News release                      

LEI: 213800TXKD6XZWOFTE12

14 August 2025

The Rank Group Plc ('Rank' or the 'Group')

Preliminary results for the 12 months ended 30 June 2025

Strong returns on investment drive revenue and profit growth; land-based casino reforms now underway

Rank (LSE: RNK) is pleased to announce its preliminary results for the 12 months ended 30 June 2025 ('FY').

Financial highlights

Continued improvement in financial performance

Further progress against the strategic plan supported by targeted investments

Current trading and outlook

We have made a good start to the new financial year with Group NGR up 9% for the first 6 weeks and we are well placed to meet current expectations in 2025/26.

John O'Reilly, Chief Executive of The Rank Group Plc said:

"We have had another successful year, delivering revenue growth and profit ahead of our expectations. Both online and in our venues the customer reaction to the investments we are making in our businesses has been excellent. We are growing profitability and have a strong net cash position which will enable both continued investment and progressive dividend returns for our shareholders.

With the long-awaited legislative reforms for casinos now delivered, the Group is at an exciting inflection point. The Grosvenor business will benefit from the higher gaming machine allocations and the introduction of sports betting which will better meet existing customer needs and increase the attractiveness of casinos to a broader base of consumers. Our bingo businesses continue to strengthen as we invest in the quality and value of the customer offering. Our online business is tracking to the expected 8-12% revenue growth rate as we drive the benefits of our proprietary technology and develop seamless cross-channel experiences for our customers. We have a very strong roadmap of opportunity to build further success for the Rank Group over the coming years.

I would like to recognise the exceptional work of my colleagues across the Rank Group whose unwavering commitment to delivering outstanding customer service continues to be the cornerstone of our financial performance."

Definition of terms:

Enquiries

The Rank Group Plc

David Williams, Director of Corporate Affairs and Investor Relations (inc. media enquiries) Tel: 01628 504 295

FTI Consulting LLP

Ed Bridges                                                                                                                                               Tel: 020 3727 1067

Alex Beagley                                                                                                                                           Tel: 020 3727 1045

Photographs available from www.rank.com

Analyst meeting and webcast details:

Thursday 14 August 2025

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/RNK_FY_24/25

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

Growth in all divisions

The year was marked by continued strong momentum, with revenue growth across all businesses, and profit growth supported by strong returns on investment. We have delivered against our strategic priorities of sustained growth in our Grosvenor venues; accelerating growth and driving scale in digital; and maximising cash in our bingo businesses. In particular, we have seen strong growth in our Grosvenor venues and UK digital business, the two businesses where significant investment has been targeted.

Across the Group, like-for-like ('LFL') Net Gaming Revenue ('NGR') of £795.3m was an increase of 11% on the prior year.  

In Grosvenor venues, where the ambition has been to deliver sustained growth, LFL NGR grew 14% on prior year with very strong growth of 17% outside of London and a 9% growth in London, with the flagship Grosvenor Victoria Casino (The Vic) on Edgware Road impacted by major refurbishment works throughout most of the year. Customer visits across the Grosvenor estate grew 3% and spend per visit grew 11%. 

Mecca Bingo grew LFL NGR by 5% as we continue to focus on growing revenue, driving cost efficiencies and maximising the medium-term cash returns from the business. Visitor numbers were flat year on year with spend per visit increasing 5%.   

Our UK venues businesses Grosvenor (4,359 employees) and Mecca (1,556 employees) faced material pressures from higher national minimum wage and employer national insurance costs. LFL employment costs rose from £244.7m in 2023/24 to £271.1m in 2024/25, in line with the expectations set out in our 2024/25 Interim Results. Unlike many other hospitality businesses, gambling companies cannot readily pass these cost increases on to the consumer in the form of higher prices.

Our Enracha venues in Spain delivered another strong performance, with LFL NGR growth of 9% secured through a 3% growth in visitor numbers and a 6% increase in spend per visit.  

In Digital, where we continue to pursue accelerated growth as a cornerstone of the Group's investment case, LFL NGR grew 10%. Digital growth of 12% in the UK reflects continued strong performance from the Grosvenor and Mecca cross-channel brands. In Spain revenue was flat year on year with key developments underway to return the business to growth in the first half of 2025/26. In December 2024 we disposed of the UK digital non-proprietary ('multi-brands') business. All of the Group's digital brands are now utilising our proprietary platform technology.  

Enabling priorities underpin the strong performance   

The strong revenue growth has been underpinned by our three enabling priorities: technology and data; safer gambling, and people and culture.  

