experiencing 
entert ainment
annual report  financial statements 2014 contents
strategic report
4 performance highlights
6 group at a glance
8 chairman’s statement
10 chief executive’s qa 
14 our business model
16 our strategy 
20 our key performance indicators
22 principal risks and uncertainties 
28 operating review
35 operating responsibly
40 financial review
42 tax fact ﬁle
directors’ report
48 board of directors 
50 management team 
51 corporate governance 
64 directors’ remuneration report
79 other disclosures 
84 directors’ responsibilities 
85 independent auditor’s report 
financial statements
88 group income statement 
89  group statement of  
comprehensive income 
90 balance sheets
91 statements of changes in equity 
92 statements of cash ﬂow 
93 notes to the ﬁnancial statements 
unaudited appendix to 
financial statements
138 five year review 
other information
139 keep it fun
141 shareholder information 
143 glossary 
rank group has been entertaining 
britain since 1937 from its origins  
in motion pictures to today’s 
gaming based entertainment brands 
the group has remained true to its 
founding mission to make life better 
by bringing people together for  
fun and entertainment 
over the course of more than  
threequarters of a century the 
group has entertained many millions 
of customers in britain and around 
the world the group’s story is 
one of iconic brands and talented 
people with a mission to entertain
go online to ﬁnd more information wwwrankcom
for more information within this report we aspire to  
be the best at  
what we do  
by providing  
our customers 
with unrivalled 
entertainment 
experiences
201314 entertainment showcase
this year we showcase a year in the life of the rank group  
to celebrate our achievements and recognise key events that 
help us sustain excellence in entertaining our customers strategic report str st str str str st tr r r r str r s str r str r str r r r r tra a at a at ate te ate a a eg g g gi g gi gic ic c c g g c re re e e e e e ep p p po po o o or or r r r o or or r r o p r p p p t t t
mecca bingo developments
july was a month of ﬁrsts for meccabingocom with the 
launch of the meccabingocom android app and the ﬁrst 
multichannel linked jackpot game
goliath poker tournament
the largest landbased poker tournament in europe 
was held at the group’s grosvenor casino in coventry 
with 1139 participants starting on day one
jul ‘13 aug ‘13 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 3 the the the t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t rank k g g g g g g g g gro g gro g gro gro gro g g g g g g g g gro g g g gro g gr g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g gro g g g gro gro g g g g g g g g g g g g g gro g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g gr gro o g g gr r ro g gr r r r up u u u u u up up up up up up up up u u u up up up up up u u u up up p p up u u u u u u u up up u u u u u u u up u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u plc plc  a a annu nnu nu nu nu nu u nu u u nu nu u u u u u nu u u u u nu u u u u u u u u u u u u u nu u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u nu n nu u n n n nu u u u n n nu u ua al al al a a r r rep rep ep ep p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p r o o o ort rt ort ort ort o o o o o o ort o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o a an nd d d d f f f f f f d in n n n n na na n na na na n na na na a n n in n na na na a n n n na a a a n n na a a na n na na a na a a n na a a n na a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a an n n nc nc c nc ci ci ci n nci n i n n nc n n n nci nc c n n n nc c ci i i ia a al a a s statem tem m ment ents 2 s s 2 2 s 2014 014 014 01 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
sep ‘13
training our team
during 20132014 we invested £497000 in delivering 
246000 hours of training to our team members helping 
them to develop the skills required to develop their careers 4 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
strategic report
performance highlights
delivering solid  
performance
the charts illustrate the 
group’s performance 
for the 12 month periods 
to 30 june over the last 
four years the results 
are unaudited with  
the exception of the  
12 months to 30 june  
2013 and 30 june 2014 
10 1 1 12 1 3 14
5551
5807
5843
6250
7077
revenue
1
£7077m
10 1 1 12 1 3 14
5339
5569
5589
5962
6785
statutory revenue
£6785m
10 1 1 12 1 3 14
90
102
124
124
124
adjusted earnings per share
5
124p
10 1 1 12 1 3 14
179
365
72
69
52
basic earnings per share
52p the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 5
1 before adjustment for free bets promotions and customer bonuses
2 before exceptionals
3 group ebitda is group operating proﬁt before exceptional items depreciation and amortisation
4 adjusted proﬁt before taxation is calculated by adjusting proﬁt from continuing operations before taxation to exclude exceptional items the unwinding of discount  
in disposal provisions and other ﬁnancial gains or losses
5 adjusted earnings per share is calculated by adjusting proﬁt attributable to equity shareholders to exclude discontinued operations exceptional items other ﬁnancial 
gains or losses unwinding of the discount in disposal provisions and the related tax effects
6 restated to include the completion adjustments relating to acquisition accounting
7 unaudited
10 1 1 12 1 3 14
489
564
657
651
625
adjusted proﬁt before tax
4
£625m
10 1 1 12 1 3 14
564
629
697
699
724
operating proﬁt
2
£724m
10 1 1 12 1 3 14
209
266
360
410
450
dividend per share
450p
10 1 1 12 1 3 14
843
970
1070
1088
1160
ebitda
3
£1160m
10 1 1 12 1 3 14
1334
372
418
1041
6
1370
net debtcash
£1370m
10 1 1 12 1 3 14
2563
2546
2641
2676
3029
customers
7
3029k
10 1 1 12 1 3 14
22464
27895
27090
26933
27953
customer visits
7
27953k
10 1 1 12 1 3 14
924
1814
450
427
144
proﬁt before tax
after exceptionals
£144m 6 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
strategic report
group at a glance
creating value  
through our brands
1 communitygaming as outlined above refers to the different games and services available in our mecca and enracha venues unlike casinos the mecca and enracha 
customer base tend to have a shorter journey time to the venue and hence are more likely to reside in the local community also the games on offer differ from those 
found in casinos they are parimutuel and hence create a communitystyle game within the venue
2 before exceptionals
our brands
grosvenor casinos
uk’s largest multichannel casino operator 
serves more than a million customers  
a year through a national portfolio of 
branded venues as well as via its online 
and mobile casinos the brand offers  
a range of popular casino table games 
including roulette blackjack baccarat 
and poker as well as electric casino and 
slot machine games the brand’s digital 
channel continues to gain scale and 
offers many popular games including  
the newly launched live casino
venues largest operator by venue  
in great britain 56 licensed casinos  
in great britain and two in belgium 
digital fledgling business gaining scale
key achievements
• successful integration of the acquired 
casinos from gala coral encouraging 
results from electronic product 
investments and major refurbishments 
• opening of london poker room in 
november 2013
• launch of grosvenorcasinoscom’s  
live casino now a major revenue 
contributor to our digital channel
• awarded a 2005 act casino licence  
in luton
• crosschannel play points loyalty 
scheme launched
mecca
uk’s second largest multichannel bingo 
