Rank Group chief executive Richard Harris used the operator’s full-year results, published Thursday, to challenge a wave of proposed tax measures aimed at the UK’s regulated land-based gambling sector. Speaking as the company reported 5% net gaming revenue growth to £835 million for FY2025/26, Harris argued that mounting fiscal pressure could push much-loved bingo halls and casinos to close. His remarks land at a moment when anti-gambling campaigners and policymakers are pressing for higher duties on both remote and machine-based gaming.
What the Results and the Warning Mean for Operators
Rank’s numbers tell a story of operational strength colliding with a hardening tax environment. The company grew revenue and underlying profit sharply, yet reported operating profit and post-tax profit both fell. That gap between underlying performance and bottom-line reality is the core of Harris’s argument.
- Growth is real, but taxed away: Underlying EBITDA rose 15% to £138.3 million, while profit after tax dropped 23% to £29.9 million.
- Remote gaming duty nearly doubled this year, climbing from 21% to 40%, and Rank has conceded digital profitability will dip in FY2026/27 as a result.
- Machine games duty is the next battleground: Rank called maintaining the current 20% rate “critical,” warning any rise would cut tax receipts within 12 months.
- The operator paid over £225 million in taxes and duties last year, a figure Harris deployed to underline the sector’s contribution before further increases bite.
- Digital carried the year, and that concentration cuts both ways.
A Sector Caught Between Growth and Duty
The full-year figures, covering June 2025 to June 2026, show a business firing on its commercial cylinders. Net gaming revenue reached £835 million ($1.13 billion), with underlying operating profit up 21% to £78.6 million. On a like-for-like basis, which strips out venue openings, closures, currency swings and new markets, NGR rose 6% to £834.1 million.
But the reported line looked different. Reported operating profit slipped 7% to £55.7 million, and profit after tax fell almost a quarter. Rank attributed the divergence largely to tax increases, offset only partially by cost actions and efficiency savings. Net free cash flow eased to £25.5 million from £27.7 million, though net debt improved to £147.2 million.
That is the tension Harris wants regulators to sit with: a company doing well by most operational measures, yet watching its retained profit shrink.
Digital Outpaces the Venues
Rank’s online arm did the heavy lifting. Underlying like-for-like NGR from digital jumped 8% to £248.5 million, and Q4 growth accelerated to 12%, which the company described as “particularly encouraging.” The investor and corporate information published by Rank Group frames this momentum as the anchor for the year’s profit delivery.
The venues held their own. Average weekly NGR from Grosvenor casinos rose 5% year-on-year to £7.6 million, helped by the rollout of 850 machines across 37 casinos. Customer visits and spend per visit both increased. Table gaming, however, was dragged down by the conflict in the Middle East, a reminder that land-based footfall answers to forces well beyond the tax code.
Mecca bingo posted 4% like-for-like NGR growth, even as nine commercially unviable venues closed during the year. Nine closures in a single year is not a rounding error. It is the pattern Harris says higher duties would accelerate.
The Political Backdrop Sharpens
Harris did not name every target, but the references were pointed. He appeared to be responding to a Social Market Foundation report calling for higher duty on “higher-risk Category B electronic gaming machines,” describing anti-gambling campaigners as having “cast clouds” over a regulated industry. And this week, incoming Prime Minister Andy Burnham sought to hand councils more powers to restrict Adult Gaming Centres, going so far as to liken betting shops to “dodgy businesses” and the proliferation of vape shops on the high street.
Harris pushed back on the economics rather than the rhetoric. His case: clubs operating with high supervision levels and tight margins would see tax receipts fall, not rise, if duties climbed, because closures remove the base being taxed in the first place.
“Tax increases for clubs like ours, with high levels of supervision and operating on tight margins, will swiftly lead to lower tax receipts as much-loved bingo halls and casinos will be forced to close,” Harris said.
Whether the Treasury reads a 40% remote gaming duty as evidence for or against that argument is the question hanging over the next Budget.
Trading Momentum and the Medium-Term Target
The early weeks of the new financial year gave Rank something to point at. Across the first six weeks, group NGR rose 8%, with digital up 10% and Grosvenor gaming machine revenue up 15%. The company reiterated its ambition to deliver more than £100 million in underlying operating profit in the medium term.
Yet it flagged a near-term dent. Digital profitability will fall in FY2026/27 as the remote gaming duty increase works through, and the warning on machine games duty makes clear that management sees regulatory cost, not consumer demand, as the primary risk to that £100 million goal.
Boardroom Reshuffle Continues
Rank confirmed Richard Harris as permanent CEO in July, ending his interim spell that began when John O’Reilly stepped down in January after nearly a decade in charge. The board is still in transition.
- Karen Whitworth’s departure from the board was announced in July.
- Lucinda Charles-Jones will step down after the AGM on 8 October.
- Non-executive director Katie McAlister takes over as interim remuneration committee chair following the AGM, with a permanent senior independent director to replace Whitworth expected in due course.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much did Rank Group’s revenue grow in FY2025/26?
Net gaming revenue rose 5% to £835 million ($1.13 billion), with underlying EBITDA up 15% to £138.3 million and underlying operating profit up 21% to £78.6 million.
Why did profit after tax fall despite revenue growth?
Tax increases were the main drag. Profit after tax dropped 23% to £29.9 million, largely reflecting the near-doubling of remote gaming duty from 21% to 40%, only partly offset by cost and efficiency measures.
What tax change is Rank most worried about next?
Machine games duty. The rate currently sits at 20%, and Rank warned that any increase would hit venue viability across Grosvenor and Mecca and reduce tax receipts within 12 months.
Which part of the business performed best?
Digital, comfortably. Underlying like-for-like digital NGR grew 8% to £248.5 million, with Q4 growth reaching 12%.
Who is Rank Group’s current CEO?
Richard Harris, confirmed as permanent chief executive in July after serving on an interim basis following John O’Reilly’s departure in January.
