a winning hand…
annual report  accounts 2002 1 financial highlights
2 business structure
4 chairman’s statement
5 key facts
6 chief executive’s review
7 the aces in our pack
8 gaming – mecca bingo
10 gaming – grosvenor casinos
12 gaming – interactive 
14 hard rock
16 deluxe – film laboratories
18 deluxe – media services
20 employees
22 board of directors
23 operating and financial review
32 directors’ report
34 remuneration report
40 corporate governance
42 directors’ responsibilities
43 independent report of the auditors
44 group profit and loss account
45 balance sheets
46 group cash flow statement
47 group recognised gains and losses
47 movements in group shareholders’ funds
48 accounting policies
50 notes to the accounts
73 principal subsidiary undertakings
74 five year review
75 shareholder information
76 summary notice of agm
76 2003 financial calendar
contents ● earnings per share before exceptionals 
up 21 to 199p
● profit before tax and exceptionals of
£2003m 2001 – £1881m £1980m 
after exceptionals 2001 – £1605m
● gaming

turnover up 8 to £4721m and
operating profit up 13 to £1098m
● hard rock operating profit of £276m 
2001 – £380m reflecting difficult
trading conditions
● deluxe operating profit before exceptionals
up 20 to £890m ritek acquisition
integrated successfully
● final dividend up 5 to 88p 2001 – 84p
making a total for the year of 132p 
2001 – 126p
● net debt of £3991m 2001 – £2481m
fixed charge cover up to 50 times
● acquisition of blue square provides the 
group with the full suite of gaming and
betting products ahead of deregulation

excluding rank interactive gaming
1 the rank group plc
financial highlights hard rock casinos are a new concept
from grosvenor casinos – run and
managed by grosvenor staff and
branded hard rock they are designed 
to appeal to a younger audience
the first hard rock casino opened in
manchester in july 2002 followed by
one in london in november 2002 ♦ the london hard rock casino is just 
off leicester square in a listed building
many of the period features were retained 
and have been complemented by the 
historic music memorabilia which adorns 
the walls and ceiling
♦ specific to the hard rock casinos are large
plasma screens continuously showing an
excellent collection of music videos 
♦ recent legislation permitting live
entertainment in casinos will allow
the use of the venue’s stage where 
bands can perform live
♦ a variety of fashionable merchandise 
is available from hard rock casinos ♦ recent liberalisation of regulations has
allowed alcohol on the gaming floor –
waitresses serve drinks so that the customers
can continue to play
♦ electronic roulette is very popular with
customers and has been installed across 
the entire grosvenor casino estate
♦ hard rock casinos feature the same games 
as other grosvenor casinos – black jack
roulette and stud poker
♦ progressive stud poker was introduced in
september 2002 and grosvenor was the first
operator to link across its uk casinos  over 30000 members have joined the 
two hard rock casinos since opening
a total of over 6000 customers 
each week
a high proportion of young players 
aged 1834
excellent locations which should
benefit from deregulation  three major divisions
market leading positions
other operations
us holidays
us holidays comprises timeshare operations campgrounds 
and a hotel
universal studios – hotels
rank has a 25 equity interest in three hotels at universal studios
escape orlando florida – portofino bay hotel hard rock hotel 
and royal pacific resort hotel
universal studios – japan
rank has a 10 equity interesttheme park opened 2001
gaming
turnover £4745m
operating profit

£1048m
including interactive gaming
gaming operations
mecca bingo
123 clubs in the uk and 9 in spain 
grosvenor casinos
5 in london 27 uk provincial and 2 in belgium 
hard rock casinos
2 hard rock casinos in london and manchester
rank interactive gaming and sports betting
wwwrankcom wwwbluesqcom and wwwhardrockcasinocom
rank leisure machine services
operates 35000 amusement machines in uk leisure venues
stafferton way maidenhead berks sl6 1ay tel 01628 504000 
wwwmeccabingocom
wwwgrosvenorcasinoscouk
wwwrankcom
wwwbluesqcom
wwwhardrockcasinocom
wwwgamblingreviewcouk
2 the rank group plc
business structure
● gaming
● hard rock
● deluxe
● holidays
● acquisitions
turnover by division  3 the rank group plc
operating proﬁt by division 
● gaming
● hard rock
● deluxe
● holidays
● acquisitions
hard rock
turnover £2427m
operating profit £276m
hard rock operations
hard rock cafes
61 companyowned 48 franchised in a total of 38 countries
hard rock hotels and casinos