Our technology roadmap continues to focus on delivering a seamless cross-channel experience for our customers, leveraging the competitive sweet spot that we enjoy over competitors with our casino-first and bingo-first offering with leading brands, supported by our nationwide estate of venues. Meeting the changing needs and exceeding the expectations of our customers is the driver of our investment in technology, as we increasingly focus on personalising experiences across our brands. This year, we have successfully migrated our proprietary technology to the cloud, enhancing our scalability, improving our technical reliability and securing operational efficiencies. The delivery of a single cross-channel membership system for Mecca in the coming months will complete a step-change in how we utilise data to significantly improve the cross-channel customer experience.  

Safer gambling remains at the heart of what we do and how we generate sustainable growth. Ongoing improvements to the capabilities and training of our dedicated safer gambling teams and wider customer-facing colleagues alongside our proprietary monitoring technology help us to make continued progress. This ensures that our teams are identifying potential harmful play and providing early, and high quality, customer interactions.  

Talented and committed people are essential in a service-orientated hospitality business, and our investment in colleagues is evidenced by an overall employee engagement score of 8.3, up from 7.9, placing Rank in the top quartile of the consumer industry benchmark. Customer Net Promoter Score (NPS) across Rank's businesses increased from 52 to 54 over the course of the year, a further endorsement of the service quality being delivered by colleagues.

Operating profit

The NGR growth across all our businesses has converted to a strong profit performance, which has been ahead of our expectations.  

Underlying LFL operating profit for the Group increased to £63.7m, up 38% from £46.3m in 2023/24, which was itself more than double the £19.7m profit outturn in 2022/23. We are now delivering consistently strong growth numbers with a clear path towards Rank's target of at least £100m annual operating profit in the medium term.

The Group's underlying LFL operating margin of 8.0%, up from 6.5% in 2023/24, is primarily a result of improved revenues, partially offset by increased employment costs and higher depreciation costs, reflecting the increase in capital investment. 

Statutory total Group operating profit for the period was £67.0m (2023/24: £29.4m).

Separately disclosed items ('SDIs')

Separately disclosed items in the year totaled a £2.5m credit, (2023/24: £18.0m charge) including the profit on the sale of the UK digital non-proprietary business in H1 and credits associated with the historic closure of venues. These were offset by the amortisation of intangible assets and property-related provisions.

Underlying net financing charge  

The £12.3m underlying net financing charge for the year was lower than the prior period's charge of £12.8m, due to lower facility drawings through the year and lower loan amortisation costs. The underlying net financing charge includes £8.6m of lease interest calculated under IFRS 16.

Taxation

The underlying effective corporation tax rate for 2024/25 was 18.1% (2023/24: 18.8%). We expect the underlying effective tax rate for 2025/26 to be between 20% and 22%, being below the UK statutory tax rate, on account of international profits being taxed at lower rates than in the UK.

On a statutory basis, the Group had an effective tax rate of 17.3% (2023/24: 22.6%). This is lower than the effective tax rate on underlying profit due to some of the separately disclosed items not attracting a tax charge.

The Group had an effective cash tax rate of (2.2)% (2023/24: (15.5)%. The cash tax rate differs from the standard rate of UK tax due to tax refunds, brought forward tax losses and dividend refund claims in Malta.

The Group is expected to have a cash tax rate of approximately 7-9% for the year ended 30 June 2026. The cash tax rate is driven by the utilisation of brought forward tax losses to offset taxable profits arising in the UK.

Earnings per share ('EPS')

Underlying EPS increased to 9.1p from 5.9p in the prior year, driven by the improvement in underlying LFL operating profit and lower net financing charges. Total EPS increased to 9.5p from 2.7p in 2023/24.

Cash flow and net debt

As at 30 June 2025, the Group had a closing net cash balance (excluding lease liabilities) of £45.4m.

Net debt was £130.8m. Debt comprised £30.0m of term loan and £176.2m in finance leases, offset by cash at bank of £75.4m.

On 9 January 2025, the Group extended £100.0m of its £120.0m total bank facilities for a further 12 months, ensuring appropriate financing is in place until January 2028. We have significant headroom against all the financial covenants associated with our bank facilities.

Whilst still an inflow, working capital was lower in 2024/25 due to the reinstatement of employee bonuses in the prior year.

Capital allocation policy and dividend

It is the Board's primary intention to ensure the Group maintains a strong balance sheet position and has appropriate financing in place to manage operational requirements.

We have introduced return on capital employed (ROCE) as an alternative performance measure on which we will regularly report and which will form part of senior management remuneration. In 2024/25, ROCE was 14.5%, up from 10.3% in 2023/24 and 4.0% in 2022/23.