operator and is rank’s communitygaming
1
 
brand for the british market with over a 
million customers a year and a national 
portfolio of branded venues as well as 
one of great britain’s most popular 
community gaming websites the digital 
channel offers a selection of games from 
bingo and poker to a wide range of slot 
games and the venues also have great 
value food and drinks and live 
entertainment
venues second largest operator by venue 
in great britain 96 licensed bingo venues
digital one of the leading online bingo 
operators in the uk
key achievements
• improved venues proﬁtability through 
revenues and cost reduction plans 
labour and marketing
• commitment to develop three new 
bingo venues as a result of the cut in 
bingo duty
• leases surrendered for three loss 
making venues resulting in one closure 
in the year and two scheduled for 
201415
• commitment to new digital gaming 
platform to drive digital growth
enracha
rank’s communitygaming
1
 based 
business for the spanish market ten 
venues serve approximately 260000 
customers a year through venues in 
catalonia madrid andalucía and 
galicia offering a range of popular 
community games like bingo and poker 
as well as electronic casino and slot 
machine games great value food and 
drink and live entertainment
venues fourth largest bingo operator  
in spain 10 licensed bingo venues
key achievements
• two venues have been converted to  
the enracha brand 
• a new customer loyalty card  
was launched
• a new crm system was implemented
contribution to group revenue
£7077m
•
 grosvenor 3912
•
 mecca 2882
•
 enracha 283
operating profit
2
£724m
•
 grosvenor 568
•
 mecca 370
•
 enracha 08
customers
30m
•
 grosvenor 18
•
 mecca 11
•
 enracha 03 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 7
mecca
grosvenor
where we operate
great britain
great britain is the largest of rank’s markets 
generating approximately 94 of group revenue 
the group has a total of 152 venues in great 
britain and its online bingo and casino operations 
are licensed out of alderney 
group revenue by territory
94
belgium
belgium is a small but stable and strongly 
established gambling market rank operates two 
casino venues in middelkerke and blankenberge 
group revenue by territory
2
spain
enracha is the fourth largest bingo operator in 
spain with ten community gamingbased 
entertainment venues in catalonia madrid 
andalucía and galicia 
group revenue by territory
4
adult population
great britain 488m
1
spain 401m
2
belgium 88m
3
size of gambling market
great britain £13bn
4
spain €9bn
5
belgium €1bn
6
gambling spend per adult
great britain £266
spain €224
belgium €114
sources 
1 ofﬁce for national statistics 2011 consensus
2 indexmundicom
3 indexmundicom
4 gambling commission gambling data
5 direccion general de ordenacion del juego
6 gambling compliance  lottobe
for more information see pages 
16 our strategy
28 operating review 8 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
strategic report
dear shareholder
as outlined in our interim statement  
the group had a challenging h1 where  
a weaker performance from our london 
casinos and the highly competitive 
market adversely affected our ﬁnancial 
performance compared to the prior 
period as a direct result we undertook 
three actions in h2 aimed at delivering 
improved performance 1 improving  
the value for money for our customers 
2 tightening of our cost controls and  
3 a more focused capital expenditure 
programme we are pleased to report 
that the 21 increase in h2 operating 
proﬁt versus h1 highlights the success  
of these actions
last year the following priorities were 
outlined for the group here we provide 
an update on our progress made in  
each area
1 integration of acquired casinos
this year we worked hard to successfully 
integrate the former gala casino venues 
which were acquired back in may 2013 
with £178m of capital invested in the 
year we have made signiﬁcant 
improvements to the estate while also 
implementing operational improvements 
the 19 venues are on track to deliver the 
anticipated level of returns and along 
with our existing estate before central 
costs represent 60 of the group’s 
operating proﬁt for the year
2 growth in digital
the group continued its focus  
on growing the digital channels  
wwwgrosvenorcasinoscom  
continues to grow strongly and  
now offers its bespoke live casino 
product our growing live casino is  
now a major revenue contributor to  
our digital casino channel 
chairman’s statement
creating shared 
experiences
rank is in a strong 
ﬁnancial position 
possesses market
leading brands and 
has a clear strategy 
for longterm 
growth
3 retail channel improvements
during the year particular focus was placed 
on improving the performance of our 
mecca venues further detail is provided 
in mecca’s venues performance review
there still continues to be some 
underperformance in the group which 
has resulted in the group having to 
recognise £129m of impairment charges 
at 30 june 2014 in respect of certain 
venues in the uk and spain
board changes
john warren
on 17 october 2013 john warren 
stepped down from the board after 
serving more than seven and a half  
years as nonexecutive director and 
chairman of the audit committee
colin child
on 18 march 2014 colin child rank’s 
senior independent director resigned 
from the board colin joined the board 
on 1 january 2012 and was rank’s senior 
independent director chairman of the 
nominations committee and chairman  
of the audit committee following colin’s 
departure i was appointed chairman of 
the nominations committee and owen 
o’donnell chairman of the audit 
committee i am currently leading  
the search for a new senior independent 
director an update will be provided as 
and when appropriate 
ian burke
after eight years as chief executive of  
the group i decided it was the right  
time to step away from the role on  
27 march 2014 the group announced 
the appointment of henry birch as 
rank’s new chief executive and henry’s 
appointment took effect from 6 may 2014 
my time as chief executive has been 
challenging and rewarding and i wish 
henry all the very best in his new role
ian burke chairman the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 9
on 6 may 2014 i became nonexecutive 
chairman and have been working 
alongside henry to ensure a smooth 
transition of executive responsibilities 
dividend
the board is pleased to recommend a 
ﬁnal dividend of 315 pence per share be 
paid on 22 october 2014 to shareholders 
on the register at 12 september 2014
regulatory reform
1
rank has been lobbying for regulatory 
modernisation within gaming for a 
number of years following the successful 
campaign to cut bingo duty rank’s 
current objectives reﬂect restrictions  
on our ability to meet customer  
demand for casino gaming and are
• an increased provision of slot 
machines in casinos great britain’s 
casinos currently have less than 2  
of the machines in great britain and
• the right for local authorities to elect 
whether to license casinos the majority 
of local authorities in great britain do 
not currently enjoy this right
while achievement of these objectives 
remains uncertain progress was  
made in 201314 with increases in 
maximum stakes from £2 to £5  
and prizes maximum of £10000 for 
category b1 slot machines in casinos  
and an increase in the maximum prize 
from £70 to £100 for category c slot 
machines in the group’s bingo venues 
taxation
the 2014 budget statement contained 
two major changes to the taxation of the 
group’s activities
• a reduction in bingo duty from 20  