joint venture hotel in orlando while bali and thailand operate 
under licence two resort casinos and hotels under development 
on indian reservation land in florida each operating under licence
hard rock live
concert venues in orlando mexico city bali and guadalajara
merchandise
variety of branded merchandise available at all hard rock locations
and via the website wwwhardrockcom
6100 old park lane orlando florida 32835 us
tel 001 407 445 7625 
wwwhardrockcom
deluxe
turnover £7042m
operating profit £890m
deluxe operations
deluxe film processing
laboratories in canada us uk spain italy and australia
1377 north serrano avenue hollywood ca 90027 us
tel 001 323 462 6171
deluxe media services 
video duplication in us and europe
dvd replication in us and europe
distribution and supply chain services in us and europe
digital services business in california
555 heuhl road northbrook il 60062 us 
tel 001 847 291 1150
wwwbydeluxecom 4 the rank group plc
chairman’s statement
i am delighted that the group’s performance 
in 2002 has continued to demonstrate the 
strength of our business stra tegy and rank’s
executive management team by delivering a 
further increase in both earnings and dividends 
for shareholders
alun cathcart 
going forward the group’s ability to continue to deliver consistent
growth in shareholder value will be heavily inﬂuenced by the presence
of a number of key attributes first and foremost is a committed
executive management team with the necessary skills and experience
to communicate and deliver a cohesive business strategythis team
has successfully transformed the business over the last three years
into one of europe’s leading leisure groups this transformation 
has been driven by strong operational management who have
themselves embraced a programme of change and development
second continuous training and development of employees is
particularly important for businesses operating in competitive markets
and where constant innovation is required to maintain market position
and increase levels of proﬁtabilitythe group prides itself on ensuring
that its employees are fully equipped to learn and develop new
working practices and provide customers with the best possible leisure
experience while each of the group’s divisions operates in different
markets they share a common philosophy that having the best people
delivers the best results and each continues to invest in a regular
programme of training and development for all its employees
third being able to recruit and then retain the best people is also 
a critical factor behind the group’s success and is a reflection of 
the various incentive schemes that are now in place across all of 
the group’s operations at senior levels each scheme seeks to align
the interests of management with those of shareholders thereby
ensuring that personal achievements are rewarded but always 
in the context of the group’s overall performance
while the economic uncertainty continues to affect the immediate
outlook for many international companies i believe that the rank group
has both the necessary management and business structure to continue
to prosper and i look forward to the coming year with conﬁdence 69
million dvds produced 
by deluxe in 2002
75
thousand registered members 
with rank interactive gaming
1
rank is the ﬁrst uk group to offer
bingo casinos and sports betting 
to its customers
25
million pounds staked with 
blue square in december 2002
4
increase in number of members 
at mecca bingo clubs
15
thousand members at each of the 
two new hard rock casinos
132
pence dividend per share
up 5 on last year
23
million visits to mecca 
bingo clubs
38
countries have hard
rock operations
23
increase in grosvenor casinos
operating proﬁt
8
increase in visits by 1834 year 
olds to mecca in 2002 
34
casinos
in the uk
21 
increase in earnings 
per share
5
billion feet of ﬁlm processed 
by deluxe in 2002
5 the rank group plc
90
million pounds of annualised stakes 
at rank interactive gaming 6 the rank group plc
chief executive’s review mike smith
dividends per share p
2000 2001 2002
120p
126p
132p
this growth was achieved despite the impact of continued difﬁcult trading
conditions for hard rock we also absorbed considerable preopening 
and launch costs associated with the opening of new facilities across
the group all of which will contribute to driving future growth
just as importantly whilst continuing to improve earnings we 
have continued our development activities within existing markets 
as well as extending our operations into new but related markets
thereby enhancing prospects for the longer term
gaming
the gaming division continued its now wellestablished trend 