The Group will continue to invest capital in a disciplined manner to generate attractive returns by improving the customer proposition and maximising the opportunity presented by the forthcoming land-based casino reforms. This includes addressing the historical backlog of infrastructure investment that is required to ensure our venues are operating effectively, an area in which we have made good progress over the last two years.

Growth capital expenditure is subject to strict hurdle rates, typically with a payback of three years or less. We will prioritise investment in venues based on the clearest growth opportunities, the competitive potential in local markets, and investments that allow us to quickly assess the impacts of the land-based casino reforms.

The Group will make returns to shareholders by way of an ordinary dividend, operating a progressive dividend policy, with a payout ratio that is expected to grow to over 35% in the medium term.

After consideration of inorganic growth opportunities that align with the Group's strategic plan, any surplus capital will be returned to shareholders through supplementary returns at the Board's discretion.

In line with the above dividend policy, the Board is recommending a final dividend of 1.95 pence per share. Subject to shareholder approval, the final dividend will be paid on 24 October 2025 to shareholders on the register as at 19 September 2025. The total dividend declared for 2024/25 is 2.60 pence per share, up from 0.85 pence in 2023/24.

Business review

Grosvenor venues

Key financial performance indicators:

The Grosvenor Casinos business has delivered another year of very strong revenue and earnings growth.

Underlying LFL NGR grew 14% compared to the prior year, and at a higher rate than the 9% growth seen in 2023/24. The average weekly NGR for the year was £7.3m per week, up from £6.3m in the prior year and ahead of the target of achieving average weekly revenues of £7m per week. In the interim results we increased our expectations that, excluding the legislative reforms in the Gambling Act review, we would grow Grosvenor's average weekly NGR to at least £8.0m per week in the medium term.  The success of 2024/25 positions the business firmly on this pathway.

The revenue growth was delivered through visitor numbers growing 3% and an increase of 11% in spend per visit. The business saw an improvement in table margin of 1.7 percentage points in the year, the result of continued benefits from the investment in both table equipment and the table management system being progressively rolled out across the estate. London venues grew NGR 9% with the rest of the UK growing 17%. The relative underperformance of our London venues is largely the result of the major refurbishment works at the Grosvenor Victoria Casino (the Vic) on London's Edgware Road, which took place from October 2024 and successfully concluded in July 2025. Excluding The Vic, LFL NGR grew 21% in London.

The revenue growth being delivered in the Grosvenor business is the result of the significant and targeted investments that we have made in our venues, an improved product offering, improvements to customer risk management, and our people and culture. They are an encouraging prelude to the growth that we anticipate as a result of the land-based casino reforms of higher machine allocations and sports betting which came into force on 22 July 2025. 

At a product level, table gaming revenues grew 18% on the prior year, benefiting from the 1.7 percentage point increase in the table gaming margin and growth in stakes/handle. 

Electronic gaming revenues grew 21% on prior year. 726 electronic roulette terminals have been upgraded since January 2022, at a total cost of £10.7m, with 545 new terminals upgraded in the past year. Blackjack and baccarat have also been added to the electronic offering to broaden the customer appeal. 

Increasingly, our customers enjoy the appeal of gaming machines, but legislation has hitherto constrained the supply of machines resulting in unmet demand from customers. LFL growth in the year has, therefore, been relatively modest at 8%. We expect this will be transformed with the rollout of new gaming machines, permitted by the increase in machine allocations from 22 July 2025.  As well as increasing the number of machines, we are working to introduce a greater variety of machines and game packs into the Grosvenor estate. We will increase the number of suppliers with whom we partner from four currently to six over the course of the next year.

We have used the past year to research and refine the sports betting proposition, currently available only in Grosvenor's 2005 Act casino in Luton, with a view to rolling out a sports betting offer to 38 Grosvenor venues over the next 12 months. These will take the form of dedicated premium sports betting lounges in a small number of casinos with access to sports betting terminals in sports viewing areas in other venues. C. 350 self-service betting terminals are expected to be installed in 2025/26.

Our investment in venues in 2024/25 has included two significant capex projects, including the conclusion of the work in Grosvenor Leicester and in the Grosvenor Victoria Casino (The Vic') in London. The refurbishment of Grosvenor Leicester completed at a total cost of c. £4m and we have been delighted with the initial return on investment, with NGR up 19% and visits up 10% since the refurbishment against the same period in the prior year. We anticipate further improvements with the benefit of the casino reforms. The Vic refurbishment is one of the largest single capital investments in Rank's history at a cost of c. £15m. Work began in October2024 and completed in July 2025, transforming our flagship Grosvenor casino. During the 10-month long renovation works, we remained open for business, closing areas of the venue in sequence and reopening when work was complete. Weekly NGR during this period was down c. £0.12m on the prior year.