to 10 to take effect from 30 june 
2014 and
• the application of remote gaming  
duty ‘rgd’ at 15 to all online 
gaming involving consumer 
transactions in the uk regardless  
of where the operator is based to take 
effect from 1 december 2014 
as a consequence of the reduction  
in bingo duty rank has committed to  
the construction of three new bingo 
venues the restarting of its venues 
refurbishment programme and providing 
better value for customers in terms of 
game prices and prize funds
rank has been working hard on assessing 
the full impact of rgd and developing 
ways to reduce any negative impact on 
shareholder value for example through 
the renegotiation of key digital contracts 
and reviewing the effectiveness of digital 
marketing campaigns the group 
anticipates the majority of the duty  
cost will impact digital proﬁtability 
listing rules
on 16 may 2014 new listing rules  
came into force for all premium listed 
companies the financial conduct 
authority “fca” conﬁrmed that the 
for more information see pages 
48 board of directors
51 corporate governance
minimum free ﬂoat requirement remains 
at 25 however they stated that they 
will take into account certain factors 
when making any decision to modify  
the 25 requirement rank has therefore 
made a formal submission to the fca 
requesting it to modify lr 6119 r so 
that rank can continue to be a premium 
listed company with a slightly lower free 
ﬂoat percentage than 25 
current trading and outlook
since the beginning of july performance 
has been in line with management’s 
expectations and ahead of last year 
while such a short trading period can  
be distorted by external factors we are 
pleased with the underlying trends
rank remains in a strong ﬁnancial 
position possesses marketleading  
brands and has a clear strategy for  
longterm growth
ian burke chairman
13 august 2014
1 total advisory service fees for engaging with government parliament and the media in the period were £01m 201213 £01m 10 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
strategic report
chief executive’s qa
meet our new 
chief executive
 what made you want to join rank
rank is a company with a fantastic 
reputation and legacy but i was drawn 
more to the potential of where it can go 
in the future than to its past like most 
people in the uk i had grown up knowing 
the rank brand and its stable of products 
and entertainment history but more 
recently working in the gaming industry 
i knew it as a group with great brands 
and an enviable position in venuebased 
bingo and casino gaming coming from 
william hill where i helped transform a 
company with a retail focus and culture 
into one which straddled the high street 
and the internet i could see some 
parallels with rank and that made me 
feel i could make a difference compared 
with other gaming companies rank has  
a much more entertainmentled offer 
engagement between staff and customers 
is closer and we have a greater awareness 
of who our customers are and what they 
enjoy additionally it was apparent to me 
that rank is very aware of its duty to 
operate responsibly and therefore has 
engaged with government and other 
interested parties on this issue these 
elements are important differentiators for 
rank and ones that i feel that we can 
harness further to grow the group 
what have been your ﬁrst impressions 
after three months with the group
it may sound like a cliché but i have 
been extremely impressed with the 
people throughout the business – they 
truly are our greatest assets there is  
a huge amount of passion and loyalty  
to the brands our employees work for  
– mecca grosvenor casinos and enracha 
– and their knowledge of our business 
and engagement with customers is better 
than i have seen in any other group 
ultimately we are in the business of 
providing entertainment to our customers 
and that begins and ends with the 
service and customer experience our staff 
provide through visiting our venues and 
meeting with team members i have come 
to realise what a strength our people are
i have also been struck by the amount  
of potential and opportunity that rank 
has we have really powerful assets at  
rank is a company 
with a fantastic 
reputation  
and legacy 
q
a

henry birch chief executive the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 11
our disposal nearly 11000 engaged and 
passionate staff more than 160 venues 
over three million customers and market 
leading positions in casino and bingo 
when you join a group as a new chief 
executive you want to be excited about 
where the group can go – about its 
potential – and in this regard i am 
extremely positive
as with any company rank needs to 
change and evolve what has been 
encouraging in my ﬁrst few months here 
– and perhaps unexpected – is that there 
is real appetite and agitation for change 
including from those who have been 
here the longest there is no shortage  
of ideas or energy in the group it is just 
a question of ensuring that we have the 
right focus and the right tools to harness 
them a willingness and desire to change 
from within is a great base from which  
to start
will there be a big focus on digital  
in the future
my background is predominantly digital 
so there has been an assumption that 
this will be my focus at rank in my view 
we are underpowered in digital with just 
10 of our total revenues coming from 
our digital business versus 30 for the 
wider gambling industry and there  
is an opportunity for us to grow here  
but i am also clear that we remain a 
venuesled business and there are many 
parts of our customer offer that can’t be 
 “i have been extremely 
impressed with the 
people throughout the 
business – they truly  
are our greatest assets”
‘digitised’ and nor would our customers 
want us to try our opportunity is to 
create a strong multichannel offer for 
our customers such that we give them  
a fantastic product and experience 
however they choose to engage with  
us – in one of our venues from a home 
computer or with a mobile device having 
a strong digital business is a key part of 
having a multichannel offer so yes 
digital will be a big focus but not at the 
expense of other parts of our business
i do however believe that technology 
generally will play an increasingly 
important part across our business not 
just in the digital arena if you look at 
the offer in our clubs it hasn’t changed 
substantially in many years yes some of 
our slots may be serverbased and some 
of our bingo customers may be using our 
mecca max units but fundamentally not 
a lot has changed in the way in which 
we deliver entertainment in our venues 
however this is not the case in other 
sectors for instance in retail or banking 
where technological innovation is 
increasingly changing the way people 
use products and services i expect our 
venues will also evolve in this way how 
and when technology plays a bigger part 
will be dependent on us and on our 
customers but it will happen it may be 
the implementation of a more cashless 
environment or the use of customer
owned mobile devices in venues to 
participate in gaming or to replace 
membership cards but technology will 
start to positively impact our business 
harnessing technology can not only 
make us more efﬁcient but crucially  
it can be used to provide an improved 
customer experience and give us a 
competitive advantage 
what are your immediate priorities
setting the right strategic focus for the 
group is a key priority this involves 
discipline in ensuring that noncore 