of double digit profit improvement with a further gain of 13 
in the year excluding rank interactive gaming grosvenor casinos
enjoyed strong turnover and proﬁt growth despite the absorption 
of launch costs for the two hard rock casinos and the relocation 
of the casino in brighton in mecca bingo we deliberately cut back
advertising and promotional expenditure in the second half so that
overall turnover growth was modest but trading margin was strong
supported by the continued success of cashline bingo
rank interactive gaming whilst lossmaking in its first full year of
operation launched hardrockcasinocom in july and bore the costs 
of considerable new product developmentthe annualised running
rate of stakes placed at yearend was £90m which represented a high
rate of growth over the periodthe integration of the recently acquired
blue square betting business will add further opportunities for growth
this year
hard rock
as we had expected hard rock had a difficult year whilst like for 
like food and beverage sales were a little ahead of 2001 merchandise
sales continued to suffer from a lack of tourist traffic this severely
reduced proﬁts in the major cafe locations particularly those located 
in tourist destinationswe also absorbed preopening costs associated
with new cafe openings mainly in nontourist locations trading
performance during the ﬁnal quarter of 2002 was more encouraging
albeit against relatively weak comparative ﬁgures for 2001
we have regularly reviewed our overheads and operating costs 
in hard rock given the continued uncertain trading environment
we plan to take further action to reduce costs in the first half 
of 2003
deluxe
deluxe had an exceptionally good year film processing was outstanding
with an 8 growth in turnover and 16 growth in profit before
exceptional items the strong performance in 2002 was assisted by 
the full year impact of the new laboratory in rome and efficiencies
from the relocated toronto laboratory media services also had a good
year overall and in particular benefited from the dvd venture with
ritek established in august 2002
developments
in mecca bingo the relocation of the croydon club was completed 
in november 2002 and there are plans for a further two relocations in
2003 a new club will also be opened during 2003 in west bromwich
in spain we acquired three new clubs during 2002 and continue to
look for further opportunities in this large and fragmented market
within grosvenor casinos over the last few years we have relocated 
a total of seven casinos and plans are in place for a further three
relocations in 2003 grosvenor’s performance in 2002 is a clear
demonstration that improving the quality of our facilities combined
with gradual deregulation is a potent mixture for growththe two 
new hard rock casinos in the uk offer a greater entertainment 
2002 was another good year for the rank 
group  our all round strength and spread 
of activities enabled us to continue to move 
profits forward and increase earnings 
per share before exceptional items by 21 
65 after exceptional items 7 the rank group plc
the aces in our pack…
content and are attracting new customers to enjoy a different casino
experiencethe rate of growth in club membership and attendance 
at these two exciting new concepts is one of the fastest ever achieved 
in the uk for new “cold”licence openings – over 15000 members each
and combined attendance of over 6000 per week
the recent acquisition of blue square brings both sports betting
expertise and a substantial customer base to the group the
integration of blue square with rank’s existing online gaming
operations will generate immediate synergy beneﬁts and provide
considerable opportunities for crossmarketing in both the short
and longer term
within hard rock there were a number of developments which will 
add to future prospects and continue to move the brand beyond 
pure restaurant operations during 2002 six new companyowned 
cafes were opened taking the total to 61 and two were relocated
most being designed for local markets with lower dependence 
on tourism a new franchise was added in tokyo taking the total
number of franchised cafes around the world to 48the hard rock
hotel in orlando traded strongly and the chicago hotel is expected 
to open at the end of the year a hard rock beach club adjacent 
to a newly built water park on choctaw indian reservation land 
will open during this year the gaming and hotel developments 
on seminole indian nation reservation land in florida are inbuild 
and are expected to open at least partially by the yearend
in deluxe film we finalised the commissioning of the new 