Elsewhere, smaller scale investments in our venues have been focused on preparations for the legislative reforms which are now being rolled out. Grosvenor casinos in Stoke, Cardiff, Stockton, Thanet, Luton, Didsbury and Plymouth have all received modest investments during the year. 

The current estate of 1,367 machines will increase by around 850 in 2025/26, providing the approval process of local authorities in England and Wales is in line with our expectations. We have built flexibility into this plan, recognising the likelihood that local authorities will not approve all licence variation applications at the same time. Broadly, however, we expect customers to be enjoying the first extra machines during Q1. Casinos in the first phase of investment for which we expect to be able to install the maximum 80 machines per venue will be The Vic, Blackpool, Bolton, Leeds, Leicester, Luton and Reading South. 

The first phase of the rollout of additional gaming machines will provide rich data to inform a 'test and learn' approach to the precise phasing and rollout of a further c. 650 machines over the two and a half years to end of 2027/28. These updated machine numbers exclude Scotland which requires the legislative reforms to be adopted by the Scottish Government. When we are able to offer additional machines in Scotland, a further 188 machines will be rolled out, bringing the total machine estate to 3,066 for the current Grosvenor Casinos estate.

The strong revenue growth performance and the confidence in the outlook for the Grosvenor business are underpinned by our commitment to safer gambling and the approach we take to customer risk management. Our aim is the successful early identification of potentially harmful play, triggering timely and appropriate customer interactions which protect our customers but minimise unnecessary customer friction. Supporting our colleagues in delivering high quality interactions by developing their skillsets and equipping them with timely data helps us to ensure the customers who require support receive it in an appropriate way. Our Safer Gambling employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS), which measures how likely our colleagues are to recommend Grosvenor's approach to safer gambling practices, increased from 64 to 72 over the year and Grosvenor's safer gambling customer feedback score improved to 88% (2023/24: 85%).

Grosvenor's cultural transformation programme ('From Like To Love') continued to be developed over the course of the year with 631 management grade colleagues attending training programmes designed to support our journey to become the UK's most loved casinos. The employee opinion survey undertaken in May 2025 returned very strong results, with an engagement score of 8.4, up from 7.9 recorded in May 2024, underlining the significant progress made over the year.  

Employment costs are by far the most significant operating costs in the Grosvenor Casinos business and these have significantly increased since April 2025 as a result of the increase to the National Living Wage (annualised cost impact of c. £5m), and higher employer National Insurance contributions (annualised cost impact of c. £4m). These employment cost increases for FY 2025/26 are prior to any further increases in the living wage from April 2026.  The statutory levy for the research, prevention and treatment ('RPT') of gambling-related harm, applicable from April 2025, adds a further annualised cost impact of c. £2m.

These cost headwinds are set in the context of a Grosvenor Casinos business which has a largely fixed or semi-fixed cost base. When the business grows revenues, it is able to materially grow profit. The improved revenue performance of the Grosvenor business has delivered a 35% growth in underlying LFL operating profit to £32.0m, following on from the 42% profit growth delivered in 2023/24. 

At a statutory level, Grosvenor operating profit improved from £16.5m in 2023/24 to £29.8m.

During the year, there were impairment charges of £4.5m and impairment reversals of £3.2m, driven by the performance of individual venues. The impairments occur where performance has fallen short of expectations or the future prospects for that venue have been reduced. Similarly, impairment reversals occur where the venue has over-performed or future prospects have increased including the additional opportunity presented by the land-based reforms.

The Grosvenor business has a talented management team, engaged set of committed colleagues, a strong roadmap of investments and other initiatives to drive revenue growth and further efficiencies and, of course, the rollout of long-awaited land-based casino reforms. 

We look forward to providing more detail on the Grosvenor business at our Capital Markets Event, which will be hosted at the newly refurbished Victoria Casino on London's Edgware Road, on 22 October 2025.  

Mecca venues

Key financial performance indicators:

Recent years have seen a significant rationalisation of the Mecca estate, a process that has concluded with two venue closures over the past year, bringing our estate size to 50 clubs. A more competitive business, with thriving clubs offering stronger prize boards as a result of higher liquidity, speaks directly to our strategic focus of maximising cash from the Mecca business over the medium term. 

Mecca LFL NGR grew 5% in the year. Visitor numbers were flat year on year with spend per visit increasing 5%.

