REG - Rank Group PLC - Half-year Report
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RNS Number : 8862Q Rank Group PLC 29 January 2026
News release
LEI: 213800TXKD6XZWOFTE12
29 January 2026
The Rank Group Plc ('Rank' or the 'Group')
Interim results for the six months ended 31 December 2025
Revenue and profit growth across all businesses
Delivery of at least £100m operating profit remains medium-term focus
Rank (LSE: RNK) is pleased to announce its interim results for the six months
ended 31 December 2025 ('H1').
Financial highlights
H1 2025/26 H1 2024/25 Change
Financial Group underlying LFL net gaming revenue (NGR)(1,2) £419.8m £395.6m 6%
KPIs
Venues underlying LFL NGR(1,2) £296.1m £280.8m 5%
Digital underlying LFL NGR(1,2) £123.7m £114.8m 8%
Underlying LFL operating profit(1,2) £40.6m £35.2m 15%
Net cash pre IFRS 16 £39.4m £24.2m 63%
Underlying earnings per share(2) 5.6p 4.8p 17%
Return on Capital Employed (ROCE) 15.9% 13.3% 2.6 %pts
H1 2025/26 H1 2024/25(3) Change
Statutory Reported NGR £420.0m £401.8m 5%
performance
Total Group operating profit £31.3m £35.2m (11)%
Profit before taxation £23.9m £29.4m (19)%
Profit after taxation £18.5m £24.9m (26)%
Net free cash flow £3.8m £4.3m (12)%
Net debt £(165.1)m £(124.1)m 33%
Basic earnings per share 4.0p 5.3p (25)%
Dividend per share 1.00p 0.65p 54%
1. On a like-for-like ('LFL') basis which removes the impact of
club openings, closures, foreign exchange movements and discontinued
operations.
2. Excludes separately disclosed items.
3. Restated for prior period adjustment.
Continued improvement in financial performance
· Like-for-like ('LFL') Net Gaming Revenue ('NGR') of £419.8m, up 6%
year-on-year with all businesses in growth.
· Underlying LFL operating profit increased 15% to £40.6m (H1 2024/25:
£35.2m).
· Statutory Group operating profit of £31.3m (H1 2024/25: £35.2m), impacted by
£6.5m loss as a result of the payment fraud in our Spanish businesses.
· Net free cash flow of £3.8m in the period (H1 2024/25: £4.3m). Closing net
cash balance (excluding lease liabilities) of £39.4m (H1 2024/25: £24.2m).
· Return on capital employed of 15.9%, up from 13.3% in the prior year. Capital
expenditure of £27.6m in the period (H1 2024/25: £27.3m), with FY 2025/26
Capex now expected to be in the range of £50m - £55m.
· The Board has recommended an interim dividend of 1.00 pence per share, an
increase of 54% year-on-year, demonstrating the Board's confidence in the
outlook for the Group.
Further progress against the strategic plan supported by targeted investments
· Average NGR per week in Grosvenor venues was £7.8m, up 6% year-on-year. A
strong Q1 was followed by a relatively softer Q2, with weaker consumer
confidence in the period prior to, and immediately following, the Autumn
Budget. Gaming machines were the fastest growing product vertical at +11%
year-on-year, +16% in venues which have benefitted from machine installations
during H1.
· 850 additional gaming machines installed across 37 Grosvenor venues in H1
2025/26, in line with the previously reported timetable. H2 workstreams are in
place to optimise the product offering and fine-tune venue layouts and gaming
machine mix, supported by local marketing to build customer awareness and
demand.
· Digital LFL NGR grew 9% in the UK with particularly strong growth in Grosvenor
online. Mitigations to reduce the impact of the near doubling of Remote Gaming
Duty (RGD) from 21% to 40% announced in the Autumn Budget, including cutting
above the line media spend and TV sponsorships, have already been implemented
or are well advanced.
· In Spain, digital revenues grew 4% in Q2 offsetting a 1% decline in Q1,
delivering 1% growth for the half, benefiting from the launch of proprietary
apps. A new bingo platform which will remove ongoing capacity issues will go
live in Q3. In Portugal, YoBingo was soft launched successfully in November
2025, with a full consumer launch commencing in February 2026.
· Mecca venues grew NGR by 4% on a LFL basis, benefitting from strong bingo
liquidity across the estate delivering a competitively attractive customer
experience.
· Enracha LFL NGR was up 6% with continued strong growth in gaming machine
revenues.
· Safer gambling developments, building on the strong culture of customer
protection across the Group, include Rank's entry in H1 into GamProtect, the
cross-operator data-sharing initiative to block highly vulnerable consumers
from playing with licensed operators. Additional improvements were made to the
central oversight of local decision making in Grosvenor Casinos, enhanced
customer monitoring systems have been implemented in Mecca, and further
developments have been made to our proprietary online customer monitoring
system known as 'Hawkeye'.
· The overall employee engagement score across the Group increased year-on-year
by 0.1 point to 8.2, as our Group-wide commitment to colleague development and
wellbeing continues to be well received by colleagues with notable further
improvements in attrition rates.
· Our investigation into the Spanish payment fraud incident has been completed,
with the Group's key financial controls now having been further strengthened.
Recovery of the funds is unlikely, but we continue to work with the relevant
law enforcement agencies and our advisors.
Current trading and outlook
Following a slightly softer Q2, the Christmas and New Year holiday period saw
strong trading across all our businesses and January's performance has been in
line with expectations. The significant increase in RGD to 40% for the UK
digital business, and the increase in National Living Wage in Grosvenor and
Mecca, will impact profitability in Q4. However, the Group's mitigating
actions to offset as much of this impact as possible are well advanced. Our
strong H1 performance underpins our confidence in delivering full year
performance in line with expectations.
The Group retains a clear path towards its target of delivering at least
£100m annual operating profit in the medium term.
John O'Reilly, Chief Executive of The Rank Group Plc said:
"We continue to deliver improving results which demonstrate the resilience of
the Group and our ability to take advantage of the opportunities available to
us, both online and in our venues.
Customers recognise the investment and improvements we have been making and
are responding enthusiastically. Both the underlying metrics and medium-term
outlook for the business remain encouraging, and we have the building blocks
in place to capitalise on the opportunities ahead of us.
The second half of the year will bring further cost headwinds, principally in
our UK digital business, which will be impacted by the UK Government's huge
increase in tax rates. We have already executed measures to mitigate some of
this impact, whilst continuing to prioritise customer experience, and the
Group will respond with agility as a heavily disrupted landscape takes shape
in the UK.
As I retire as CEO of Rank, I would like to pay tribute to my highly talented
colleagues across the Group for their enduring commitment to our customers
which has again delivered another strong set of results. I am delighted that,
as interim CEO, Richard Harris will now take Rank to the next stage of what I
am sure is a very bright future."
Definition of terms:
· Net gaming revenue ('NGR') is revenue less customer incentives;
· Underlying measures exclude the impact of amortisation of acquired
intangibles; profit or loss on disposal of businesses; acquisition and
disposal costs including changes to deferred or contingent consideration;
impairment charges; reversal of impairment charges; restructuring costs as
part of an announced programme; retranslation and remeasurement of foreign
currency contingent consideration; discontinued operations, significant
material proceeds from tax appeals and the tax impact; and any other one-off
events not related to underlying operations. Collectively these items are
referred to as separately disclosed items ('SDIs');
· Underlying operating profit is operating profit before SDIs
· Underlying earnings per share is calculated by adjusting profit attributable
to equity shareholders to exclude SDIs;
· 'H1 2025/26' refers to the six-month period to 31 December 2025 and 'H1
2024/25' refers to the six-month period to 31 December 2024;
· Like-for-like ('LFL') measures have been disclosed in this report to show the
impact of club openings, closures, acquired businesses, foreign exchange
movements and discontinued operations;
· Prior year LFL measures are amended to show an appropriate comparative for the
impact of club openings, disposals, closures, acquired businesses, foreign
exchange movements and discontinued operations;
· The Group results make reference to 'underlying' results alongside our
statutory results, which we believe will be more useful to readers as we
manage our business using these adjusted measures. The directors believe
that SDIs impair visibility of the underlying performance of the Group's
business because these items are often material, non-recurring and do not
relate to the underlying trading performance. Accordingly, these are
excluded from our non-GAAP measurement of revenue, EBITDA, operating profit,
profit before tax and underlying EPS. Underlying measures are the same as
those used for internal reports. Please refer to APMs for further details;
· Venues include Grosvenor venues, Mecca venues and Enracha venues.
· Return on capital employed (ROCE) is calculated as 12-months rolling
underlying LFL operating profit divided by average capital employed. Average
capital employed is the average of opening and closing capital employed for
the 12 month period.
Enquiries
The Rank Group Plc
David Williams
Director of Corporate Affairs and Investor Relations (inc. media enquiries) david.williams@rank.com
FTI Consulting LLP
Ed Tel: 020 3727 1067
Bridges
Alex Tel: 020 3727 1045
Beagley
Photographs available from www.rank.com (http://www.rank.com/)
Analyst meeting and webcast details:
Thursday 29 January 2026
There will be an analyst meeting at 9.30am, admittance to which is by
invitation only. There will also be a simultaneous webcast of the meeting.
For the live webcast, please register at www.rank.com or on
https://brrmedia.news/RANK_HY26 (https://brrmedia.news/RANK_HY26)
A replay of the webcast and a copy of the slide presentation will be made
available on the website later. The webcast will be available for a period of
six months.
Forward-looking statements
This announcement includes 'forward-looking statements'. These statements
contain the words 'anticipate', 'believe', 'intend, 'estimate', 'expect' and
words of similar meaning. All statements, other than statements of historical
facts included in this announcement, including, without limitation, those
regarding the Group's financial position, business strategy, plans and
objectives of management for future operations (including development plans
and objectives relating to the Group's products and services) are
forward-looking statements that are based on current expectations. Such
forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and
other important factors that could cause the actual results, performance,
achievements or financial position of the Group to be materially different
from future results, performance, achievements or financial position expressed
or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements
are based on numerous assumptions regarding the Group's operating performance,
present and future business strategies, and the environment in which the Group
will operate in the future. These forward-looking statements speak only as at
the date of this announcement. Subject to the Listing Rules of the Financial
Conduct Authority, the Group expressly disclaims any obligation or
undertaking, to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking
statements, contained herein to reflect any change in the Group's
expectations, with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or
circumstances on which any such statement is based. Past performance cannot be
relied upon as a guide to future performance.
Group performance review
H1 2025/26 H1 2024/25* Change
£m £m %
Total Net Gaming Revenue 420.0 401.8 5%
LFL Net Gaming Revenue 419.8 395.6 6%
Grosvenor Venues 204.0 192.8 6%
Mecca Venues 69.8 67.0 4%
Enracha Venues 22.3 21.0 6%
Digital 123.7 114.8 8%
Underlying operating profit 40.6 33.3 22%
Underlying LFL operating profit 40.6 35.2 15%
Grosvenor Venues 20.9 20.6 1%
Mecca Venues 2.7 0.7 286%
Enracha Venues 5.9 5.6 5%
Digital 17.8 15.9 12%
Corporate costs (6.7) (7.6) 12%
Separately disclosed items (9.7) 1.5 -
Statutory total Group operating profit 30.9 34.8 (11)%
Underlying net financing charge (7.0) (5.4) (30)%
Statutory profit before taxation 23.9 29.4 (19)%
Taxation (5.4) (4.5) (20)%
Statutory profit after taxation 18.5 24.9 (26)%
Underlying earnings per share 5.6p 4.8p 17%
Dividend per share 1.00p 0.65p 54%
Net debt (165.1) (124.1) (33)%
Net cash pre IFRS 16 39.4 24.2 63%
Net free cash flow 3.8 4.3 (12)%
Capital expenditure 27.6 27.3 1%
*Restated.