issues get put to one side and it involves 
plenty of communication i am keen that 
everyone in the business knows where 
we are heading and what we are trying  
to achieve there is no point in having 
priorities and a strategy if people aren’t 
aware of them additionally we need to 
have clear milestones associated with our 
strategic focus setting the strategy is the 
easy bit the execution of the strategy  
is what counts 
i am also focused on building the right 
team at rank a team that works well 
together challenges each other and 
complements each other fortunately  
i have inherited a strong management 
team at rank but inevitably there will  
be some change
i am looking forward to spending more 
time in our clubs talking to our staff  
and customers ﬁnding out how we can 
improve our business and run it better 
what is your vision for the group 
ultimately my vision is that rank will  
be the uk’s leading multichannel 
gaming company this means creating  
a compelling multichannel offer so  
that however our customers choose to 
interact with us – in venue at home or 
on the move – we can provide them with 
the best possible product service and 
entertainment experience if we can do 
this we will build a growing robust and 
more valuable business 
henry birch chief executive
13 august 2014
for more information see pages 
16 our strategy
28 operating review 12 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
strategic report
12 12 t th th the ra ra ank nk k k k g gro o ou up up plc plc ca  a annu nnual al report and f fin inanci cial a sta tate tement nts 2 2 s s 0 01 01 14 4 4
st str ra ate teg gi ic c g g c r r re re epor por por ort t t t t
oct ‘13
live casino launched
grosvenorcasinoscom’s live casino was successfully launched 
during the year live casino became one of the brand’s fastest 
growing digital revenue streams the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 13 e e ra ra an nk nk nk gro gro g up up plc plc pl l  a a a a annu nnu nu n n u nua al a al l rep r r rep rep port ort ort rt ort ort ort ort r a an an an an nd f d fina ina n nci nci i nci cial al l a sta sta sta a a atem tem t t m ment ent ent en nts 2 s 2 s 2 s2014 014 01 01 014 4 4 1 13 13 13 3 13 1 t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t e the the the he h he he h h h he he the th the he he he e the t the he he he he h he he h h h h he e the h he he h he e h he he he he e e he e e e e e e h h he the the he he t e e he th the he the th h h h h th th h h th h h h
london poker room opens
following capital investment of £116m the london poker 
room was opened which incorporates a 350 capacity poker 
room bar and restaurant
nov ‘13 14 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
strategic report
our business model
creating value  
for our customers
this has led to the group building 
leading market positions in landbased 
casino and bingo venues culminating  
in the acquisition of 19 casinos from  
gala coral in 2013 with the acquisition 
grosvenor casinos became the largest 
casino operator in great britain by 
number of venues and by revenue mecca 
with 96 bingo venues remains the second 
largest landbased bingo operator behind 
gala bingo with a ﬁnite number of 
casino licences in issuance and the high 
capital costs of building casinos or bingo 
clubs we believe the group is well placed 
with regards to venuebased gaming in 
the uk 
organic growth
whilst our venuebased businesses 
contribute the majority of the group’s 
revenue and proﬁt it is unlikely that  
we will undertake further signiﬁcant 
acquisitions of uk venuebased bingo  
or casino companies in the foreseeable 
future instead we see growth coming 
from both our digital business and from 
improving revenues and proﬁtability  
in our existing estate of venues and 
through some organic new openings
rank’s priority over the last 10 years 
has been to move from a diversiﬁed 
leisure and entertainment group  
to one that is focused on gaming 
customer engagement
rank has more than three million 
customers who come to our venues  
every year our customers come for 
entertainment typically stay for  
multiple hours and engage with our  
staff we operate a membership policy 
meaning that we know who our 
customers are and our widelyused 
loyalty scheme in grosvenor casinos 
allows us to understand customer 
behaviour trends and preferences 
these attributes and our scale arguably 
put us in a unique position in the wider 
betting and gaming industry  the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 15
customer wins
customer is 
entertained
customer loses
customer keeps 
winnings
customer  
recycles  
winnings
customer 
contributes to 
group revenue
retail
over 160 venues 
gaming
food and beverage
entertainment
digital
mobile
tablet
desktop
our unrivalled brands
how we create value
over 3 million customers 16 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
strategic report
our strategy
strategic  
update
we have been reporting our 
performance against three 
critical areas for a number 
of years demonstrating 
strong progress 
as a result of the review carried out by our new 
chief executive we have reﬁned this strategy into 
ﬁve new areas of focus these are introduced on 
page 18 and we will be reporting against them 
from next year this year we have continued to 
report our progress against our longstanding focus 
areas and that progress can be seen on this page 
and in our kpis on pages 20 to 21
systematic use of 
data and customer 
feedback to drive 
service and product 
improvements
1
capital investment 
to extend the reach 
and broaden the 
appeal of the leisure 
experience we deliver
2
multichannel 
distribution of 
our brands
3
our three longstanding focus areas the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 17
during 201314 we carried out the following insight activities
• brand awareness and consideration studies
• net promoter scoring ‘nps’
the following are key examples of where our insight programmes 
have driven key business decisions
insight action outcome
mecca retail paper playing customers 
disliked the disadvantage of playing amongst 
multiticket players on mecca max units
introduction of paper only sessions increase in customer visits for paper 
only sessions
mecca retail against peer operators mecca 
scored the lowest regarding value for money
introduction of a ﬂexible pricing structure  
‘pay as you play’
increase in nps scores since 
introduction
grosvenor retail customer demand for 
greater value for money
numerous actions taken including increased 
promotions higher return to slots players in the 
acquired casinos introduction of higher free bets
positive impact on customer visits
grosvenor retail new table games showcase 
event feedback
16 new games were selected for further 
evaluation with our customers
four new table games introduced into 
grosvenor casino’s suite of table games
as part of the integration of the acquired casinos we rolled  
out empathica which is our retail casino customer satisfaction 
survey tool 
during 201314 rank invested £394m in making improvements 
to its venues the majority of this was expended in grosvenor 
casinos with major refurbishments being carried out in our 
leicester and london st giles casinos and the opening of our  
new london poker room £89m of new gaming product was 
invested to upgrade and replace poor performing product in the 
acquired casinos 
we invested a total of £40m in our mecca venues this low level 
of reinvestment reﬂected uncertainty in trading during the ﬁrst  
half of the year and disappointing returns on major venue 