The mainstage bingo game remains the primary driver of admissions. Our focus on ensuring competitive prize boards at prices that are consistently good value has seen bingo Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) grow 4%, with NGR declining 1% due to the additional prize money we have invested. The need to appeal to new audiences and a younger demographic is important to sustain the long-term appeal of our venues. We continue to attract high numbers of customers coming to clubs, with c. 160k new members during the year, of whom 57% were aged under 40.  The new members in 2024/25 represent 29% of all active customers.

Customers increasingly expect a modern proposition, and during the year we deployed an additional 1,500 new Mecca Max tablets as the migration to electronic rather than paper bingo continues. Electronic bingo now accounts for 76% of bingo revenues on the mainstage game, up from 73% in 2023/24.

During 2024/25 850 Equinox cabinets from Light & Wonder were rolled out replacing the much older Clarity machines. To further modernise the gaming machine estate, 664 machines, from a mix of suppliers including Novomatic, Inspired, Blueprint and Light & Wonder were also introduced across the estate. Our venues in Aberdeen, Leicester, Paisley, Bolton and Leeds Crossgate have been the latest venues to benefit from investments to their gaming machine areas including refurbishment, improved lighting and audio quality. This brings the number of Mecca venues that have now received refurbishments to gaming machine facilities to 25 in the past three years. Staking in Mecca venues which received investment in 2024/25 was 14% higher than staking levels in those clubs which did not.

Gaming machine revenues were up 9% year on year and now account for 41% of Mecca's NGR, with plenty of scope for further growth, particularly with Gambling Act reforms still to come.

The interval bingo game grew LFL NGR by 6%, with food and beverage revenues increasing by 1%.   

The other key focus for investment throughout the year has been improvements to external signage. Enhancing the look and feel of Mecca's venues by making them more externally appealing drives attendances, and our clubs in Blyth, Beeston, Southend and Leeds Crossgates are the latest of 19 clubs to now enjoy a more modern, attractive appearance since the investment programme commenced in FY 2022/23.

In line with the commitment across the entire Group, managing customer risk and ensuring safer gambling is a priority for Mecca. Following the investment in 2023/24 in a new customer monitoring system for gaming machine players, in 2024/25 Mecca has introduced new handheld devices in order to prompt colleagues when customers meet thresholds, including both expenditure and time. This enables prompt real-time interactions with customers to ensure they are playing safely. Our safer gambling customer feedback score improved to 88% (2023/24: 83%) and our safer gambling eNPS improved to 80 (2023/24: 77).

Mecca's customer net promoter score in 2024/25 remains very strong at 77 (2023/24: 78) and a record colleague engagement score of 8.5 (2023/24: 8.3) was achieved in our most recent employee opinion survey. A motivated, passionate team delivering high quality service to Mecca's customers is a fundamental part of the cash maximisation strategy for the business.

As with Grosvenor, employment costs remain the most significant cost line for Mecca and these have increased throughout the year by £2.7m on the prior year, in part a result of the increase to the National Living Wage (annualised cost impact of c. £2m) and the sharp rise in employer National Insurance contributions (annualised cost impact of c. £1m).

Underlying LFL operating profit of £3.4m, down 6% from £3.6m last year, highlights the pressures that remain in land-based bingo and why the need for legislative reform is so important for the Mecca business. We remain hopeful that positive reforms for the bingo sector will be delivered in 2025/26.

At a statutory level, Mecca's performance improved from a loss of £1.7m in 2023/24 to a profit of £5.6m in the year.

During the year, there were impairment charges of £6.1m and impairment reversals of £5.2m, driven by the performance of individual venues. The impairments occur where performance has fallen short of expectations or the future prospects for that venue have been reduced. Similarly, impairment reversals occur where the venue has over-performed or future prospects have increased. 

Throughout the year, we have taken a disciplined and targeted approach to investment, which has positioned the Mecca estate for further growth and improved cash generation.    

Enracha venues

Key financial performance indicators:

The nine Enracha venues in Spain, which combine bingo, sports betting and gaming machines, have once again performed well. Underlying LFL NGR was £40.9m, up from £37.6m on the prior year, a growth of 9%. A 3% growth in visit numbers and a 6% increase in spend per visit have helped to deliver another robust set of results.

The strongest performance came from those venues which recently enjoyed targeted investment. In the first half we completed the refurbishment of our Seville venue which saw 4% growth in visits and 14% growth in revenue over the course of the year. We have commenced improvements to the Sabadell venue in Catalonia to increase the availability of gaming machines and electronic roulette positions, which will complete in H1 2025/26.