Growth in all divisions
The 2025/26 H1 trading period once again saw growth across all divisions.
Group LFL NGR grew 6% with digital the fastest growing business unit. At a
statutory level, reported NGR was up 5%.
In Digital, where accelerated growth, prior to the announcement of tax
increases in the Autumn 2025 Budget, has been our ambition, LFL NGR grew 8%,
within which Grosvenor grew 17% and Mecca grew 5%. The slower year-on-year
growth of 3% in Q2 reflected tougher comparables with what was a strong Q2 in
the prior year. Quarter-on-quarter revenues grew 1%. In international digital,
LFL NGR for the period was up 1% with a 4% growth in the second quarter
helping to reverse the 1% YoY decline in NGR that we reported in our Q1
trading update.
Delivering sustained growth in our Grosvenor venues business has been our
long-standing focus, and LFL NGR growth of 6% has been delivered over a period
in which, between August and December, 850 additional gaming machines were
successfully introduced across the Grosvenor estate. Demand levels vary by
venue but are gradually building as customers become aware of the increased
availability and choice of machines and gaming content, and results are
consistent with our expectations at this early stage of the launch phase.
In bingo, we continue to improve performance, with Mecca venues LFL NGR up 4%
and Enracha venues LFL NGR up 6%. The abolition of the current 10% bingo duty
in the UK will benefit Mecca from Q4.
Employment costs have continued to rise, impacting our UK venues businesses in
particular. LFL employment costs rose from £132.8m in H1 2024/25 to £138.3m,
and we expect total employment costs to be up c. 4% over the full year.
Despite these cost pressures, the NGR growth across all our businesses has
converted to a strong profit performance in the period with underlying LFL
operating profit increasing 15% to £40.6m (H1 2024/25: £35.2m).
For the past three years we have been delivering consistent revenue and profit
growth, partially offset by higher employment costs and depreciation. The
Group now faces significant headwinds within our UK digital business as a
result of the 2025 Autumn Budget policy to increase RGD from 21% to 40% from
April 2026. Nevertheless, we retain a clear path towards the target of
delivering at least £100m annual operating profit in the medium term. As we
continue to execute this plan, we will also focus on the strategy required to
grow shareholder returns beyond the medium term ambition.
Separately Disclosed Items
Separately disclosed items in the period totalled £9.7m, which includes a
loss of £6.5m as a result of a payment fraud in our Spanish businesses that
we announced in December 2025. SDIs also include the amortisation of acquired
intangible assets and property‑related provisions, partially offset by the
profit recognised on the sale of freehold land associated with a closed Mecca
venue.
The Group's underlying LFL operating margin of 9.7% in the period, up from
8.9% in 2024/25, is the result of revenue growth, partially offset by
increased employment costs, and higher depreciation costs reflecting the
increase in capital investment in recent years
Statutory total Group operating profit for the period was £31.3m (H1 2024/25:
£35.2m).
Prior period restatement
During the period, the Group identified historical errors in the accounting
treatment of leased gaming machines, property lease extensions and associated
provisions within the UK Venues business. As at 30 June 2025, the balance
sheet reflects an increase of £23.9m in lease liabilities and an increase in
the right of use asset of £12.7m which is inclusive of a cumulative
impairment charge of £9.2m. The onerous lease provision increased by £0.5m,
and deferred tax assets increased by £2.9m. Collectively, these adjustments
result in the £8.8m reduction to retained earnings. All of these adjustments
are non-cash in nature.
The comparative Income Statement for the six months ended 31 December 2024 has
also been restated and reflects an increase in underlying operating profit of
£0.4m, an increase in finance costs of £0.3m, both of which arise from the
correction to the lease accounting, and a £5.4m charge to other operating
costs relating to the recognition of the onerous lease provision. The tax
impact of these adjustments is a £1.3m tax credit. Overall, these
adjustments result in a decrease in profit after tax of £4.0m.
Underlying net financing charge
The underlying net financing charge for the period was £7.0m, compared with
£5.4m in the prior period, primarily reflecting higher lease‑related
interest under IFRS 16, partially offset by lower bank interest costs. The
underlying net financing charge includes £5.5m of lease interest calculated
under IFRS 16.
Taxation
The Group's underlying effective corporation tax rate in H1 2025/26 was 22.0%
(H1 2024/25: 19.7%) based on a tax charge of £7.4m on underlying profit
before taxation.
The underlying effective corporation tax rate for 2025/26 is expected to be
21.0% to 23.0%.
On a statutory basis, the Group had an effective tax rate of 22.6% in H1
2025/26 (H1 2024/25: 15.3%) based on a tax charge of £5.4m on total profit of
£23.9m.
In the six months ended 31 December 2025, the Group had an effective cash tax
rate of 10.0% on total profit before taxation (H1 2024/25: 1.0%). The Group is
expected to have a cash tax rate of approximately 10% to 12% for the year
ended 30 June 2026. The cash tax rate is driven by the utilisation of brought
forward losses to offset taxable profits arising in the UK and an expected
refund in H2 2025/26 of Maltese tax paid in prior years from dividend refund
claims.
Earnings per share ('EPS')
Underlying EPS increased to 5.6p from 4.8p, driven by the improvement in
underlying LFL operating profit. Total EPS decreased to 4.0p from 5.3p, due to
the impact of separately disclosed items.
Cash flow and net debt
As at 31 December 2025, the Group had a closing net cash balance (excluding
lease liabilities) of £39.4m.
Net debt was £165.1m. Debt comprised £30.0m of term loan and £204.5m in
finance leases, offset by cash at bank of £69.4m. Lease liabilities have
increased due to lease extensions in key strategic properties.
H1 2025/26 H1 2024/25*
£m £m
Operating profit from continuing operations 40.6 33.3
Depreciation and amortisation 28.0 26.0
Working capital and others (4.9) (3.9)
Cash inflow from operations 63.7 55.4
Capital expenditure (27.6) (27.3)
Other net interest and tax (3.4) (2.2)
Lease payments (principal and interest) (23.4) (19.9)
Cashflows in relation to Separately Disclosed Items (5.5) (1.7)
Net free cash flow 3.8 4.3
Purchase of shares for LTIP (1.7) -
Business disposal 1.0 3.0
Dividend paid (9.1) (4.0)
Total cash inflow (6.0) 3.3
Opening net cash pre IFRS 16 45.4 20.9
Closing net cash pre IFRS 16 39.4 24.2
IFRS 16 lease liabilities (204.5) (148.3)
Closing net debt post IFRS 16 (165.1) (124.1)
*Restated
Interim dividend
In line with the Group's dividend policy and indicative of its confidence in
the prospects for the Group, the Board has declared an Interim dividend of
1.00 pence per share. The dividend will be paid on 13 March 2026 to
shareholders on the register as at 13 February 2026.
Business review
Grosvenor venues
Key financial performance indicators:
H1 2025/26 H1 2024/25 Change
£m £m
LFL(1) NGR 204.0 192.8 6%
London 65.7 62.7 5%
Rest of the UK 138.3 130.1 6%
Total NGR 204.0 192.8 6%
Underlying(2) LFL(1) operating profit 20.9 20.6 1%
Total operating profit 20.3 19.8 3%
1. Results are presented on a like for like ('LFL') basis which
removes the impact of club openings, club closures, foreign exchange movements
and discontinued operations.
2. Before the impact of separately disclosed items.
The period was an important one for the Grosvenor Casinos business as the
long-awaited legislative reforms from the Gambling Act Review were enacted in
England and Wales, with the first additional machines being introduced in late
August. By December, we had completed the installation of 850 machines in 37
of our casinos, in line with our previously announced timetable.
We do not anticipate the casino reforms that benefit our venues in England and
Wales to be considered by the Scottish Government prior to Holyrood Elections
in May 2026 and will be working with a new Scottish Government to articulate
the benefits of applying these much needed changes.
Alongside the additional gaming machines, we have been refining and improving
our core customer proposition whilst also investing in venues and our
colleagues.
Our average NGR for H1 2025/26 grew 6% on prior year to £7.8m per week.
Revenue growth was delivered through visitor numbers growing 5% and a 1%
increase in spend per visit. Performance was relatively consistent across
London (+5%) and the rest of the UK (+6%).
At our Capital Markets event in October 2025, we stated our aim of achieving
£9.5m per week in the medium term and set out the building blocks that will
enable us to deliver that aim, including making continued improvements in
customer risk management and deriving the benefits of our cultural change
programme, "From Like To Love".
The early results from higher gaming machine allocations in Grosvenor Casinos
reaffirm our confidence in the medium term opportunity. Across the estate,
venues which received additional machines in H1 saw 16% gaming machine revenue
growth. Venues which have not yet received additional machines grew gaming
machine revenues by 4%.
In casinos where we have only been able to increase machine numbers from 20
machines to 30-40 machines, revenue growth has generally been very strong,
demonstrating the clear opportunity to satisfy excess demand, with examples of
casinos in which the average revenue per machine has increased with additional
supply. Where we have significantly increased the available machines in a
casino, for example from 20 to 80, the revenue per incremental machine has
inevitably been lower. We have a clear plan to increase customer awareness and
to stimulate demand, recognising that it will take time to optimise the
additional gaming machine offering.
We have increased the number of gaming machine suppliers in H1, with further
suppliers and gaming packs being trialed in H2, as we continue to improve the
choice for the customer. Considerable focus is now being applied to optimise
machine mix, layouts and service levels at an individual casino level. In H2,
we will also launch a new gaming machine rewards scheme enabling customers to
earn and redeem rewards directly onto machines.
The speed, focus and direction of the next phase in machine rollout will be
shaped by customer and performance data. Player behaviour, preferences and
demand curves will inform where and when we invest in our estate, ensuring we
continue to deliver strong return on investment.
During the period, table gaming NGR grew 2%. We continue to add more
innovative side bets and progressive jackpots to our live table proposition.
We have completed the rollout of our table management system across the estate
which uses AI-led real time recommendations and data to guide our product mix
and optimise table opening and pricing across the estate.
Electronic table gaming NGR grew 6% on prior year following the completion of
the renewal of the estate of terminals in 2024/25.
We have expanded our poker calendar in the period, the highlight being
Goliath, an 11-day event in July at the Grosvenor Casino in Coventry, the
largest ever poker tournament held outside North America, with entries
totaling nearly 13,000 players competing for a prize pot of £2m.
Sports betting has only been available in Luton, our 2005 Act licence casino,
since July 2024. Following the legislative reforms allowing sports betting in
casinos, we launched a sports betting lounge in Leicester and introduced
sports viewing and betting facilities in Reading South. We will use the
learnings from these venues to inform the rollout of sports betting into more
casinos in H2 and beyond.
In Q2, we refreshed our food and beverage ('F&B') menus, focusing on
providing customers with a more accessible and modern F&B offering,
alongside a more elevated full service restaurant proposition in a number of
our London casinos. We continue to prioritise high standards of products and
elevated service levels throughout the estate.