remodelling projects in previous years however the reduction  
in bingo duty from 30 june 2014 will result in increased capital 
investment in future years
the group continued the rollout of the enracha brand across  
its spanish venues with the don pelayo and continental venues 
converted in the year at a cost of £09m
during 201314 we achieved 15 growth in revenue from 
venues and 2 growth from digital media desktop tablet and 
mobile mobile continues to be our fastest growing channel with 
revenues up 43 to £189m in the period with 53 of our digital 
customers in great britain playing with our brands on mobile 
devices 201213 30
multichannel customers 000s  of total brand customers
brand 201314 201213 201314 201213
grosvenor 
casinos 26 17 15 13
mecca 71 66 65 58
both mecca and grosvenor casinos successfully grew the number 
of customers experiencing their brands through both the digital 
channel and in venue
speciﬁc actions
• grosvenorcasinoscom successfully launched its live casino 
product during q2 201314 to ensure the online live casino 
experience mirrored that found in our venues all live casino 
dealers were trained by our experienced venue dealers
• grosvenor casinos rolled out a crosschannel loyalty scheme 
“play points” during the year improving our casino 
customers’ crosschannel experience the acquired casinos 
are to be included in the scheme during 201415 and
• successful marketing campaigns have led to a 46 increase 
in venue customers playing on grosvenorcasinoscom
systematic use of data and customer feedback  
to drive service and product improvements
1
3
multichannel distribution of our brands
for more information see pages 
20 our key performance indicators
28 operating review
capital investment to extend the reach and broaden 
the appeal of the leisure experience we deliver
2 18 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
strategic report
while rank has built strong positions 
in venuebased gaming we have not 
yet been able to replicate this across our 
digital channels online and mobile 
in 201314 our digital operations 
generated just 10 of group revenue 
whereas digital channels now represent 
around 30 of great britain’s gambling 
market excluding national lottery 
we recognise that we need to step up 
our capability in this area if we are to 
meet the changing needs of our 
customers and to capture a greater 
share of the digital market
priority for 201415
this year we will put in place a 
number of building blocks to support 
this aim including the appointment of 
colin colejohnston as group director 
of digital and crosschannel services
in the markets where we operate rank 
is one of the few gaming companies 
in a position to offer customers a 
genuine multichannel gaming offer 
we have a number of key assets 
including a portfolio of more than 
160 venues our membership systems 
and rewards programmes and the 
high levels of engagement that our 
team members enjoy with customers
priority for 201415
we will build on this position by 
investing in a range of improvements 
designed to make it simpler more 
convenient and more rewarding for 
customers to engage with us across 
multiple channels these improvements 
include the development of a single 
customer account a single customer 
wallet and a single customer rewards 
programme these are large and 
complex programmes which will take 
time to deliver but which we believe 
will give rank an important 
competitive advantage 
our strategy continued
our future  
priorities
our aim is to be the uk’s leading multichannel gaming 
operator in order to achieve this we are focused on 
building brands with the ability to deliver them via 
the channels that they prefer – whether venues online 
or mobile 
1
creating a  
compelling  
multichannel  
offer
building digital 
capability
2
over the course of the year we will map 
our existing kpis to our new strategy 
and will report against them in 2015 
for this year we have continued to 
report on our kpis against our previous 
strategy these kpis can be found on 
pages 20 to 21
we will focus in particular on building 
engagement with customers across 
multiple channels where research  
tells us we are likely to generate  
more durable and valuable  
customer relationships 
we have identiﬁed ﬁve interrelated 
priorities essential to the 
accomplishment of our aims the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 19
at rank the customer is at the heart 
of our focus on efﬁciency by speeding 
up processes we can remove customer 
frustrations and by removing costs  
we can offer better value together 
these will create important competitive 
advantages we have identiﬁed  
a number of opportunities to  
harness technological developments 
to offer our customers more engaging 
experiences and to achieve sustainable 
growth in operating margins 
priority for 201415
this year we will look to deploy  
more cashless payment methods in 
our venues – such as the extension  
of ticketinticketout ‘tito’ slot 
machines to our mecca venues and  
to allow customers to use their own 
smartphones and tablets to play 
games invenue the increasing use of 
digital technologies in our venues will 
also support our ambition to provide 
customers with a seamless multi
channel offer 
during 201314 the group also 
commenced a project to outsource 
operational it services to tata 
consultancy services ‘tcs’ the 
transition to tcs is expected to be 
completed by october 2014
the development of a family of 
welldeﬁned relevant and resonant 
brands is critical for the success  
of our ambition at rank we enjoy 
ownership of a number of wellknown 
brands with strong levels of afﬁnity 
amongst certain customer segments 
but in the past we have not invested 
sufﬁciently in either the development 
of those brands or the marketing 
support required to release  
their potential
priority for 201415
this year we will seek to step up  
our brand marketing programme 
providing appropriate support for  
our established brands and investing 
in the development of new brands  
for the digital market
our casinos and bingo venues remain 
the bedrock of rank’s business 
providing entertainment for millions 
of customers each year and generating 
the majority of the group’s revenue 
and proﬁts by continuing to invest  
in our venues in terms of product 
environment and service and by 
creating new ones we are constantly 
evolving and enhancing the 
experiences that we offer to customers 
and in doing so growing our revenue
priority for 201415
this year we plan to invest £260m  
of capital in maintaining and 
improving our venues which includes 
£35m in completing a new casino 
in southend in order to maintain a 
modern ﬁtforpurpose estate we may 
be required to close a limited number 
of venues but we will also seek to 
develop new venue concepts as we 
move forward through innovation
1
developing  
our venues
investing in  
our brands and 
marketing
using 
technology to 
drive efficiency 
and improve 
customer 
experience
3 4 5
for more information see pages 
20 our key performance indicators
28 operating review 20 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
strategic report
our key performance indicators
measuring our  
performance
these kpis reﬂect our performance 
against our three longstanding 
focus areas we will be reviewing 
these kpis this year against  
our ﬁve new strategic priorities  
we will report against these  
in our 2015 annual report and 
ﬁnancial statements
systematic use of data 
and customer feedback 
to drive service and 
product improvements
1
2