In 2025/26 the Universal venue in Madrid will receive the immersive bingo screen experience that has yielded good returns in Seville, and we will update the gaming machine area and sports betting offering in the Enracha venue in Cordoba.

Underlying LFL operating profit grew 15% to £10.8m; another record year for profitability in Enracha.  The estate of flagship venues is well located, well invested and provides an entertaining experience for customers, all of which contribute to the strong profit performance.

Statutory operating profit was £13.8m for the year.

Digital

Key financial performance indicators:

Building momentum and scale remain the priorities in the strategic plan for the digital business. We have delivered against those priorities with an increase of 10% in underlying LFL NGR, with the average revenue per customer increasing by 18%.

In the UK, revenues grew 12% to £208.8m, with another year of strong double digit revenue growth in our two cross-channel brands, Grosvenor (+22%) and Mecca (+11%). The other brands operating on the proprietary technology platform declined 5% in the year but are expected to return to growth in 2025/26 with a renewed focus on the quality of the customer offering and the positioning of these brands.

The revenue growth in our UK core businesses was powered by the continued investment in technology, enabling our market leading proprietary platform to host seamless and tailored cross-channel experiences for our customers. The launch of our proprietary Mecca app in the first half, with an enhanced bingo offering, new slots content and enhanced bonus tools, was followed in the second half with the launch of Cash Dash, a popular venues game now available online for Mecca customers. We also launched Mega Money Live, a new joint liquidity game live streamed from a Mecca venue. Grosvenor app development has continued, with enhanced jackpots, improved navigation, and enhancements to the 'live from Grosvenor' live table offering.

We disposed of the non-proprietary business in December 2024 for a total consideration of £7.5m, of which £3.8m was received in year, with a further £3.7m due over the next 33 months. Prior to its disposal, the non-proprietary business had seen a 25% decline in LFL revenues year on year. 

We have an ambitious pipeline of initiatives for 2025/26 across product, customer service and safer gambling. Our proprietary 'Hawkeye' system to monitor safer gambling, which was awarded EGR's 'Safer Gambling Operator of the Year', will benefit from a programme of further enhancements and refinement. Delivery of the cross-channel single membership scheme for Mecca customers, consolidation of the MyMecca and Slots Society apps onto our proprietary app and new promotional tools will further improve the customer experience. The rollout of Live Slots Play machines will replicate the in-venue experience online and we will further improve our 'Live From' interface which continues to position Grosvenorcasinos.com as an offering for customers wishing to have a real casino experience online, an area of competitive advantage for brand.

The statutory levy for research prevention and treatment of problem gambling was introduced from April 2025 at a rate of 1.1% of Gross Gaming Yield (GGY), a significant increase from the former voluntary rate of 0.1%. In 2024/25 the impact on digital profitability was £0.7m with an annualised profit impact on the digital business going forwards of at least £2.8m per annum. A maximum staking limit for online slots play of £5, £2 for consumers aged under 25, was also implemented in April 2025; the impact on digital profitability in the final quarter of the year has been c. £1m and we therefore expect the annualised impact to be in the region of c. £4m going forwards.

In Spain, digital performance was flat in the year, hampered by platform capacity constraints since Q2 which have restricted our ability to deliver regular big prize bingo rooms to YoBingo's customers. Performance testing of our new bingo platform is very nearly complete and we expect the Spanish digital business to return to growth in H1 2025/26.

Our plan to launch in Portugal has taken longer than we had hoped but we have now obtained the platform certification from the regulator. We expect to receive the licence in the coming weeks, and look forward to going live during 2025/26, becoming the first online bingo operator in Portugal.

The strong operating leverage in the digital business ensures that as revenues increase, profit improves materially.  The 2024/25 underlying LFL operating profit was £33.3m, a growth of 41% on the prior year. Profit from our UK digital business was up 47% and despite the revenue challenges in our Spanish digital business, profit was up 23% as the Spanish facing business benefitted from its relocation to Ceuta during the prior year.

Statutory operating profit for the year was up 131% on the prior year to £37.4m.

Since 2022/23, we have improved baseline operating margins from 7.8% to 14.1%, in line with the target to achieve at least 630bps of margin improvement in the medium term. The dilutive impact of the statutory levy and maximum slots staking limits will mean margin expansion is limited in 2025/26, but there is further opportunity to improve in 2026/27 and beyond. We remain confident in delivering compounded LFL revenue growth of 8-12% per annum.

Sustainability update

Rank's approach and commitment to sustainability continues to revolve around four focus areas: Customers, Colleagues, Environment and Communities.