Following completion of the full refurbishment of the Victoria Casino in H1,
NGR was up 13% on H1 2023/24 (the most recent H1 period prior to the
refurbishment disruption). Gaming machine NGR grew 26% over the same 2-year
period. Refurbishment works in our casinos in Bolton and Brighton also
completed at the end of the half. Smaller low-cost projects, facilitating the
introduction of additional gaming machines, have taken place in Reading South,
Southampton, Leeds and Sheffield.
The ongoing refinement of our approach to safer gambling revolves around
better use of data and technology, improved processes for identifying and
addressing potentially harmful play, developing the skillsets of our
colleagues, and supporting colleagues in improving the financial checks
experience for customers. In H1 we further invested in our data architecture
and infrastructure to enhance the level of near real time central monitoring
of local decision making in regard to customer risk. In H2 we are trialing
facial recognition technology in a number of our venues to more quickly
identify customers who may represent a higher risk.
We made further progress in embedding our cultural transformation programme
("From Like To Love"), with a focus on equipping newly promoted and recruited
leaders with tools for improved performance, and by launching Game Changer
training sessions to support new colleagues. The Grosvenor employee opinion
survey engagement score of 8.3 in November 2025 (H1 2024/25: 8.2) demonstrates
the progress we are continuing to make as we invest in our people.
Employment costs of £82.5m (H1 2024/25: £78.7m) increased 5% due to the
impact of the National Minimum Wage uplift. The period also saw the first full
half of additional costs as a result of the statutory levy for research,
prevention and treatment (RPT) of problem gambling at a rate of 0.5% of gross
gambling yield.
Underlying LFL operating profit of £20.9m in H1, up 1% (H1 2024/25: £20.6m),
highlights the strong operating leverage of the Grosvenor business, despite
the significant cost pressures absorbed in H1.
At a statutory level, operating profit improved to £20.3m compared to £19.8m
for the prior period.
With a clear roadmap for performance improvements, venue optimisation and
product enhancements, we are confident that Grosvenor customers can look
forward to an even more exciting and entertaining experience in our casinos in
H2 and beyond.
Mecca venues
Key financial performance indicators:
H1 2025/26 H1 2024/25 Change
£m £m
LFL(1) NGR 69.8 67.0 4%
Total NGR 69.9 68.6 2%
Underlying(2) LFL(1) operating profit 2.7 0.7 286%
Total operating profit(3) 2.1 3.9 (46)%
1. Results are presented on a like for like ('LFL') basis which
removes the impact of club openings, club closures, foreign exchange movements
and discontinued operations.
2. Before the impact of separately disclosed items.
3. Restated H1 2024/25.
The strategic focus for Mecca Bingo continues to centre on medium-term cash
maximisation.
In recent years the Mecca Bingo estate has been rationalised with the number
of venues reducing from 84 in 2019 to 49 today. One further venue, Mecca
Scarborough, closed in H1. The smaller Mecca estate is able to provide
competitive prize boards and good value for money. The more customers, the
bigger the prizes, and bigger prizes drive more customers, particularly in
local markets in which the customer has a choice of bingo venues.
In rationalising the estate, we remain very aware that bingo clubs are
important community facilities. We continue to discuss with government the
importance of a sustainable land-based bingo market and the consequent need
for regulatory reform to enable the customer offering to be modernised to
better meet the needs of today's consumers.
Mecca venues grew revenue 4% in the first half of 2025/26. However, customer
visit volumes were marginally down at (1%) in the period reflecting the
ongoing need for regulatory reform to modernise the bingo proposition.
The mainstage bingo game remains the primary driver of customer visits to our
venues. Mainstage bingo NGR was marginally down, 1%, reflecting a further
increase in the money we are adding to the prize board to deliver even
stronger competitive value to our customers. We introduced 600 new Mecca Max
tablets across the estate as customers increasingly embrace the appeal of
electronic bingo via tablet-based play, in contrast to the traditional
paper-based game. 59% of customer visits were played on electronic terminals
in the period, with Mecca Max customers now accounting for 75% of mainstage
bingo spend. The interval bingo game grew LFL revenue by 2% in the period.
Our commitment to providing the best gaming machine proposition in the
industry saw us complete machine area refurbishments in Croydon, Acocks Green,
Romford, Gateshead and Swansea. Very strong returns continue to be generated
with typical cash payback in under 18 months. Across the whole Mecca estate
gaming machine NGR was up 9% on prior year and gaming machines now account for
43% of Mecca's NGR.
Food and beverage revenues increased by just 1% as we continue to emphasise
the value for money of a night out at Mecca.
Our ongoing programme to modernise external signage saw additional schemes
completed in our Mecca venues in Acocks Green, Wednesbury, Romford, Swansea
and Wrexham. These are low-cost investments which are collectively paying back
in under 18 months. In H2, external signage scheme improvements will take
place in Bolton, Gateshead, Oldham, Glasgow Drumchapel and Glasgow Quay. By
modernising the external profile of Mecca venues and the product offering
within our clubs, we are appealing to a younger demographic whilst retaining
the traditional core appeal for our older customers. 57% of our new
customers in H1 were aged under 40, consistent with prior year.
We have recently piloted a new gaming garden in our Mecca Wakefield venue, a
modern outside space where customers are able to enjoy playing gaming machines
and the interval bingo game in a comfortable and relaxed setting, with further
plans to transform these areas in our Dagenham and Beeston venues.
A central pillar of Mecca's performance has been the loyalty and service of
our local teams. Another strong colleague engagement score of 8.3 in our
November 2025 employee survey provides further evidence of the positive
culture that exists throughout the Mecca business
In H2, Mecca will launch unified membership for its online and venues
customers. This will enable customers to use the Mecca app as their membership
card in venues, and to receive personalised offers and rewards and information
about local events and promotions. Unified membership will also provide far
richer data on our customers for our venue teams, enabling Mecca to offer a
more tailored and personalised offering.
We were delighted that the UK Government announced the abolition of the
current 10% bingo duty in the Autumn 2025 Budget, effective from April 2026,
which will benefit the Group by c. £6.5m on an annualised basis. The
Government's policy is welcome evidence that it remains committed to
supporting bingo venues as vital community assets.
We remain eager to see progress with regulatory reforms for bingo clubs as
swiftly as possible on completion of the current consultation, aimed at
distinguishing bingo licensing for traditional bingo clubs from equivalent
licences being used to operate what are effectively adult gaming centres. We
are confident that the Government will deliver the public policies announced
in the white paper which followed the review of gambling legislation,
particularly a 2:1 ratio of Category B3 to Category C gaming machines in bingo
venues, replacing the current 80:20 ratio which limits the more popular B3
machines to just 20% of the total machine offering. We are also seeking the
ability to be able to offer side bets on the mainstage game of bingo to
provide our customers with more chances to win.
The key cost headwind in the period was LFL employment costs which grew 2.9%
on prior year driven by the higher national living wage, partially offset by
cost efficiencies.
Underlying LFL operating profit was £2.7m in the period, up from £0.7m in
the prior year. At a statutory level, Mecca reported a profit of £2.1m in H1
2025/26 compared with £3.9m in the prior period.
Enracha venues
Key financial performance indicators:
H1 2025/26 H1 2024/25 Change
£m £m
LFL(1) NGR 22.3 21.0 6%
Total NGR 22.3 20.2 10%
Underlying(2) LFL(1) operating profit 5.9 5.6 5%
Total operating profit 3.0 5.4 (44)%
1. Results are presented on a like for like ('LFL') basis which
removes the impact of club closures, foreign exchange
movements and discontinued operations.
2. Before the impact of separately disclosed items.
Our Enracha estate of nine modern venues in Spain continues to grow its
revenues and profitability. LFL NGR was up 6% on the prior year. Customer
visits were flat on prior year and spend per visit grew 6%, with the
additional spend driving enhanced liquidity and stronger prize boards.
In H1, we completed the refurbishment of the Sabadell venue in Catalonia with
an enlarged gaming machine area and improved bingo room. We have also
completed improvement works to our gaming machine area in Enracha Cordoba. In
Seville, we are trialling an immersive bingo experience, Bingo Boom, targeting
a younger demographic in an enlarged venue.
With revenues growing 6% to £22.3m, underlying LFL operating profit grew 5%
to £5.9m.
Digital
Key financial performance indicators:
H1 2025/26 H1 2024/25 £m Change
£m
LFL(1) NGR 123.7 114.8 8%
Mecca 50.7 48.1 5%
Grosvenor 47.9 41.0 17%
Other proprietary brands 10.8 11.6 (7)%
Yo/Enracha 14.3 14.1 1%
Total NGR 123.8 120.2 3%
Underlying(2) LFL(1) operating profit 17.8 15.9 12%
Total operating profit 14.0 19.2 (27)%
1. Results are presented on a like for like ('LFL') basis which
removes the impact of digital businesses that have been disposed of and
foreign exchange movements.
2. Before the impact of separately disclosed items.
A long-standing strategic pillar of Rank's digital business has been to
consistently build momentum and to grow scale. H1 2025/26 saw further progress
against that objective with an increase of 8% in underlying LFL NGR,
delivering continued strong returns on the investments we have made. Average
revenue per customer in H1 increased 18% on the prior period reflecting the
appeal of our product and service to our regular customers.
In the UK facing business, NGR grew 9% to £109.4m, with particularly strong
growth in our Grosvenor brand (+17%). Mecca online grew 5% in H1, with our
other UK facing brands declining 7% as marketing investment in customer
recruitment was increasingly transferred across to the Grosvenor business in
light of the strong returns and the impending increase in taxation. Revenue
growth slowed in Q2, reflecting the more demanding year-on-year comparisons,
but was up 1% quarter-on-quarter.
Further developments in data science and automation have powered the revenue
growth in our UK core brands, Grosvenor Casinos and Mecca Bingo. With online
gambling taxes increasing from April 2026 as a result of the Autumn Budget, we
have enhanced the quality of our service, including improving key customer
journeys, and focused on the efficiency of customer incentives and rewards.
In H2, we will deliver unified membership to Mecca customers both online and
in our venues enabling improved and personalised cross-channel experiences,
including rewards.
We will soon be launching new live slot streaming products, providing
authentic real-time gaming machine experiences online. We will also be
further improving the live casino experience, integrating venue-led content,
enhancing customer journeys, and leveraging the competitive advantage of our
Grosvenor Casinos brand.
With safer gambling underpinning all that we do, in H1 we delivered more
customer-led tools to support safer gambling and promote the setting of
deposit limits at customer registration. All our digital brands also joined
the UK industry's GamProtect scheme, a cross-operator data-sharing initiative
designed to protect customers identified as being very clearly at risk of
gambling-related harm.
In Spain, improvements in performance marketing, the launch of new apps for
YoBingo, YoCasino and YoSports on both Apple and Android, new gaming product
releases, an improved high value customer programme, and enhancements to the
bingo game, including new jackpot formats, have returned the digital business
to a growth rate of 4% in Q2 and an overall +1% for H1. The platform capacity
constraints, which have restricted the customer capacity of individual bingo
rooms, will be resolved with a new bingo platform going live in Q3; we would
expect to see the benefit of this reflect in further building the rate of
revenue growth in H2.