laboratory in toronto entered into a joint venture with atlab in
australia and more recently purchased image a laboratory based 
in barcelona spain all of these developments strengthen our
position in ﬁlm processing the acquisition of capital fx towards 
the end of 2002 has extended further the range of services now
offered to studio customers we also bought the outstanding 
50 which we did not own of ets a physical film distribution
business and subsequently added a major new customer on 
a long term contract
in deluxe media the major change was the creation of the new
venture with ritek which propelled deluxe into a strong position 
in dvd to match that already achieved in vhs and distribution
we also established new ventures in the digital storage and
manipulation of ﬁlmrelated product
financing
the group’s operating proﬁle remains cash positive however during
2002 we chose to extend a number of our existing deluxe contracts
so securing valuable cashﬂows and increasing the earnings visibility for
that business approximately 63 of our ﬁlm contracts based on 2002
volume are now extended until 2006 or beyond in line with industry
practice the contract extensions or renewals did involve considerable
upfront payments which are recoverable over the life of the contracts
these payments were the main reason why the group’s net debt rose
by £151m in the year however with ﬁxed charge cover at ﬁve times and
gearing of 53 the group’s ﬁnances remain in excellent healthwe are
recommending an increased dividend payment to our shareholders 
with the ﬁnal dividend up 5 to 88p 2001 – 84p making a total for
the year of 132p 2001 – 126p
outlook
the rank group is in a strong position in all of its major markets and is
wellinvested for future growth our ﬁnances are robust and we are in
an enviable ﬁnancial position with the ﬂexibility to seize development
opportunities as and when they might arise
the uk regulatory regime in gaming has become increasingly
positive later opening of casinos plus additional games more
automated product and alcohol on the gaming ﬂoor have all added 
to a more customer friendly environment there remains a strong
likelihood that much more is to come in the next two years as we 
still expect the budd recommendations to be enacted on schedule
there is also the prospect of positive duty changes during this period
despite uncertain political and economic conditions current trading 
is satisfactory and we are conﬁdent that the group can make further
progress in 2003 8 the rank group plc
gaming – mecca bingo
mecca bingo continues to enhance
its esta te capitalise on the effects
of deregulation and invest in 
new games
above left
mecca bingo continues to invest in
its estate – the relocated croydon
club opened in november 2002
above right
mecca has beneﬁted from early
deregulation and is now allowed
up to four jackpot machines per
bingo club
uk spend per head £ uk operating proﬁt £m
1999 2000 2001 2002
502
549
676
724
792
848
945
1022
1999 2000 2001 2002 9 the rank group plc
♦ mecca is one of the uk’s leading bingo
businesses and during 2002 grew its
membership by 4 to 11m 45 of 
whom are under 45 years old 
♦ the small reduction in total admissions
during 2002 was more than compensated 
for by the increase in spend per head 
which has risen by 8 to £1022
♦ as a result mecca bingo has managed 
to increase its proﬁt margin by a further 
1 to 31
♦ mecca has already installed a total of 
210 new jackpot machines across its estate
and the full target of 350 machines will be
installed by mid2003
♦ the uk government has indicated that it is
keen to introduce a gross proﬁts tax to replace
the current regime of taxing bingo customer
stakes – a shift which if the rate of gross proﬁts
tax is in line with other gaming activities
mecca believes will be positive for the industry
♦ in spain mecca bingo now has nine clubs
following the addition of three clubs in madrid
barcelona and seville 
turnover £2503m operating profit £770m 10 the rank group plc
uk attendance ‘000 people
1999 2000 2001 2002
above left
grosvenor has installed electronic
roulette machines across its estate
to meet customer demand
above right
progressive stud poker was
launched in september 2002
3279
3368
3344
3614
uk operating proﬁt £m
1999 2000 2001 2002
175
210
234
299
gaming – grosvenor casinos 11 the rank group plc
♦ the relocation of seven casinos over the last
few years has helped to grow both admissions
and revenues across the estate during 2002
♦ this modest investment has yielded substantial
returns and a further three casinos will be
relocated in 2003
♦ the relaxation of a number of licence