We are dedicated to the safe play of our Customers, with safer gambling being at the heart of everything we do. Through promotion of messaging and the availability of tools to support safe play, we empower our customers to bet and play responsibly across all products and all channels. We continue to refine our approach, introducing additional ways of raising awareness and new methods to detect at-risk play. This year, we commenced a pilot exercise to enhance safer gambling awareness for online customers through the use of display messaging while they are logged in and active. We were also particularly proud to receive the European Safer Gambling Initiative Award for our development and use of Hawkeye, our in-house live customer monitoring platform.

We have retained a safer gambling customer feedback score of 84% this year and, while we are pleased with this, we are targeting an improvement through the continued progression of our player protection approach. We recorded an above-target customer Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 54, which reflects the significant enhancements we have implemented in our product and service offering, including the introduction of new customer service portals for our digital brands.

Our colleagues play a vital role in how effectively we deliver safer gambling. We provide regular training, including in our Spanish business where we have developed programmes for our colleagues in partnership with organisations that address gambling addiction. A three-point increase in our safer gambling eNPS (which measures colleague sentiment on how Rank performs on safer gambling) to 72, underlines the progress we continue to make and exceeded our target for the year.

For our Colleagues, our employee value proposition, 'Work. Win. Grow.', continues to be reflected across the colleague experience, enabling our teams to thrive in an inclusive working environment through engaging work. We have evolved our talent and learning strategy, introduced more places on our mentoring programme, launched in-person strategy days for our UK digital business, and advanced Grosvenor's Like to Love programme. The success of these efforts is evident in the four-point increase in our employee engagement score to 8.3. We continue to promote equality, diversity, and inclusion across the Group. Our representation of women in senior roles stands at 32%, with further progress to be made, and we are pleased to report an improved mean gender pay gap with a mean gender pay gap of 11.7%, below the UK average of 13.1% (source: ons.gov.uk, 2024 data).

In terms of Environment, we have made significant progress on our journey towards a Net Zero Pathway. This year, we achieved an above-target reduction of 5,520 tCO2e in absolute carbon emissions. We also formally launched our Environmental Policy, which enshrines our commitment to reducing our carbon emissions across our operations and reaching net zero by 2050, alongside new waste management and water stewardship policies. Regarding Scope 2 emissions, all our purchased electricity in the UK and Spain is now sourced from renewable sources. We have completed our Scope 3 emissions baselining exercise for our UK portfolio, having completed the exercise for the Spanish venues in 2023/24. We have now transitioned to in-house carbon emissions accounting, providing greater visibility and ownership of this crucial data.

Our commitment to the Communities in which we operate remains steadfast. Our colleagues have close ties to their localities and a strong desire to make a positive difference. Our Mecca venues, in particular, are much more than bingo clubs. They are places of entertainment where customers meet and socialise, and we are proud of the role they continue to play bringing communities together. Throughout the year, our teams have actively fundraised and volunteered for a wide range of charities and organisations. Our Group-wide partnership with Carers Trust has been particularly impactful; we surpassed our fundraising target for the year, raising over £400k, and have now collectively raised over £4 million for the charity since 2014.

Underpinning everything we do is a best practice approach to Governance. Through the right training, policies, and procedures, we ensure that all our operations adhere to the highest standards of business ethics. We have also reviewed the Double Materiality Assessment conducted last year, completing a validation exercise with external stakeholders to confirm that our focus areas remain relevant and impactful.

Regulatory update

Critical land-based reforms for the casino sector became law on 1 July 2025 and came into force on 22 July enabling Grosvenor Casinos to begin the process of securing licence variations from local authorities in England and Wales, a process that will take a minimum of 28 days. The variations will permit the rollout of additional gaming machines across the estate and the implementation of sports betting in venues to better meet the needs of customers. The reforms do not yet extend to Scotland; we are engaging with the Scottish Government to seek to enable customers in our five casinos in Scotland to benefit from the same reforms at the earliest opportunity.

Gambling Act reforms for the land-based bingo industry remain Government policy with Baroness Twycross, the Gambling Minister, publicly confirming her support for the land-based sector: "I also want to work closely with other parts of the land-based sector, such as bingo clubs ... to understand what we can do to support them. They are a vital and vibrant part of many communities and I want to see them thrive, not just survive." (source: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/baroness-twycross-speech-at-gambleaware-annual-conference).

The Minister has stated that the Government will not progress with land-based reforms for bingo clubs before 2026 as it consults with the industry on possible changes to the licensing regime for different land-based gambling verticals, including Adult Gaming Centres (AGCs). We remain confident that the Government will deliver the public policies, particularly a new allowance of a 2:1 ratio of Category B3 to Category C gaming machines in bingo venues, replacing the current 20:80 ratio which limits the more popular B3 machines to just 20% of the gaming machine bingo club allowance. Similarly, the opportunity to provide side bets on the mainstage bingo game will be progressed no sooner than 2026.