In H1, we successfully became the first licensed online bingo operator in
Portugal. Our soft launch in early November 2025 has been operationally
successful and a full customer launch will take place in February 2026. The
Portuguese digital market is around three quarters of the size of the Spanish
market but with very few licensed operators. Being the only licensed bingo
site provides an exciting growth opportunity for the digital business.
Cost headwinds for the digital business included the first full half paying
the UK statutory levy for research, prevention and treatment of problem
gambling at a rate of 1.1% of Gross Gaming Yield (GGY), with a profit impact
on the digital business of £1.2m (H1 2024/25: £0.1m). The profit impact of
the maximum staking limit for online slots play of £5, £2 for consumers aged
under 25, which was also implemented in April 2025 is c. £2m in H1.
As previously communicated, the impact before mitigation on the UK digital
business of the increase in the rate of Remote Gaming Duty ('RGD') from 21% to
40% in April 2026, is c. £46m on an annualised basis. Since the Budget
announcement, we have taken several mitigating actions, including sharply
cutting above the line media spend and TV sponsorships and renegotiating
supplier contracts. We expect to make further marketing and operational
efficiencies over the coming months, whilst continuing to focus on maintaining
a high quality customer experience
We anticipate the huge increase in the tax rate to lead to a significant
rebalancing of the UK digital gambling industry, ultimately with fewer
licensed operators and reduced competition. We will monitor and remain agile
to wider macro-industry changes in H2 which will further inform our decision
making around the level of promotional investment, performance marketing and
customer incentives. Whilst expecting to mitigate much of the impact of the
high tax rate, the profitability of our UK facing digital business will be
markedly lower in Q4 and into 2026/27. However, we believe that the strength
of our brands, the billboard effect of our venues and the attractiveness of
our cross-channel customer experience and service will enable our digital
business to rebuild profitability over the coming years as the market
stabilises with less competition and lower marketing investment.
We will continue to urge the Government to apply, at the next legislative
opportunity, RGD (at 40%) on Gross Gaming Yield, rather than Gross Gaming
Revenue (with the difference being the imputed revenue based on the market
value of free bets/bonuses). We believe this change from the existing
application will not only result in greater direct revenues for the Exchequer,
but will enable the regulated, taxed and licensed market to compete more
effectively with unregulated black-market operators who are undoubtedly the
significant beneficiaries of the tax increase.
The H1 2025/26 underlying LFL operating profit was £17.8m, a growth of 12% on
the prior period.
Sustainability update
Rank is committed to its sustainability strategy of being a resilient and
responsible business. The Group drives its sustainability strategy through
four focus areas: Customers, Colleagues, Environment and Communities.
Customers
In Grosvenor venues, we continue to focus on strengthening our venues'
capabilities to ensure customers are not experiencing harm by introducing
simplified processes and improved visibility of customer risk profiles. We
also conducted comprehensive in-person anti-money laundering training with 182
customer facing colleagues.
In Mecca venues, our safer gambling focus continues to build on effectively
embedding automated gaming machine play alerts into day-to-day operations. In
January 2026, we launched our new Know Your Customer ('KYC') platform, which
will improve efficiency, tracking and management of customer risk.
In the UK digital business, we have continued to implement the regulatory
changes resulting from the Gambling Act Review. In October 2025, we introduced
new customer journeys to encourage customers to set deposit limits during the
online registration journey. Work is ongoing to introduce further enhanced
requirements to offer a gross deposit limit alongside existing limit setting
tools, due to come into effect in June 2026. In November 2025, our UK digital
business joined GamProtect - a scheme developed by the industry to protect the
most vulnerable customers. The scheme allows participating operators to share
information with other participating operators of those customers who most
need support and protections.
Colleagues
Colleague engagement, measured through the employee opinion survey, remains
strong with an overall score of 8.2. We have strengthened leadership and
management capability through development programmes aligned to the Group's
leadership framework, enhanced hiring and onboarding standards, and provided
support for new and developing managers across the Group.
Preparation to implement the forthcoming changes to employment legislation, in
the UK's Employment Rights Bill, is well underway.
Environment
We continue to deliver environmental improvements in line with our net zero
plan. In H1, we achieved a 41% emissions reduction compared to the prior
period. This was largely driven by moving our supply contracts to fully
certificated zero carbon renewable electricity for our UK operations at the
start of H2 last year, leading to a 91% reduction in our market-based
electricity emissions in the half. We are actively investigating the potential
for solar panelling at some of our venues with surveys and design work
underway, with a plan to progress viable options in H2. Removing gas usage
remains a key focus and through a refocussed menu in Grosvenor we have been
able to reduce usage of gas-powered friers and grills across venues. We have
also undertaken decarbonisation audits at four of our sites to gain a deeper
understanding on what will be required to fully remove gas across our estate.
We continue to develop our scope three emissions reduction plan through
improved reporting and an active supplier engagement programme.
Communities
Our ambition is to make a positive impact within the community both nationally
and locally, through both our UK charitable partnership with Carers Trust and
through local initiatives that directly impact a venue's local community. In
H1, we raised over £237k for Carers Trust.
Board update
On 18 September 2025, we announced that Alex Thursby would be stepping down
from his role of Chair of Rank at the Annual General Meeting on 15 October
2025 and would be replaced, in the interim, by Senior Independent Director,
Karen Whitworth.
On 11 November 2025, we announced that John H. Ott would take up the role of
Chair, effective from 17 November 2025. John is a Senior Advisory Partner at
Bain & Company, having joined the company in 2006, alongside being a
founder, investor and board member for two private businesses.
On 6 January 2026, we announced that John O'Reilly, following discussions with
the Board, informed the Board of his decision to retire as Chief Executive
Officer of Rank, effective from 29 January 2026. He will continue to support
the business until the end of the current 2025/26 financial year. The Board
wishes to reiterate its sincere thanks to John for his leadership and his
passion for Rank since his appointment as CEO in April 2018.
The Board announced that current Chief Financial Officer, Richard Harris, will
be appointed the interim CEO with effect from 30 January 2026. A process to
identify an interim CFO is well advanced and will be communicated in due
course.
Going concern statement
Based on the Group's cash flow forecasts and business plan, the Directors
believe that the Group will generate sufficient cash to meet its liabilities
as they fall due for the period to 31 January 2027.
The Directors have considered two downside scenarios which reflects a reduced
trading performance, increased regulatory and compliance costs, inflationary
impacts on the cost base, an assumed cyber incident and various
management-controlled cost mitigations.
In conclusion, after reviewing the downside scenario and considering the
remote likelihood of the reverse stress‑test scenario occurring, the
Directors have concluded that, at the time of approving the condensed
consolidated financial statements, no material uncertainties exist that cast
significant doubt on the Group's ability to continue as a going concern.
Accordingly, it is appropriate to prepare the condensed consolidated financial
statements on a going concern basis for the period from the date of this
report to 31 January 2027.
Principal risks and uncertainties
Key business risks are reviewed by the executive directors, other senior
executives and the Board on a regular basis and, where appropriate, actions
are taken to mitigate the key risks that are identified. We have a Group wide
enterprise risk management framework and approach in place, integrated into
our organisational management structure and responsibilities, with the Board
having overall responsibility for risk management in the Group.
The principal risks and uncertainties that could impact the Group are detailed
in the Group's Annual Report and Accounts 2025 and the Board of Directors
confirm that they expect those risks to remain relevant for the remainder of
the financial year.
Alternative performance measures
When assessing, discussing and measuring the Group's financial performance,
management refer to measures used for monitoring internal performance. These
measures are not defined or specified under UK adopted International Financial
Reporting Standards (IFRS) and as such are considered to be Alternative
Performance Measures ('APMs').
By their nature, APMs are not uniformly applied by all preparers including
other operators in the gambling industry. Accordingly, APMs used by the Group
may not be comparable to other companies within the Group's industry.
Purpose
APMs are used by management to aid comparison and assess historical
performance against internal performance benchmarks and across reporting
periods. These measures provide an ongoing and consistent basis to assess
performance by excluding items that are materially non-recurring,
uncontrollable or exceptional. These measures can be classified in terms of
their key financial characteristics.
Profit measures allow management and users of the financial statements to
assess and benchmark underlying business performance during the year. They are
primarily used by operational management to measure operating profit
contribution and are also used by the Board to assess performance against
business plan.
The following table explains the key APMs applied by the Group and referred to
in these statements:
APM Purpose Closest equivalent IFRS measure Adjustments to reconcile to primary financial statements
Underlying like-for-like ('LFL') net gaming revenue ('NGR') Revenue measure NGR · Separately disclosed items
· Excludes contribution from any venue openings, closures,
disposals, acquired businesses and discontinued operations
· Foreign exchange movements
Underlying LFL operating profit /(loss) Profit measure Operating profit / (loss) · Separately disclosed items
· Excludes contribution from any venue openings, closures, disposals,
acquired businesses and discontinued operations
· Foreign exchange movements
Underlying earnings / (loss) per share Profit measure Earnings / (loss) per share · Separately disclosed items
Net free cash flow Cash measure Net cash generated from operating activities · Lease principal repayments
· Cash flow in relation to separately disclosed items
· Cash capital expenditure
Return on capital employed 'ROCE' Efficiency measure Operating profit/(loss) · 12-months rolling LFL operating profit divided by average capital
employed
Equity
· Average capital employed is average of opening and closing capital
Non-current liability employed
Non-current asset · Capital employed is total equity adjusted to add back: Net Debt/cash,
Lease Liabilities, Right of Use assets, Retirement benefit obligations,
non-current provisions and net deferred tax
Rationale for adjustments - Profit and debt measure
1 Separately disclosed items ('SDIs')
SDIs are items that bear no relation to the Group's underlying ongoing
operating performance. The adjustment helps users of the accounts better
assess the underlying performance of the Group, helps align to the measures
used to run the business and still maintains clarity to the statutory reported
numbers.
Further details of the SDIs can be found in note 3.
2 Contribution from any venue openings, closures,
disposals, acquired businesses and discontinued operations
In the current period (H1 2025/26), the Group closed one Mecca venue. For
the purpose of calculating like-for-like ('LFL') measures its contribution has
been excluded from the prior period numbers and current period numbers, to
ensure comparatives are made to measures on the same basis.
3 Foreign exchange movements
During the year the exchange rates may fluctuate, therefore by using an
exchange rate fixed throughout the year the impact on overseas business
performance can be calculated and eliminated.
The tables below reconcile the underlying performance measures to the reported
measures of the continuing operations of the Group.
£m H1 2025/26 H1 2024/25
Underlying LFL net gaming revenue (NGR) 419.8 395.6
Open, closed and disposed venues 0.2 7.6
Foreign exchange ('FX') - (1.4)
Underlying NGR - continuing operations 420.0 401.8
Calculation of comparative underlying LFL NGR
H1 2024/25
Reported underlying LFL NGR 401.8
H1 2025/26 closed venues (7.6)
H1 2025/26 FX 1.4
Restated underlying LFL NGR 395.6
£m H1 2025/26 H1 2024/25
Underlying LFL operating profit 40.6 35.2
Opened, closed and disposed venues - (1.5)
Foreign exchange ('FX') - (0.4)
Underlying operating profit - continuing operations 40.6 33.3
Separately disclosed items (9.3) 1.9
Operating profit - continuing operations 31.3 35.2
Calculation of comparative underlying LFL operating profit
£m H1 2024/25
Reported underlying LFL operating profit 32.9
Prior period adjustment 0.4
H1 2025/26 closed venues 1.5
H1 2025/26 FX 0.4
Underlying LFL operating profit 35.2
£m H1 2025/26 H1 2024/25*
Underlying current tax charge (4.6) (2.1)
Tax on separately disclosed items 2.0 1.0
Deferred tax (2.8) (3.4)
Total tax charge (5.4) (4.5)
*Restated.