3
multichannel 
distribution of 
our brands
our three longstanding 
focus areas
capital investment to 
extend the reach and 
broaden the appeal of 
the leisure experience 
we deliver
1 systematic use of data  
 customer feedback
12 1 3 14
53
48
43
net promoter score
43
measurement  
through customer feedback
why it is important  
guides product and service 
improvements by measuring the 
propensity of our customers to 
recommend our brands to their friends
performance  
5 percentage point decline from 201213 
to 201314 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 21
for more information see pages 
28 operating review
2 capital investment 3 multichannel distribution
12 1 3 14
27090
26933
27953
customer visits
27953k
12 1 3 14
2641
2676
3029
customers
3029k
12 1 3 14
50
58
65
mecca offlineonline 
crossover
65
12 1 3 14
06
13
15
grosvenor  casinos 
offlineonline crossover
15
measurement  
total number of customer 
visits to our venues and 
transactional sessions online
why it is important  
aids business planning by 
measuring the popularity  
of our brands
performance  
4 percent increase from 
201213 to 201314
measurement  
total number of unique 
customers who have visited 
our venues at least once and
or transacted online
why it is important  
provides a measure of our  
market share
performance  
13 percent increase from 
201213 to 201314
measurement  
the number of brand 
customers that play  
in venue and through 
our digital channel
why it is important  
crosschannel customers 
provide more value to  
the brand
mecca performance  
07 percentage point  
increase from 201213  
to 201314
measurement  
the number of brand 
customers that play  
in venue and through 
our digital channel
why it is important  
crosschannel customers 
provide more value to  
the brand
grosvenor casinos 
performance  
02 percentage point increase 
from 201213 to 201314 22 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
strategic report
principal risks and uncertainties
addressing  
our risks
risk potential impact
regulatory and tax risk
regulation
adverse regulatory changes in legislation continue to represent a  
signiﬁcant risk changes in political and social attitudes to gambling in  
our key markets and negative publicity surrounding the gambling industry 
could inﬂuence regulators’ perception of gambling and could lead to  
increased gambling regulation 
regulatory changes could increase the cost  
of doing business
taxation
adverse change in ﬁscal legislation continues to be a signiﬁcant risk  
we are subject to gambling taxation and levies in great britain and the  
other countries in which we operate from december we will also be required 
to pay uk remote gaming duty 2014 a point of consumption tax for remote 
digital gaming 
any increases in the levels of taxation  
or levies to which we are subject or the 
implementation of any new taxes or levies  
to which we will be subject could have a 
material adverse effect on our business  
ﬁnancial condition and results of operations
operational risk 
new online gaming platform – transition and implementation
the group is in the course of planning to replace its online gaming platform 
which is of signiﬁcant strategic importance to the group this will be the  
single largest it project that it has undertaken in recent years the key risks  
for this project include failure to a select the optimum supplier b specify 
correctly the group’s requirements with the result that the platform is not  
ﬁt for purpose c deﬁne clearly the governance structure for the project  
d deliver the project on time and on budget e manage adequately the 
transition from the existing platform and f provide for an appropriate  
exit strategy 
this project is a key strategic enabler so any 
failures in the delivery of the project risk having 
an adverse effect on the ability to optimise the 
digital platform and its associated business  
consequently impacting proﬁtability 
volatility of gaming win
win percentages for gambling activities can vary over a short period of time 
although they will stabilise over a longer period the business is also vulnerable 
to the potential impact of a small number of customers who can create 
volatility from the level of their gaming win
gaming win directly impacts proﬁtability the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 23
mitigation further information
we participate actively in trade bodies’ presentations to government 
and opposition parties as we have done in previous years during the 
period under review we have arranged key stakeholder familiarisation 
visits to some of our sites in order that stakeholders can have an 
opportunity to see our businesses in operation this enables 
stakeholders to gain a better understanding of the positive effect of 
our business activities including the provision of a safe environment 
within which adults can enjoy gambling the creation of employment 
and the generation of revenues for the exchequer
 28 operating review
 42 tax fact ﬁle
an update on rank’s approach to regulatory and ﬁscal reform can be 
found at wwwrankcomdownloadsgameplanvol2nov2013pdf 
or by written request to the company secretary
 42 tax fact ﬁle
the project is in its planning stages and is engaging experienced 
personnel to manage the schedule budget and deliverables a 
governance structure is being developed and roles and responsibilities 
agreed professional procurement and project management 
approaches have also been selected and implemented to provide 
structure for the key activities of the project
 28 operating review
gaming limits are actively used to manage the exposure of the 
business at all times
programmes are in place to manage high staking vip customers 
through a dedicated vip team and reward programmes exist to 
manage and incentivise the loyalty of these important customers  
to encourage play over longer periods
 28 operating review
for more information see pages 
16 our strategy
28 operating review
51 corporate governance 24 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
strategic report
principal risks and uncertainties continued
risk potential impact
loss of licences
rank’s gaming licences are fundamental to its operation in the british 
venues part of the business there is a requirement to hold an operator’s 
licence from the gambling commission the body responsible for regulating 
commercial gambling in great britain in respect of each of the licensed 
activities undertaken additionally it is necessary to hold premises licences 
from the relevant local authority in which each venue is situated one for 
gambling activities and one for the sale of alcohol our uk customer facing 
transactional websites require a licence from the alderney gambling control 
commission the body responsible for the regulation of egambling in the 
states of alderney where our remote gambling operations are based 
additionally with effect from 1 october 2014 an operator’s licence  
for our remote operations will be required from the gambling commission 
our operations in spain and belgium are also subject to licensing 
requirements in the jurisdictions and local areas in which they operate
the loss of licences could have an adverse effect 
on our business and proﬁtability and prevent us 
from providing gambling services
external events
customers may be prevented or deterred from accessing our clubs due to 
factors such as extreme weather illness or disease epidemics terrorist threats 
strikes and public transport system failures 
this could have an adverse effect on our 
