observed in Q3. This growth followed optimization efforts and an expansion of roughly 850 gaming terminals earlier in the year, enabled by UK legislation that permitted casinos to increase their machine count starting in July of last year. The new machine numbers represent a 60% rise, identified by Rank as a “significant opportunity” for expansion.
Richard Harris, the company's CEO, who recently transitioned from CFO to permanent CEO, remarked on the considerable potentials in gaming machine revenue. In Q3, this vertical was Rank’s fastest-growing segment, with NGR climbing 10%.
The digital sector, Rank's second-largest revenue source after Grosvenor, recorded a 12% rise in like-for-like NGR during the fourth quarter. This growth is noteworthy considering the UK government's increase of the Remote Gaming Duty from 21% to 40% as of April 1, 2026, following the autumn budget of 2025. To address margin pressure, Rank maintained its spending on performance marketing and customer incentives while reducing its above-the-line marketing expenses, supplier costs, and employee headcount.
These cost-management strategies were seen as critical in sustaining revenue and profit stability throughout the year.
“Our expected profit outcome reflects the progress we have made in executing our growth plan, despite facing significant cost and taxation challenges,” Harris noted. Rank has reiterated its medium-term goal of reaching at least £100 million in operating profit and is set to release its preliminary results for the 2025/26 financial year later this summer.