P H1 2025/26 H1 2024/25*
Underlying EPS 5.6 4.8
Separately disclosed items (1.6) 0.5
Reported EPS 4.0 5.3
*Restated.
Directors' Responsibility Statement
Each of the directors named below confirm that to the best of his or her
knowledge:
· The condensed consolidated financial statements, prepared under UK-adopted IAS
34 'Interim Financial Reporting', give a true and fair view of the assets,
liabilities, financial position and profit of the Company and the undertakings
included in the consolidation taken as a whole; and
· The management report includes a fair review of the development and
performance of the business and the position of the Company and the
undertakings included in the consolidation taken as a whole, together with a
description of the risk and uncertainties that they face.
The directors of The Rank Group Plc are:
Lucinda Charles-Jones
Richard Harris
Keith Laslop
Katie McAlister
Christian Nothhaft
John O'Reilly
John H. Ott
Karen Whitworth
Signed on behalf of the board on 28 January 2026
John O'Reilly Richard Harris
Chief Executive Chief Financial Officer
Condensed Consolidated Income Statement
For the six months ended 31 December 2025
Six months ended 31 December 2025 (unaudited) Six months ended 31 December 2024 (unaudited and restated)
Separately Separately
disclosed items disclosed items
Underlying (note 3) Total Underlying (note 3) Total
Note £m £m £m £m £m £m
Continuing operations
Revenue 2 420.0 - 420.0 401.8 - 401.8
Cost of sales 2 (236.7) - (236.7) (228.7) - (228.7)
Gross profit 183.3 - 183.3 173.1 - 173.1
Other operating costs 2,3 (142.7) (10.6) (153.3) (139.8) (7.5) (147.3)
Other operating income 3 - 1.3 1.3 - 9.4 9.4
Operating profit 2 40.6 (9.3) 31.3 33.3 1.9 35.2
Financing:
- finance costs (7.6) - (7.6) (5.7) - (5.7)
- finance income 0.5 - 0.5 0.6 - 0.6
- other financial gains (losses) 0.1 (0.4) (0.3) (0.3) (0.4) (0.7)
Total net financing charge 4 (7.0) (0.4) (7.4) (5.4) (0.4) (5.8)
Profit (loss) before taxation 33.6 (9.7) 23.9 27.9 1.5 29.4
Taxation 5 (7.4) 2.0 (5.4) (5.5) 1.0 (4.5)
Profit (loss) for the period 26.2 (7.7) 18.5 22.4 2.5 24.9
Attributable to:
Equity holders of the parent 26.2 (7.7) 18.5 22.4 2.5 24.9
26.2 (7.7) 18.5 22.4 2.5 24.9
Earnings per share attributable to equity shareholders
- basic 7 5.6 (1.6) 4.0 4.8 0.5 5.3
- diluted 7 5.6 (1.6) 4.0 4.8 0.5 5.3
Earnings per share - continuing operations
- basic 7 5.6 (1.6) 4.0 4.8 0.5 5.3
- diluted 7 5.6 (1.6) 4.0 4.8 0.5 5.3
Condensed Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income
For the six months ended 31 December 2025
Six months ended Six months ended
31 December
31 December
2025
2024
(unaudited and restated)
(unaudited)
£m £m
Comprehensive income:
Profit for the period 18.5 24.9
Other comprehensive income:
Items that may be reclassified to profit or loss:
Exchange adjustments net of tax 1.1 (0.6)
Total comprehensive income for the period 19.6 24.3
Attributable to:
Equity holders of the parent 19.6 24.3
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet
As at 31 December 2025 and 30 June 2025
As at As at
31 December
30 June
2025
2025
(unaudited) (audited and restated)
Note £m £m
Assets
Non-current assets
Intangible assets 442.2 442.3
Property, plant and equipment 140.4 133.7
Right-of-use assets 129.0 118.5
Deferred tax assets 7.3 8.9
Other receivables 7.3 7.6
726.2 711.0
Current assets
Inventories 2.3 2.1
Other receivables 20.0 15.9
Income tax receivable 0.7 0.7
Cash and short-term deposits 69.4 75.4
92.4 94.1
Total assets 818.6 805.1
Liabilities
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables (153.1) (155.2)
Lease liabilities (42.9) (42.1)
Income tax payable (4.2) (3.1)
Financial liabilities - loans and borrowings (5.2) (0.2)
Provisions 8 (1.8) (1.1)
(207.2) (201.7)
Net current liabilities (114.8) (107.6)
Non-current liabilities
Lease liabilities (161.6) (158.0)
Financial liabilities - loans and borrowings (25.0) (30.0)
Deferred tax liabilities (3.6) (3.5)
Provisions 8 (39.2) (38.6)
Retirement benefit obligations (3.4) (3.4)
(232.8) (233.5)
Total liabilities (440.0) (435.2)
Net assets 378.6 369.9
Capital and reserves attributable to the Company's equity shareholders
Share capital 65.0 65.0
Share premium 155.7 155.7
Capital redemption reserve 33.4 33.4
Exchange translation reserve 15.0 13.9
Treasury shares (1.7) -
Retained earnings 111.2 101.9
Total shareholders' equity 378.6 369.9
Condensed Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity
For the six months ended 31 December 2025
(unaudited)
Share capital Share premium Capital redemption reserve Exchange translation reserve Treasury shares Retained earnings Total
equity
£m £m £m £m £m £m £m
At 1 July 2025 (as previously reported) 65.0 155.7 33.4 13.9 - 110.7 378.7
Impact of prior period error - - - - - (8.8) (8.8)
At 1 July 2025 (restated) 65.0 155.7 33.4 13.9 - 101.9 369.9
Comprehensive income:
Profit for the period - - - - - 18.5 18.5
Other comprehensive income:
Exchange adjustments, net of tax - - - 1.1 - - 1.1
Total comprehensive profit for the period - - - 1.1 - 18.5 19.6
Transactions with owners:
Debit in respect of employee share schemes, including tax - - - - - (0.1) (0.1)
Dividends paid to equity holders (note 6) - - - - - (9.1) (9.1)
Purchase of treasury shares - - - - (1.7) - (1.7)
At 31 December 2025 65.0 155.7 33.4 15.0 (1.7) 111.2 378.6
Condensed Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity
For the six months ended 31 December 2024
(unaudited and restated)
Share capital Share premium Capital redemption reserve Exchange translation reserve Treasury shares Retained earnings Total
equity
£m £m £m £m £m £m £m
At 1 July 2024 (as previously reported) 65.0 155.7 33.4 13.9 - 71.0 339.0
Impact of prior period error - - - - - (2.8) (2.8)
At 1 July 2024 (restated) 65.0 155.7 33.4 13.9 - 68.2 336.2
Comprehensive income:
Profit for the period - - - - - 24.9 24.9
Other comprehensive income:
Exchange adjustments, net of tax - - - (0.6) - - (0.6)
Total comprehensive (loss) profit for the period - - - (0.6) - 24.9 24.3
Transactions with owners:
Credit in respect of employee share schemes, including tax - - - - - 1.0 1.0
Dividends paid to equity holders (note 6) - - - - - (4.0) (4.0)
At 31 December 2024 65.0 155.7 33.4 13.3 - 90.1 357.5
Condensed Consolidated Statement of Cash Flow
For the six months ended 31 December 2025
Six months ended Six months ended
31 December 2025
31 December 2024
(unaudited) (unaudited and restated)
Note £m £m
Cash flows from operating activities
Cash generated from operations 10 58.1 53.7
Interest received 0.6 0.5
Interest paid (7.2) (5.7)
Tax paid (2.4) (0.3)
Net cash generated from operating activities 49.1 48.2
Cash flows from investing activities
Purchase of intangible assets (5.0) (4.8)
Purchase of property, plant and equipment (22.6) (22.5)
Business disposal consideration 1.0 3.0
Net cash used in investing activities (26.6) (24.3)
Cash flows from financing activities
Dividends paid to equity holders 6 (9.1) (4.0)
Purchase of treasury shares (1.7) -
Repayment of revolving credit facilities (8.0) (60.5)
Drawdown of revolving credit facilities 8.0 63.0
Lease principal payments (17.8) (16.6)
Net cash used in financing activities (28.6) (18.1)
Net (decrease) increase in cash, cash equivalents and bank overdrafts (6.1) 5.8
Effect of exchange rate changes 0.1 -
Cash and cash equivalents at start of period 75.4 62.4
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period 69.4 68.2
1. General information, basis of preparation and accounting policies
General information
The Rank Group Plc ('the Company') and its subsidiaries (together 'the Group')
operate gaming services in Great Britain the Channel Islands and Spain.
The Company is a public limited company which is listed on the London Stock
Exchange and is incorporated and domiciled in England and Wales under
registration number 03140769. The address of its registered office is TOR,
Saint-Cloud Way, Maidenhead, SL6 8BN.
This condensed consolidated interim financial information was approved for
issue on 28 January 2026.
This condensed consolidated interim financial information does not constitute
statutory accounts within the meaning of Section 434 of the Companies Act
2006. Statutory accounts for the 12-month period ended 30 June 2025 were
approved by the Board of Directors on 13 August 2025 and delivered to the
Registrar of Companies. The report of the auditors on those accounts was
unqualified, did not draw attention to any matters by way of emphasis, and did
not contain a statement made under Section 498 of the Companies Act 2006.
This condensed consolidated interim financial information has been reviewed
but not audited.
Basis of preparation
This condensed consolidated interim financial information for the six months
ended 31 December 2025 has been prepared in accordance with the Disclosure and
Transparency Rules of the Financial Conduct Authority and with UK-adopted
International Accounting Standards ('IAS') 34: 'Interim Financial Reporting'.
The condensed consolidated interim financial information should be read in
conjunction with the financial statements for the 12-month period ended 30
June 2025, which have been prepared in accordance with UK-adopted
International Accounting Standards.
Going concern
Assessment
In adopting the going concern basis for preparing the financial information,
the Directors have considered the circumstances affecting the Group during the
year, as outlined in the operating review. This assessment includes the latest
forecast for 2025/26 (the "Base Case"), and the long‑range forecast approved
by the Board. It also reflects recent trading performance and the impact of
changes to duties announced in the recent UK Budget. The Directors have
reviewed the Group's projected compliance with its banking covenants and its
access to funding options in the period to 31 January 2027, which represents
the going concern assessment period.
The Directors have reviewed and challenged management's assumptions for the
Group's Base case. Key considerations are the assumptions on the levels of
customer visits, and their average spend in the venues-based businesses, and
the number of first time and returning depositors in the Digital businesses,
and the average level of spend per visit for each. The Base Case reflects the
significant increase in RGD to 40%, which will affect UK Digital profitability
from April 2026. However, mitigating actions are well advanced and have been
incorporated into the forecasts. The Base case view contains certain
discretionary costs within management control that could be reduced in the
event of a revenue downturn. These include reductions to overheads, reduction
in marketing costs, reductions to the venues' operating costs and reductions
to capital expenditure.
