Rank Group FY2026 £835M Revenue, £78.6M Profit – CEO Richard Harris Signals Strong FY2027 Momentum

Rank Group has reported underlying operating profit up 21% to £78.6m for the year to 30 June 2026, on gaming revenue of £834.1m, up 6%. Yet the Rank Group FY26 results also show statutory operating profit falling to £55.7m and basic earnings per share dropping to 6.4p. Two operating profit figures, one company, moving in opposite directions. The board still raised the total dividend 35% to 3.50p. Understanding the gap between those numbers is the point.

What the Rank Group FY26 results actually show

Start with the underlying business, because that is where the momentum sits. Group underlying like-for-like net gaming revenue reached £834.1m, a fifth straight year of growth across every division. Operating margin improved from 8.1% to 9.4%. Return on capital employed rose to 18.3%. Underlying earnings per share climbed to 10.5p from 9.1p.

Then the statutory line. Separately disclosed items of £22.9m dragged reported operating profit down. Those charges included a £6.5m loss from a payment-fraud incident in Rank’s Spanish operations, a £5.0m provision for a proposed settlement with the UK Gambling Commission over historical compliance failings at Grosvenor, plus venue-closure and restructuring costs. None of it recurs cleanly. All of it hits the headline number. That is why underlying profit rose while statutory operating profit fell 7%. 

Why the 40% Remote Gaming Duty defines this gaming operator’s year

The single most important change wasn’t in Rank’s control. From 1 April 2026 the UK’s Remote Gaming Duty on online play nearly doubled, jumping from 21% to 40%, landing part-way through the financial year.

Rank’s response was direct: cut above-the-line marketing hard, strip out supplier and headcount cost, protect the customer offer where it counted. Richard Harris, Chief Executive, put it plainly: “We have taken decisive cost actions across the Group in response to the higher taxation of the UK digital gaming industry.” The read on that line is straightforward. The mitigations were executed early, ahead of the duty applying in full.

And the top line held. Digital like-for-like NGR grew 8% across the year and 12% in the fourth quarter, the first full quarter under the new rate, which Rank described as an encouraging step-up.

The Grosvenor casino and Mecca bingo turnaround

Away from digital, the land-based estate did the quiet work. Grosvenor added 850 gaming machines after the Gambling Act reforms took effect, and machines went from the slowest-growing product in the estate to the fastest, up 11%. Average weekly net gaming revenue across Grosvenor reached £7.6m, up from £7.3m.

Mecca was the sharper turn. Underlying operating profit more than doubled to £8.9m, helped by the abolition of bingo duty and a smaller, tidier estate after nine clubs closed. Enracha in Spain grew profit 8% to a record £12.0m.

The caveat worth naming for the regulated gaming market

Here is the part Rank states itself. Digital profitability will step down in 2026/27, because the 40% duty will apply for a full twelve months rather than a single quarter. This year’s mitigations were front-loaded; next year the rate does its full work. The group also flagged the risk of any rise in Machine Games Duty, currently 20%, which would pressure the same venue economics that just delivered. Momentum is real. So is the drag arriving behind it.

What Comes Next for the Regulated Gaming Market?

Rank’s results read as an early field test of whether a UK online business can grow at a 40% duty, and the first-quarter answer is a qualified yes, with margin and marketing reach as the trade-off. For operators and suppliers, the significance is practical: the UK now rewards cost engineering and asset optimisation over land-grab growth, and studios pitching UK partners should expect tighter budgets and harder efficiency questions. The dividend rise signals board confidence, but the honest takeaway is that FY27 is the real exam, when the full weight of the new duty lands and the market learns how much of this year’s discipline was one-off and how much is durable.

Source: The Rank Group plc