business and proﬁtability as reported in our 
201314 half year results the hot weather in  
july 2013 adversely affected our results 
business continuity and disaster recovery
due to the venues based nature of much of the business the group’s 
signiﬁcant reliance on technology and the criticality of staff in serving 
customers and running the business serious disruptive events such as 
building ﬁre pandemic or serious technology failure may cause an 
interruption to the ability to operate elements of the business if business 
continuity and disaster recovery plans failed to operate successfully
if business continuity and disaster recovery 
plans failed to operate successfully the business 
would experience delays in recovering critical 
revenue generating activities or operational 
processes such as ﬁnancial reporting causing 
both ﬁnancial and reputational damage 
wage rise inﬂation
we employ a large number of employees at or just above the minimum  
wage signiﬁcant increases to the national minimum wage or other 
signiﬁcant changes to employment regulation could have an adverse  
impact on the group’s results
changes generating signiﬁcant employment 
cost inﬂation could negatively impact the 
group’s proﬁtability
information technology risk
it outsourcing – transition and implementation
rank is in the process of outsourcing certain of its it services including 
helpdesk desktop support server administration and network operations 
there are inherent risks in undertaking a project of this nature and 
importance including supplier selection implementation the impact  
on employee morale and retention during the consultation and transition 
periods and effective communication with the supplier 
issues with the provision of core it services may 
affect the smooth operation of business activities 
and consequently revenue
reliance on technology
the group is highly dependent on complex technology and advanced 
information systems with many interfaces and a signiﬁcant number of 
separate suppliers the pace of business change and development means  
that it changes such as new software coding systems enhancements and 
new software application integrations are undertaken continually and 
consequently these systems are inherently vulnerable to experiencing 
malfunctions failures or cyber attacks such as viruses or hacker intrusion 
comprehensive technology resilience and systems protection measures  
are in place but it is difﬁcult to detect all threats and vulnerabilities in  
order to prevent all service interruptions and problems
if our prevention measures for technology 
attacks should fail our reputation may be 
harmed and customers deterred from using  
our services which may in turn have a material 
adverse effect on our ﬁnancial performance 
failures in service provision could also render 
the group unable to serve customers during 
such service interruptions again having an 
adverse effect on revenue and proﬁt the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 25
mitigation further information
rank has a dedicated compliance function that is independent of 
operations and a separate internal audit function that is independent 
of both operations and the compliance function rank maintains a 
strong and open relationship with the gambling commission since 
entering the online gaming market rank has worked hard to build a 
similarly strong and open relationship with the alderney gambling 
control commission
 51 corporate governance
whilst these matters are outside our direct sphere of inﬂuence  
we continue to work hard to better prepare ourselves for such 
eventualities particularly in terms of coordinating with our  
digital businesses and making sure that employees can get to work
a group business continuity plan is in place and regularly reviewed 
departmental plans are required for all critical departments and 
premises and managed by the director of security it plans in 
particular are being continually reviewed in light of the transfer  
of risk being experienced as part of the it outsourcing project
rank maintains continual monitoring of the regulatory environment 
to ensure that changes are identiﬁed and prepared for as early  
as possible
 35 operating responsibly
the formal supplier selection process was audited by the group’s 
internal audit function and was found to have been properly 
conducted a supplier has been selected who has extensive  
experience in similar transition projects knowledge transfer plans  
are in place to mitigate any issues with losing existing employees  
and alternative job roles have been made available where suitable  
to help manage morale and retention
 35 operating responsibly 
in september 2013 a chief information ofﬁcer started with the  
group and he has also implemented a security improvement 
programme which is underway including measures such as 
enhancing the existing information security team with additional 
expert staff and adding a further range of detective and preventative 
measures to improve the security of technology based assets the it 
outsourcing currently being conducted also adds to the resources for 
providing business support and resilience around key systems
 18 our future priorities 26 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
strategic report
6 26 26 2 2 26 2 26 26 26 2 26 26 the h the the the t th th th th th h th h r r ra ra r ra ank nk k nk gro gro gro gro ro roup up up p p plc plc plc pl plc plc c plc p p p c c c c a  a a  annu nnu nnu nnu nnu nnu u u n u u n al al l al al l a a rep rep rep rep rep re ort or ort ort t an an an n n an n n nd f d f df f d ina ina na na in i n nci nci ci nci c n n l al al l l l al st sta sta sta s a statem tem te em em te ent ent t t ent t t e e t t e s 2 2 s 2 s2 s 2 s 2 s 2 s s s 014 01 0 014 014 4 0 01 014 1 1 014 014 4
str str str s str st str r str tr str str str tr t a a a a a at at at at ate ate te a a a g gi gic gic gic gic gic gic g r repor por ort t t t t t t t t t t
dec ‘13
refurbishment completed
major refurbishments at leicester and st giles casinos were completed  
these two venues were part of the acquired estate from gala coral where  
we invested £178m in the year  28 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
strategic report
operating review
delivering solid 
resul ts
during the 12 months to 30 june 2014 rank has grown 
revenue and operating proﬁt due to the contribution 
of the acquired casinos a challenging h1 and highly 
competitive digital trading environment has led to 
a fall in likeforlike revenues in both the grosvenor 
casinos and mecca brands
group key performance indicators kpis
we measure our performance through the group’s kpis 
 201314 201213
customers
1
 000s 3029 2676
customer visits 000s 27953 26933
net promoter score 43 48
1
 
unique customers shown on a moving annual total ‘mat’ basis
our brand teams served more than three million customers  
in the year with customer visits increasing by 4 due to the 
addition of the acquired casinos
the group’s net promoter score which measures the 
propensity of customers to recommend our brands decreased 
by 5 percentage points to 43 customer feedback indicates 
their increasing focus on value for money in bingo and a 
greater demand for promotions and bonuses in our casinos  
as a result the group has taken actions to address our 
customers increasing desire for greater value details of  
which are provided in the brand operating reviews below 
summary of ﬁnancial results
the group achieved 13 growth in continuing business 
revenue with 15 growth in venues and 2 in digital online 