The committed financing position in the Base case within the going concern
assessment period, is that the Group have access to the following extended
committed facilities, which were executed in January 2025:
· Revolving credit facilities ('RCF') of £90.0m, repayable as
£15.0m in January 2027 and £75.0m in January 2028.
· Term loan of £30.0m with repayment of £5.0m in October 2026 and
£25.0m in October 2027.
In undertaking their assessment, the Directors also reviewed compliance with
the banking covenants ("Covenants") which are tested bi-annually at June and
December. The Group expects to meet the Covenants throughout the going concern
period and at the test dates, being June 2026 and December 2026, and have
sufficient cash available to meet its liabilities as they fall due.
Sensitivity Analysis
The Base case view reflects the Directors' best estimate of the outcome for
the going concern period.
A number of plausible but severe downside risks, including consideration of
possible mitigating actions, have been modelled with particular focus on the
potential impact to cash flows, cash headroom and covenant compliance
throughout the going concern period.
The two downside scenarios modelled are:
(i) revenues in Grosvenor fall by 10% in
H2 FY26 and 10% in subsequent years, with UK Digital following the same
pattern and falling by 10% in H2 FY26 and 10% in subsequent years versus the
Base case view. The scenario also assumes increased regulatory and compliance
costs, and costs associated with an assumed cyber incident; with management
taking a number of mitigating actions including reduction in capital
expenditure and reduction in employment costs.
(ii) a reverse stress test, to identify at
which point we would run out of liquidity, or the covenants would not be met
within the going concern period. In this scenario revenues in Grosvenor fall
by 25% and revenues in UK Digital fall by 15% in H2 FY26, with management
taking actions as for scenario (i) but with further mitigating actions on
employment costs and marketing costs.
Having modelled the scenarios, the indication is that the Group would continue
to meet its covenant requirements in all scenarios and have available cash to
meet liabilities within the going concern period, except in the reverse stress
test scenario, where one covenant is breached in January 2027; this is an
extreme case and management consider it to be remote. If this scenario was to
begin to unfold, it would be possible to execute further mitigating actions.
Accordingly, the Directors have a reasonable expectation that the Group has
adequate resources to continue in operational existence for a period at least
up to 31 January 2027.
For these reasons, the Directors continue to adopt the going concern basis for
the preparation of this condensed consolidated interim financial information,
and in preparing this condensed consolidated interim financial information,
they do not include any adjustments that would be required to be made if they
were prepared on a basis other than going concern.
Going concern statement
Based on the Group's cash flow forecasts and business plan, the Directors
believe that the Group will generate sufficient cash to meet its liabilities
as they fall due for the period to 31 January 2027.
The Directors have considered two downside scenarios which reflects a reduced
trading performance, increased regulatory and compliance costs, inflationary
impacts on the cost base, an assumed cyber incident and various
management-controlled cost mitigations.
In conclusion, after reviewing the downside scenario and considering the
remote likelihood of the reverse stress‑test scenario occurring, the
Directors have concluded that, at the time of approving the condensed
consolidated interim financial information, no material uncertainties exist
that cast significant doubt on the Group's ability to continue as a going
concern. Accordingly, it is appropriate to prepare the condensed consolidated
interim financial information on a going concern basis for the period from the
date of this report to 31 January 2027.
In conclusions, after reviewing the downside scenario, and considering the
remote likelihood of the scenario in the reverse stress test occurring, the
Directors have formed the judgement that, at the time of approving the
condensed consolidated interim financial information, there are no material
uncertainties that cast doubt on the Group's going concern status, and that it
is appropriate to prepare the condensed consolidated interim financial
information on the going concern basis for the period from the date of this
report to 31 January 2027.
Accounting policies
Standards, amendments to and interpretations of existing standards adopted by
the Group
The accounting policies and methods of computation adopted in the condensed
consolidated interim financial information are consistent with those followed
in the Group's financial statements for the year ended 30 June 2025.
There are no new or amended standards or interpretations that became effective
in the period from 1 July 2025 which have had a material impact upon the
values or disclosures within this condensed consolidated interim financial
information.
The Group has not early adopted any standard, interpretation or amendment that
has been issued but is not yet effective.
Estimates and judgements
In preparing this condensed consolidated financial information, management has
made judgements, estimates and assumptions that affect the application of
accounting policies and the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, income
and expense, including inflationary cost pressures impacting the cost of
living and customer sentiment and behaviour. Actual results may differ from
these estimates.
The significant judgements made by management in applying the Group's
accounting policies and the key sources of estimation uncertainty were the
same as those that applied to the consolidated financial statements for the
year ended 30 June 2025, with the exception of onerous contracts and lease
arrangements, which are additional for the current period.
(a) Separately disclosed items ('SDIs')
The Group separately discloses certain costs and income that impair the
visibility of the underlying performance and trends between periods. The
SDIs are material and infrequent in nature and/or do not relate to underlying
business performance. Judgement is required in determining whether an item
should be classified as an SDI or included within the underlying results.
SDIs include, but are not limited to:
· Amortisation of acquired intangible assets;
· Profit or loss on disposal of businesses;
· Costs or income associated with the closure of venues;
· Acquisition and disposal costs including changes to deferred or
contingent consideration;
· Impairment charges;
· Reversal of previously recognised impairment charges;
· Property-related provisions;
· Restructuring costs as part of an announced programme;
· Retranslation and remeasurement of foreign currency contingent
consideration;
· General dilapidations provision interest unwinding;
· General dilapidation asset depreciation;
· Discontinued operations;
· Significant, material proceeds from tax appeals;
· Any other one-off events not related to underlying operations;
· The tax impact of all of the above.
(b) Dilapidation costs and provisions
The dilapidations provision represents the estimated cost of dilapidations of
certain properties at the end of the lease term. The provision is reviewed
periodically and reflects judgement in the interpretation of lease terms and
negotiation positions with landlords, including the likelihood that the
current leasehold properties may be subject to redevelopment at the end of the
lease term.
The dilapidation costs are considered, based on management's judgement, not to
relate to underlying business performance as they crystallise only in the
event of a venue being closed, which lead to exit costs that are considered to
be outside of the normal course of business.
Provisions for dilapidations are recognised where the Group has the obligation
to make good its leased properties. These provisions are measured based on
historically settled dilapidations which form the basis of the estimated
future cash outflows. Any difference between amounts expected to be settled
and the actual cash outflow will be accounted for in the period when such
determination is made.
The Group's provisions are estimates of the actual costs and timing of future
cash flows, which are dependent on future events, property exits and market
conditions. Thus, there is inherently an element of estimation uncertainty
within the provisions recognised by the Group. Any difference between
expectations and the actual future liability will be accounted for in the
period when such determination is made.
The provisions are most sensitive to estimates of the future cash outflows
which are based on historically settled dilapidations. This means that an
increase in cash outflows of 1% would have resulted in a £0.3m increase in
the dilapidations provision. Likewise, a decrease in cash outflows of 1% would
have resulted in a £0.3m decrease in the dilapidations provision.
(b) Lease extensions
The Group determines the lease term as the non-cancellable term of the lease,
together with any periods covered by an option to extend the lease if it is
reasonably certain to be exercised. The Group has several lease contracts that
include extension options. Judgement is applied in evaluating whether or not
it is reasonably certain that the option to renew or extend the lease will be
exercised. Extension options are only included in the lease term if the lease
is reasonably certain to be extended.
This evaluation takes into account factors such as whether the Group has
demonstrated an intention to extend the contract; either through management
decision to proceed with the extension or by committing to significant
investment within the premises, both of which are treated as strong indicators
that the lease extension is reasonably certain to occur.
(c) Onerous contracts (including contracts with lease components)
The Group applies IFRS 16 to all leases and therefore recognises lease
liabilities and corresponding right-of-use assets on the balance sheet. As a
result, no onerous provision is recognised for the lease payments themselves,
as these unavoidable costs are already reflected in the lease liability.
Judgement is required in determining whether any non-lease components of a
contract give rise to an onerous position. This assessment includes evaluating
when unavoidable costs such as service charges or termination penalties,
exceed the economic benefits expected to be derived from the contract.
Before recognising an onerous contracts provision, the Group assesses the
right-of-use asset for impairment in accordance with IAS 36: 'Impairment of
Assets'. Any impairment loss determined is recognised accordingly.
Where a provision is required, measurement involves estimates of the
unavoidable non-lease costs, any expected sub-lease income relating to
non-lease elements, the appropriate discount rate, and assumptions regarding
the lease term - including whether any break options are realistically
exercisable.
(d) Lease arrangements
The Group assesses at contract inception whether a contract is, or contains, a
lease, including whether the contract conveys the right to control the use of
an identified asset for a period of time in exchange for consideration. This
judgement also includes the determination of the lease term and whether any
extension or termination options are reasonably certain to be exercised.
Additionally, judgement is also applied when management:
· determines whether a lease arrangement includes a revenue-sharing
component (i.e., where rental payments are linked to revenue and are therefore
variable, rather than a fixed, predetermined amount), and
· identifies any variable payments (if applicable) separate from
any fixed payments (i.e., payments based on an index or rate).
The measurement of lease liabilities and the associated right-of-use assets
involves estimates which includes the discount rate used, expected payments
over the lease term and the treatment of any variable components of the lease
payments.
Prior period restatement
During the period, the Group identified historical errors in the accounting
for leased gaming machines, property lease arrangements and an onerous lease
provision for a property in Romford. These historical errors all arise within
the UK Venues business. These errors related to the incorrect classification
of fixed rental gaming machine contracts as variable rent arrangements and the
omission of lease extensions for two properties from IFRS 16 recognition and
measurement.
In line with IFRS 16 and IAS 7, lease payments previously reported within
lease cash flows have been reassessed; lease principal payments remain within
financing activities, while lease interest has been reclassified to interest
paid within operating activities.
The Romford onerous lease provision was recognised in the financial statements
for the year-ending 30 June 2025. However, the recognition of the provision
was omitted in the condensed financial statements for the six months ended 31
December 2024. In addition, the discount rate used to measure the provision
in the financial statements for the year-ended 30 June 2025 was incorrect.
As these matters represent the correction of prior‑period errors, the Group
has restated comparative information in accordance with IAS 8 Accounting
Policies, Changes in Accounting Estimates and Errors.
Impact on income statement for the six months ended 31 December 2024
The restatement affects the comparative income statement for the six-month
period ended 31 December 2024. The recognition of the Romford onerous lease
provision increases operating costs (separately disclosed items) by £5.4m.
Corrections to the classification of gaming machine leases and lease
extensions on property leases reduce cost of sales by £0.4m and increase
finance costs by £0.3m. In aggregate, these adjustments reduce profit before
taxation for the period by £5.3m. The tax impact of these adjustments is
£1.3m tax credit.