Board update

On 2 December 2024, we announced the appointment of Mr. Christian Nothhaft as a non-independent non-executive director. The appointment coincided with the retirement from the Board of Mr. Chew Seong Aun. The Board wishes to reiterate its gratitude for the valuable contribution Seong Aun made to the Group during his tenure of office.

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 up to 31 August 2026.

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 scenario in the reverse stress test occurring, the Directors have formed the judgement that, at the time of approving the consolidated financial statements, there are no material uncertainties that cast doubt on the Group's and the Company's going concern status, and that it is appropriate to prepare the consolidated financial statements on the going concern basis for the period from the date of this report to 31 August 2026.

Principal risks and uncertainties

Effective risk management is an integral part of ensuring the Group is able to successfully execute its strategic plan. The Board and Executive Committee have conducted a robust assessment of the Group's principal and emerging risks. The risks outlined in this section are the principal risks that we have identified as material to the Group - those that could affect strategic ambitions, financial performance, future prospects, and the reputation of the Group. They represent a 'point-in-time' assessment, as the environment in which the Group operates is constantly changing and new risks may always arise.

Risks are considered in terms of likelihood and impact and are based on a residual risk rating of: high, medium or low, i.e. after considering the mitigating controls already in place. Mapping risks in this way helps not only to prioritise the risks and required actions, but also to direct the required resource to maintain the effectiveness of controls already in place and mitigate further where required.

The risks outlined in this section are shown alongside their residual risk rating, the risk trajectory (including whether the risk is increasing, stable or decreasing) and an explanation of the mitigating actions and controls. The relevant Committees are also responsible for the governance and oversight of each risk. The principal risks are not set out in order of priority, and do not include all risks associated with the Group's activities.

Additional risks not presently known to management, or currently deemed less material, may also have an adverse effect on the business. Risks such as these are not reported as principal risks but are nevertheless regularly monitored for their impact on the Group.

After review, the Board concluded that there were 12 principal risks this year and that no new risks were identified beyond those disclosed in the 2024 annual report. However, the Board did agree to changes in some of the residual risk ratings and risk trajectories, which are summarised in the table and detailed below.

Summary of principal risks and changes in the last 12 months

*Note: the residual risk rating is shown after the impact of mitigating controls.

Emerging risks

The Group's risk profile will continue to evolve as a result of future events and uncertainties. Our risk management processes include consideration of emerging risks with horizon scanning being performed with a view to enabling management to take timely steps to intervene as appropriate.

The methodology used to identify emerging risks includes reviews with both internal and external subject matter experts, reviews of consultation papers and publications from within and outside the industry and the use of key risk indicators.

Throughout the year some new risks have emerged and developed, which have been monitored by management and discussed with the Board, and appropriate actions taken. Some examples of these risks are provided below.

The Board and management team continue to monitor changes in the political and macroeconomic backdrop faced by the Group, particularly with respect to tax policies and employment rights. Changes to regulation in the gambling industry continues to be closely monitored in all our jurisdictions, as further changes are anticipated. The implementation of the Gambling Act Review allows Grosvenor to modernise the customer proposition to better meet the needs of our customers.

The Group primarily operates from properties on short leases in the UK venues businesses. Management seeks to renew leases for a longer period in strategically important locations and ensure continuity of tenure in profitable venues. However, it is not always possible to guarantee security of tenure where landlords seek to occupy a property themselves or take it back on redevelopment grounds.

Artificial intelligence is being increasingly utilised by the Group and is expected to provide opportunities to deliver improved customer service and efficiency. However, there are also risks associated with new AI technology, particularly in the protection of and use of proprietary data. The Group is exploring how best to capitalise on technology whilst not exposing itself to unnecessary risk.

Climate risks are currently not regarded as a principal risk for the Group, but there are additional disclosure requirements that need to be reported on, such as the EU Corporate Sustainability Directive (CSRD).

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:

Rationale for adjustments - profit and debt measure

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 the Financial Review and note 3. 

In the current year (2024/25), the Group closed two Mecca venues and disposed of our non-proprietary digital business.  For the purpose of calculating like-for-like ('LFL') measures the contribution has been excluded from the prior period numbers and current period numbers, to ensure comparatives are made to measures on the same basis.

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.

Calculation of comparative underlying LFL NGR  

Calculation of comparative underlying LFL operating profit