restrictions has meant that grosvenor casinos
are now allowed alcohol and live entertainment
on the gaming ﬂoor 
♦ several new games have been introduced into
grosvenor casinos including sicbo big six
wheel of fortune and three card stud poker
♦ the introduction of progressive stud poker 
has been extremely popular and grosvenor
was the ﬁrst casino operator in the uk to link 
the game across its estate
♦ two hard rock casinos were opened in the uk
during 2002 one in manchester and one in
london targeting a younger lower spending
customer than the traditional casino offer
♦ grosvenor now has over 400 electronic roulette
positions across its estate with plans for a
further 50 positions by the end of april 2003
♦ rank leisure machine services operates some
35000 amusement machines in uk leisure venues
the popularity of electronic 
roulette together with reloca tions
and refurbishments ha ve increased
a ttendance and spend per head
to record levels 
turnover £1718m operating proﬁt £297m registered customers 
january 2002 december 2002
5461
77156
monthly stakes 
january 2002 december 2002
£04m
£74m
12 the rank group plc
above left
blue square is one of the uk’s
leading sports betting brands
above right
fruit frenzy ii is one of the 18
games available at wwwrankcom
the group can now offer the 
full suite of gaming products 
online to all its customers
gaming – interactive
combined total for rankcom and hardrockcasinocom 13 the rank group plc
♦ following the launch of hardrockcasinocom 
in july 2002 the group’s two gaming 
sites are now generating annualised stakes 
of approximately £90m
♦ having acquired blue square in january 2003
the group has three online gaming brands
rankcom hardrockcasinocom and bluesqcom
♦ rank is the only mainstream gaming company
able to offer a full suite of gaming products
betting bingo and casino games
♦ the integration of blue square and rank’s
existing online activities has created a
substantial business with annualised stakes 
of approximately £400m based on current
levels of business
♦ the excellent ﬁt with rank’s existing online
gaming activities provides an immediate and
substantial opportunity to crosssell products 
to rank’s existing 18m registered customers
and blue square’s 300000 customers
♦ postderegulation there should be a major
opportunity to leverage rank’s gaming activities
through the creation of multigaming locations
turnover £24m

operating loss £50m
 gross win 14 the rank group plc
hard rock
number of cafes worldwide
above left
attracting more local customers
has proved successful during 2002 –
hard rock cafe manchester
above right
the hard rock hotel in orlando is
extremely popular and other hotel
opportunities are being sought
95
101
108
109
revenue £m
2399
2602
2484
2427
1999 2000 2001 2002 1999 2000 2001 2002 15 the rank group plc
♠ hard rock is one of the world’s leading leisure
brands with 61 owned and 48 franchised cafes
throughout the world
♠ extending the brand through licensing into
other leisure activities including hotels and
casinos remains a core strategy
♠ the hard rock hotel in orlando is extremely
popular with very high occupancy levels and
has led the way for another hotel in chicago
which is scheduled to open at the end of 2003
♠ the seminole indian nation hotelcasino
developments in tampa and hollywood
florida are progressing well and ontrack 
to fully open in spring 2004 
♠ while low levels of tourism have impacted
performance in 2002 the planned expansion 
of european cafes has continued in nontourist
locations with cafes opening in munich
nottingham and leeds
♠ in the us new cafes opened in austin
pittsburgh and minneapolis
our ability to generate additional
revenue sources from related
activities around one of the
world’s strongest brand names
will be key to future growth
turnover £2427m operating proﬁt £276m 16 the rank group plc
deluxe – film processing
operational and technical
excellence are key to deluxe
retaining its world leading
position in the growing film
processing business 
above left
deluxe processed a record amount
of ﬁlm in 2002 – 47 billion feet 
above right
processed by deluxe star wars
episode ii – attack of the clones
was one of the major blockbuster
ﬁlms released during 2002
average release prints per title
4786
5047
operating proﬁt £m
539
625
3868
4144
1999 2000 2001 2002 1999 2000 2001 2002
486
480 17 the rank group plc
turnover £3675m operating proﬁt £625m


Summary:
 over 30000 members have joined the 
two hard rock casinos since opening
a total of over 6000 customers 
each week
a high proportion of young players 
aged 1834
excellent locations which should
benefit from deregulation