Impact on the balance sheet at 30 June 2025
The correction of these errors resulted in the recognition, in earlier
periods, of right of use assets, lease liabilities and associated impairment
charges that ought to have been recorded when the underlying lease obligations
arose. At 30 June 2025, right of use assets have increased by £21.9m, with a
corresponding increase in lease liabilities of £23.9m. A cumulative
impairment charge of £9.2m has been recognised, reflecting the impairment
that would have arisen had the assets been included in the historical
impairment tests at 30 June 2025 in accordance with IAS 36: 'Impairment of
Assets'. In addition, the Romford onerous lease provision has been adjusted by
£0.5m following correction to the discount rate, as required under IAS 37:
'Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets'. Deferred tax
increased by £2.9m as a result of these adjustments. The net effect of these
adjustments is a reduction in retained earnings of £8.8m at 30 June 2025.
Impact on the statement of cash flow for the six months ended 31 December 2024
The restatement of the comparative cash flow statement for the six months
ended 31 December 2024 reflects the corrected classification of lease related
cash flows in accordance with IAS 7: 'Statement of Cash Flows'. Cash
generated from operations has increased by £1.0m, interest paid has increased
by £3.3m and lease payments have decreased by £2.3m. These adjustments
affect only the presentation of cash flows and do not impact net cash
movements for the period.
The prior period restatement has been applied retrospectively to the extent
required under IAS 8, with the comparative figures restated accordingly. The
detailed impact on the primary financial statements is presented in the tables
below.
Income statement
For the six months ended 31 December 2024
As previously reported Adjustment Unaudited and restated
£m £m £m
Revenue 401.8 - 401.8
Cost of sales (229.1) 0.4 (228.7)
Gross profit 172.7 0.4 173.1
Other operating costs (141.9) (5.4) (147.3)
Other operating income 9.4 - 9.4
Operating profit (loss) 40.2 (5.0) 35.2
Financing:
- finance costs (5.4) (0.3) (5.7)
- finance income 0.6 - 0.6
- other financial losses (0.7) - (0.7)
Total net financing charge (5.5) (0.3) (5.8)
Profit (loss) before taxation 34.7 (5.3) 29.4
Taxation (5.8) 1.3 (4.5)
Profit (loss) for the period 28.9 (4.0) 24.9
Total earnings per share attributable to equity shareholders
- basic 6.2p (0.9)p 5.3p
- diluted 6.2p (0.9)p 5.3p
Balance sheet
As at 30 June 2025
As previously reported Adjustment Unaudited and restated
£m £m £m
Assets
Right-of-use assets 105.8 12.7 118.5
Deferred tax assets 6.0 2.9 8.9
Other non-current assets 583.6 - 583.6
Current assets 94.1 - 94.1
Total assets 789.5 15.6 805.1
Liabilities
Lease liabilities (176.2) (23.9) (200.1)
Provisions (39.2) (0.5) (39.7)
Other liabilities (195.4) - (195.4)
Total liabilities (410.8) (24.4) (435.2)
Net assets 378.7 (8.8) 369.9
Equity
Retained earnings 110.7 (8.8) 101.9
Other equity 268.0 - 268.0
Total shareholders' equity 378.7 (8.8) 369.9
Statement of cash flow
For the six months ended 31 December 2024
As previously reported Adjustment Unaudited and restated
£m £m £m
Cash flows from operating activities
Cash generated from operations 52.7 1.0 53.7
Interest paid (2.4) (3.3) (5.7)
Net cash generated from operating activities 50.5 (2.3) 48.2
Net cash used in investing activities (24.3) - (24.3)
Lease principal payments (18.9) 2.3 (16.6)
Net cash used in financing activities (20.4) 2.3 (18.1)
Net increase in cash and short-term deposits 5.8 - 5.8
Cash and cash equivalents at start of period 62.4 - 62.4
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period 68.2 - 68.2
2. Segment information
In line with IFRS 8: 'Operating Segments', segments are reported in a manner
consistent with the internal reporting provided to the Board of Directors, as
the Chief Operating Decision-Makers ('CODM'), to enable them to make strategic
and operational decisions.
The Group reports five segments: Digital, Grosvenor Venues, Mecca Venues,
Enracha Venues and Corporate Costs.
Six months ended 31 December 2025
(unaudited)
Digital Grosvenor Venues Mecca Venues Enracha Venues Corporate Costs Total
£m £m £m £m £m £m
Segment revenue 123.8 204.0 69.9 22.3 - 420.0
Operating profit (loss) 17.8 20.9 2.7 5.9 (6.7) 40.6
Separately disclosed items (3.8) (0.6) (0.6) (2.9) (1.4) (9.3)
Segment result 14.0 20.3 2.1 3.0 (8.1) 31.3
Finance costs (7.6)
Finance income 0.5
Other financial losses (0.3)
Profit before taxation 23.9
Taxation (5.4)
Profit for the period 18.5
Six months ended 31 December 2024
(unaudited and restated)
Digital Grosvenor Venues Mecca Venues Enracha Venues Corporate Costs Total
£m £m £m £m £m £m
Segment revenue 120.2 192.8 68.6 20.2 - 401.8
Operating profit (loss) 14.2 20.6 0.7 5.4 (7.6) 33.3
Separately disclosed items 5.0 (0.8) 3.2 - (5.5) 1.9
Segment result 19.2 19.8 3.9 5.4 (13.1) 35.2
Finance costs (5.7)
Finance income 0.6
Other financial losses (0.7)
Loss before taxation 29.4
Taxation (4.5)
Profit for the period 24.9
To increase transparency, the Group includes additional disclosures analysing
total costs by type and segment. A reconciliation of total costs, before
separately disclosed items, by type and segment is as follows:
Six months ended 31 December 2025
(unaudited)
Digital Grosvenor Mecca Venues Enracha Venues Corporate Costs Total
Venues
£m £m £m £m £m £m
Employment and related costs 17.2 82.5 24.3 10.2 3.7 137.9
Taxes and duties 30.0 43.8 13.5 1.0 0.9 89.2
Direct costs 27.0 17.8 8.2 1.7 - 54.7
Property costs 0.3 6.0 2.7 0.1 0.2 9.3
Marketing 22.3 4.0 2.8 1.0 - 30.1
Depreciation and amortisation 5.2 15.5 5.6 1.0 0.7 28.0
Other 4.0 13.5 10.1 1.4 1.2 30.2
Total costs before separately disclosed items 106.0 183.1 67.2 16.4 6.7 379.4
Cost of sales 236.7
Operating costs 142.7
Total costs before separately disclosed items 379.4
Six months ended 31 December 2024
(unaudited and restated)
Digital Grosvenor Venues Mecca Venues Enracha Venues Corporate Costs Total
£m £m £m £m £m £m
Employment and related costs 17.6 78.7 24.7 9.0 3.6 133.6
Taxes and duties 26.5 40.8 12.8 1.0 1.1 82.2
Direct costs 31.4 16.0 11.4 2.5 - 61.3
Property costs 0.1 5.1 1.1 0.3 0.2 6.8
Marketing 20.0 4.2 3.1 1.1 - 28.4
Depreciation and amortisation 6.5 13.7 4.3 0.8 0.7 26.0
Other 3.9 13.7 10.5 0.1 2.0 30.2
Total costs before separately disclosed items 106.0 172.2 67.9 14.8 7.6 368.5
Cost of sales 228.7
Operating costs 139.8
Total costs before separately disclosed items 368.5
3. Separately disclosed items
Six months ended Six months
31 December 2025
ended
31 December
(unaudited) 2024
(unaudited and restated)
£m £m
Amortisation of acquired intangible assets (0.3) (1.9)
Closure of venues 1.3 2.3
Property-related provisions (3.8) (5.6)
Loss on payment fraud incident (6.5) -
Divestment of businesses - 6.6
VAT refund from HMRC (in relation to a disposed business) - 0.5
Separately disclosed items (9.3) 1.9
Interest (0.4) (0.4)
Taxation (note 5) 2.0 1.0
Total separately disclosed items (7.7) 2.5
Amortisation of acquired intangible assets
Acquired intangible assets are amortised over the life of the assets with the
charge being included in the Group's reported amortisation expense. Given
these charges are material and non-cash in nature, the Group's underlying
results have been adjusted to exclude the amortisation expense of £0.3m (six
months to 31 December 2024: £1.9m) relating to the acquired intangible assets
of Stride and YoBingo.
Closure of venues
During the period, the Group recognised a £1.4m profit on the sale of
freehold land associated with a former Mecca site and a £0.1m insurance
rebate relating to historic industrial disease and personal injury claims.
This is offset by costs incurred of £0.2m (six months to 31 December 2024:
£0.1m), relating to a number of Mecca venues for additional incidental
closure costs that could not be provided for at the year end.
Upon initial recognition of closure provisions, management uses its best
estimates of the relevant costs to be incurred, as well as the expected
closure dates.
These are material, one-off costs and as such have been excluded from
underlying results.
Property-related provisions
The Group recognised a dilapidation liability (and corresponding dilapidation
asset) of £28.7m during the period ended 31 December 2022. As a result, the
Group has recognised dilapidation asset depreciation of £1.1m (six months to
31 December 2024: £0.9m) and interest on dilapidation liability of £0.4m
(six months to 31 December 2024: £0.4m). Both items are recognised as
separately disclosed items.
In addition, property-related provisions include a £2.0m charge relating to
additional provisions for Mecca venues and the Group's head office. The Group
also recognised a £0.7m write-off in relation to unused office space. Further
details are provided in note 8.
Property related provisions do not relate to the operations of the Group,
rather as a direct result of potential club or property closures and are
therefore excluded from underlying results.
Loss on payment fraud incident
During the period, the Group's Spanish operations - Enracha and YoBingo - were
affected by a payment fraud incident, resulting in a financial loss of £6.5m.
This comprises losses of £3.0m in Enracha and £3.5m in YoBingo, inclusive of
£0.2m of investigation related fees and costs. Given the materiality and
one-off nature of the incident, the loss has been classified as non-underlying
and excluded from underlying results within both the Enracha Venues and
International Digital segments.
Divestment of businesses
During the prior period, the Group disposed of its non-proprietary
(Multi-brands) business to a third-party and generated a profit of £6.6m.
This includes a total sales consideration of £6.9m, comprising £3.0m in cash
consideration and the present value of an agreed £4.5m deferred
consideration, valued at £3.9m, of which £1.0m was received in the first
half of 2025/26. This is partially offset by £0.3m for assets held for sale.
VAT refund from HMRC (in relation to a disposed business)
In the prior period, the Group received a refund of £0.5m in respect of
historical VAT overpayments related to a disposed business of the Group.
The refund relates to an historical matter outside the Group's ongoing
operations and therefore it has been classified as an SDI.
4. Financing
Six months ended Six months ended
31 December 2025
31 December 2024
(unaudited) (unaudited and restated)
£m £m
Finance costs:
Interest on debt and borrowings (1.7) (2.1)
Amortisation of issue costs on borrowings (0.4) (0.3)
Interest payable on leases (5.5) (3.3)
Total finance costs (7.6) (5.7)
Finance income:
Interest income on short-term bank deposits 0.5 0.6
Finance income 0.5 0.6
Other financial gains (losses) 0.1 (0.3)
Total net financing charge before separately disclosed items (7.0) (5.4)
Separately disclosed items - interest (0.4) (0.4)
Total net financing charge (7.4) (5.8)
5. Taxation
Income tax is recognised based on management's best estimate of the weighted
average annual income tax rate expected for the full financial period.
Six months Six months
ended ended
31 December 31 December
2024 2024
(unaudited and restated)
(unaudited)
£m £m
Current income tax
Current income tax - overseas (4.6) (2.1)
Current income tax on separately disclosed items 1.2 -
Total current income tax charge (3.4) (2.1)
Deferred tax
Deferred tax - UK (3.1) (2.3)
Deferred tax - overseas 0.3 (1.1)
Deferred tax on separately disclosed items 0.8 1.0
Total deferred tax charge (2.0) (2.4)
Total tax charge in the income statement (5.4) (4.5)
The tax effect of items within other comprehensive income is as follows:
Six months ended Six months ended
31 December
31 December
2025 2024
(unaudited) (unaudited)
£m £m
Deferred tax credit (charge) on exchange movements offset in reserves 0.4 (0.3)
Total tax credit (charge) on items within other comprehensive income 0.4 (0.3)
The charge in respect of employee share schemes included within the Statement
of Changes in Equity includes a deferred tax charge of £0.1m (six months to
31 December 2024: credit of £0.1m).
The Group is within the scope of the Pillar Two rules whereby top-up tax on
profits is required in any jurisdictions in which it operates when the blended
effective tax rate in each of those jurisdictions is lower than the minimum
effective tax rate of 15%. The rules apply to the Group with effect from 1
January 2024.
The Group's current tax charge includes a top-up tax liability of £0.1m for
the six months ended 31 December 2025 (six months ended 31 December 2024:
£1.1m).
At 31 December 2025, there is a net deferred tax asset of £5.3m in respect of
the UK (30 June 2025 (restated): £7.5m). Deferred tax assets are recognised
to the extent that it is probable that future taxable profits will be
available against which they can be used.
Deferred tax
Deferred tax assets are reviewed at each reporting date taking into account
the recoverability of the deferred tax assets, future profitability and any
restrictions on use. In considering their recoverability, the Group takes into
account all relevant and available evidence to assess future profitability
over a reasonably foreseeable time period. In assessing the probability of
recovery, the Directors have reviewed the Group's four-year Strategic Plan
that has been used for both the going concern and the fixed asset impairment
testing.
The Group concludes that it is probable that the current UK group will
continue to generate taxable profits in the future against which it will
utilise the deferred tax assets.
The Amendments to IAS 12: 'Income Taxes - International Tax Reform - Pillar
Two Model Rules' introduce a temporary mandatory exception to the accounting
for deferred taxes arising from the jurisdictional implementation of the
Pillar Two Model Rules as well as disclosure requirements on the exposure to
Pillar Two income taxes upon adoption.
Accordingly, the Group has applied the temporary mandatory exception in
Amendments to IAS 12: 'International Tax Reform - Pillar Two Model Rules'
retrospectively and is not accounting for deferred taxes arising from any
top-up tax due to the Pillar Two model rules in the consolidated financial
statements.
6. Dividends
Six months ended Six months ended
31 December
31 December
2025 2024
(unaudited) (unaudited)
£m £m
Dividends paid to equity holders
Final dividend for 2024/25 paid on 24 October 2025 - 1.95p per share 9.1 -
Final dividend for 2023/24 paid on 25 October 2024 - 0.85p per share - 4.0
Total 9.1 4.0
The Board has declared an interim dividend of 1.00p per share. The dividend
will be paid on 13 March 2026 to shareholders on the register as at 13
February 2026. This financial information does not reflect this dividend.
7. Underlying earnings per share
Six months ended Six months ended
31 December 2025
31 December 2024
(unaudited and restated)
(unaudited)
£m £m
Profit attributable to equity shareholders 18.5 24.9
Adjusted for:
Separately disclosed items (after tax) 7.7 (2.5)
Underlying earnings attributable to equity shareholders 26.2 22.4
Continuing operations 26.2 22.4
Weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue 466.7m 468.4m
Underlying earnings per share (p) - basic 5.6p 4.8p
Continuing operations 5.6p 4.8p
Underlying earnings per share (p) - diluted 5.6p 4.8p
Continuing operations 5.6p 4.8p
8. Provisions
Property-related Disposal Pay Legal Total
provisions provisions provision provision
£m £m £m £m £m
At 1 July 2025 (as previously reported) 38.4 0.2 0.5 0.1 39.2
Impact of prior period error 0.5 - - - 0.5
At 1 July 2025 (restated) 38.9 0.2 0.5 0.1 39.7
Created 2.0 - - - 2.0
Charge to the income statement - SDI 0.4 - - - 0.4
Release to the income statement - - (0.4) - (0.4)
Utilised in period (0.7) - - - (0.7)
At 31 December 2025 (unaudited) 40.6 0.2 0.1 0.1 41.0
Current 1.6 0.2 - - 1.8
Non-current 39.0 - 0.1 0.1 39.2
At 31 December 2025 (unaudited) 40.6 0.2 0.1 0.1 41.0
Provisions have been determined based on management's best estimate of the
future cash flows, taking into account the risks associated with each
obligation.
Property-related provisions
Where the Group no longer operates from a leased property, onerous property
contract provisions are recognised for the least net cost over the expected
economic benefits. Unless a separate exit agreement with a landlord has
already been agreed, the Group's policy is that this onerous contract
provision includes all unavoidable costs of meeting the obligations of the
contract.
The amounts provided are based on the Group's best estimates of the likely
committed outflows and site closure dates. These provisions do not include
lease liabilities, however, do include unavoidable costs related to the lease
such as service charges, insurance and other directly related costs. As at 31
December 2025, property-related provisions include a £35.0m provision for
dilapidations (30 June 2025: £32.2m) and a £5.6m onerous contracts provision
(30 June 2025 (restated): £6.7m).
Of the £2.0m provision created during the period, £1.3m relates to a closed
Mecca venue and £0.7m relates to unused space in the Group's head office,
representing the present value of unavoidable service charges over the
non-cancellable period of the lease.
Provisions for dilapidations are recognised where the Group has the obligation
to make good its leased properties. These provisions are recognised based on
historically settled dilapidations which form the basis of the estimated
future cash outflows. Any difference between amounts expected to be settled
and the actual cash outflow will be accounted for in the period when such
determination is made, within the income statement.
Where the Group is able to exit lease contracts before the expiry date or
agree sublets, this results in the release of any associated property
provisions. Such events are subject to the agreement of the landlord;
therefore, the Group makes no assumptions on the ability to either exit or
sublet a property until a position is contractually agreed.
Disposal provisions
In a prior period, a provision was made in respect of legacy industrial
disease and personal injury claims, and other directly attributable costs
arising as a consequence of the sale or closure of previously owned
businesses.
The balance of the provision as at 31 December 2025 is £0.2m (30 June 2025:
£0.2m).
Pay provision
During the period, the Group released a provision of £0.4m (30 June 2025:
£nil) relating to a compliance audit. The remaining balance of the provision
as at 31 December 2025 is £0.1m (30 June 2025: £0.5m).
Legal provision
In the prior period, a provision of £0.1m was recognised in respect of a
personal injury claim. The Group has recognised 100% of the claim as a
provision. The balance of the provision as at 31 December 2025 is £0.1m (30
June 2025: £0.1m).
9. Borrowings to net debt reconciliation
As at As at
31 December
31 December
2025
2024
(unaudited
(unaudited) and restated)
£m £m
Total loans and borrowings (29.4) (47.3)
Adjusted for:
Accrued interest 0.2 0.3
Unamortised facility fees (0.8) (1.4)
(30.0) (48.4)
Cash and short-term deposits from operations 69.4 72.6
Net cash excluding IFRS 16 lease liabilities 39.4 24.2
IFRS 16 lease liabilities (204.5) (148.3)
Net debt (165.1) (124.1)
10. Cash generated from operations
Six months ended Six months ended
31 December 2025
31 December 2024
(unaudited and restated)
(unaudited)
£m £m
Profit for the period 18.5 24.9
Adjustment for:
Depreciation and amortisation 28.0 26.0
Amortisation of arrangement fees 0.4 0.3
Share-based payments 0.1 1.0
Underlying net financing charge 6.6 5.1
Income tax charge 7.4 5.5
Gain on lease surrender - (0.6)
Separately disclosed items 7.7 (2.5)
68.7 59.7
Increase in inventories (0.2) (0.2)
Increase in other receivables (5.4) (3.1)
Increase (decrease) in trade and other payables 1.2 (1.0)
64.3 55.4
Cash utilisation of provisions (0.7) (2.0)
(Payments) receipts in respect of separately disclosed items (5.5) 0.3
Cash generated from operations 58.1 53.7
11. Contingent liabilities
Property arrangements
The Group had certain property arrangements under which rental payments revert
to the Group in the event of a default by the third party. As at the end of H1
2024/25, Portsmouth remains the sole site with a potential obligation for the
Group. The site has been sub-leased to PureGym, with an annual rent of £158k,
and the lease will expire in June 2027. The maximum obligation for the Group
is £0.2m on a discounted basis as at 31 December 2025.
Legal and regulatory landscape
Given the nature of the legal and regulatory landscape of the industry, from
time to time the Group receives notices and communications from regulatory
authorities and other parties in respect of its activities and is subject to
regular compliance assessments of its licensed activities.
The Group recognises that there is uncertainty over any fines or charges that
may be levied by regulators as a result of past events and depending on the
status of such reviews, it is not always possible to reliably estimate the
likelihood, timing and value of potential cash outflows.
There are currently no additional regulatory reviews that would suggest that
Rank has a financial exposure.
Disposal claims
As a consequence of historic sale or closure of previously owned businesses,
the Group may be liable for any legacy industrial disease and personal injury
claims alongside any other directly attributable costs. The nature and timing
of these claims is uncertain and depending on the result of the claim's
assessment review, it is not always possible to reliably estimate the
likelihood, timing and value of potential cash outflow.
Contingent consideration
On 21 April 2022, the Group completed the purchase of the remaining 50%
shareholding of Rank Interactive Limited (formerly known as Aspers Online
Limited) for a total consideration £1.3m. Of this consideration, £0.5m was
paid in cash on completion in lieu of the outstanding loan balance the Company
owed to the seller, along with £0.8m due in contingent consideration.
The contingent consideration will be equivalent to a percentage of the net
gaming revenue generated from the acquired customer database, until Aspers
Group launches a competing online operation, or until a £2.0m brand fee is
reached. A present value of £0.8m was recognised at 30 June 2022.
The Group has settled £0.7m of the contingent consideration to date, leaving
a balance of £0.1m as at 31 December 2025. This balance is deemed sufficient
to cover payments until the end of the 2026 financial year.
12. Related party transactions and ultimate parent undertaking
Guoco Group Limited ('Guoco'), a company incorporated in Bermuda, and listed
on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited, has a controlling interest in The
Rank Group Plc. The ultimate parent undertaking of Guoco is GuoLine Capital
Assets Limited ('GuoLine'), a company incorporated in Jersey. Following an
internal restructure on 30 June 2025, GSL Holdings Limited ('GSL') replaced
GuoLine as the ultimate parent of GuoLine (Singapore) Pte Ltd and holds an
interest in the Company. GSL is a company also incorporated in Jersey.
At 31 December 2025, entities controlled by GuoLine and GSL owned 60.3% (30
June 2025: 60.3%) of the Company's shares, including 56.2% (30 June 2025:
56.2%) through Guoco's wholly-owned subsidiary, Rank Assets Limited, the
Company's immediate parent undertaking.
13. Post balance sheet events
There are no post balance sheet events requiring disclosure as at 31 December
2025.
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