and mobile likeforlike revenue for the group fell by 4 
the fastestgrowing channel of distribution continues to be 
mobile where revenue increased by 43 to £189m
revenue from grosvenor casinos increased by 30 to £3912m 
driven by the £1072m revenue contribution from the acquired  
casinos consequently operating proﬁt rose by 20 to £568m
mecca’s revenue decreased by 3 to £2882m as customer visits 
decreased in the year lower revenue and higher digital it costs 
resulted in total brand proﬁt declining 16 to £370m
enracha’s euro revenue decreased by 1 as customer visits fell 
by 2 sterling operating proﬁt rose by 14 
central costs were marginally lower at £222m
during the year rank invested £443m of capital across the 
group more than 70 of this was deployed in our grosvenor 
casinos venues 
the group’s adjusted net ﬁnancing charge of £99m was higher 
than the prior period primarily due to the ﬁnancing costs 
associated with the acquisition of the former gala casinos 
adjusted earnings per share at 124p was in line with the  
prior period
summary ﬁnancial results
revenue
1
operating proﬁt
2
£m 201314 201213 201314 201213
grosvenor 
casinos 3912 3003 568 474
mecca 2882 2962 370 441
enracha 283 285 08 07
central costs 222 223
total continuing 7077 6250 724 699
1 before adjustments for free bets promotions and customer bonuses
2 before exceptional items
vat claims
on 30 october 2013 rank received notice that the court  
of appeal had found in favour of hm revenue and customs 
‘hmrc’ regarding claims for overpaid vat on certain types  
of amusement machines between 2002 and 2005 following 
the court of appeal decision rank repaid amounts received  
to hmrc on 30 may 2014
rank applied for leave to appeal to the supreme court in 
connection with these claims and was subsequently granted 
permission to appeal on 16 april 2014 the appeal hearing will 
be held on 20 april 2015  the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 29
casinos
11 1 2
174
191
13
203
casino attendance
203m
11 1 2
4805
4895
13
5320
spend per visit
£5320
2005 act casino update
the following table summarises the updates on the awarding and opening of 2005 act casino licences during 201314
area type operator status
milton keynes large aspers opened september 2013
solihull large genting due to open july 2015
southampton large licence competition underway applications under review which includes an 
application from grosvenor casinos decision 
expected spring 2015
luton small grosvenor casinos licence awarded to grosvenor casinos in june 2014 
awarded licence to replace current 1968 act casino 
licence in grosvenor casinos’ luton venue 
wolverhampton small casino 36 licence awarded to casino 36 in july 2014 awarded 
licence to replace current 1968 act licence in existing 
casino 36 wolverhampton venue
source
1 gambling commission data for year ended 30 september 2013
market review 
great britain
during 201213 casinos generated £1080m in gaming 
revenue representing around 16 of net consumer 
expenditure on gaming and betting
1

attendance levels continued to grow in 201213 with  
the number of visits rising to 203 million up 6 from  
the previous year with a majority of the growth coming  
from london
1

the average cost of a visit to a casino has risen by 9 year  
on year includes expenditure on food drink entertainment 
and gaming
1
 
of the £1080m of casino gaming revenue in the year to  
30 september 2013 87 was generated by table games  
and the remaining 13 by machines
1
 30 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
strategic report
operating review continued
casinos
supply
as of july 2014 the number of casino licences operating  
in great britain was 149 all but two of these casinos were 
licensed under the 1968 act and when the 1968 act was 
superseded by the 2005 gambling act “the 2005 act”  
the rights of these casinos were ‘grandfathered’
during 201314 there has been one further opening of an 
awarded 2005 act casino in milton keynes two 2005 act 
licences have been awarded since the end of the prior period 
the small luton licence was awarded to grosvenor casinos and 
the small wolverhampton licence was awarded to casino 36 
the local authority in southampton is currently in the process 
of reviewing applications 
grosvenor casinos is the largest operator by venues and 
revenue of licensed casinos in great britain
july 2014 july 2013
operator
casino  
venues licences
casino  
venues licences
grosvenor 
casinos 56 77 55 76
genting 40 56 40 56
1
london clubs 811 910
as leisure 66 66
double diamond 57 11
aspersaspinall’s 7
1
9
1
4
1
8
1
club 36 33 33
clockfair 22 22
guoco 11 11
others 11 26 16 31
1
total 139 198
2
137
1
194
1 includes 2005 act casino licences
2 of which 149 licences were operating
source national casino industry forum
belgium
at 30 june 2014 there were nine casinos in belgium operated 
by six different companies according to the most recent data 
from the belgium regulator the commission des jeux the 
sector generated total revenue of €141m in 2012 – down 1 
on the prior year
licensed casinos in belgium
operator june 2014 june 2013
group partouche 2 4
grosvenor casinos 2 2
circus groupe 2 2
casinos austria 1 1
napoleon games 1 –
dr gaming technology 1 –
total 9 9 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 31
performance review
grosvenor casinos 
grosvenor casinos has recorded both revenue and operating 
proﬁt growth in the year with h2 revenues improved 
marginally on h1 however the strong comparable h1 in 
201213 contributed to a 4 fall in likeforlike revenue
201314 201213 change
total revenue
1
 £m 3912 3003 30
venues – excl acquired 
casinos
3
2705 2750 2
venues – acquired casinos 1072 155 592
digital 135 98 38
total ebitda
2
 £m 809 666 21
venues – excl acquired 
casinos
3
578 637 9
venues – acquired casinos 220 35 529
digital 11 06 283
total operating proﬁt
2
 £m 568 474 20
venues – excl acquired 
casinos
3
398 466 15
venues – acquired casinos 179 29 517
digital 09 21 57
likeforlike revenue 4
venues – excl acquired 
casinos 4
digital 38
1 before adjustments for free bets promotions and customer bonuses
2 before exceptional items
3 excludes preacquisition performance in 201213
total venues revenue of £3777m was up 30 in the period 
due to the contribution from the newlyacquired casinos  
a weaker london performance contributed to a 4 reduction 
in likeforlike revenue total operating proﬁt was up 17 but 
down 14 on a likeforlike basis
digital revenue grew strongly in the period up 38 to £135m 
with the newly launched live casino being a major revenue 
contributor to digital revenue lower digital marketing costs 
contributed to a reduction in the operating loss to £09m 
from £21m in the prior period
key performance indicators
 201314 201213
2
total customers 000s
1
1784 1306
venues – excl acquired casinos 1279 1288
venues – acquired casinos 491 –
digital 50 35
total customer visits 000s 8579 6391
venues – excl acquired casinos 5962 6052
venues – acquired casinos 2177 –
digital 440 339
total spend per visit £ 4560 4456
venues – excl acquired casinos 4537 4544
venues – acquired casinos 4924 –
digital 3068 2891
total net promoter score 41 42
venues 44 45
digital 7 5
1 customers shown on a moving annual total ‘mat’ basis and crossover 
customers included only once
2 excludes impact of the 19 acquired casinos
excluding the impact of the acquired casinos total brand 
customers were ﬂat yearonyear as reductions in the venues 
channel were offset by gains in the digital channel the 
introduction of sales managers in the acquired casinos 
contributed to a 4 increase in customers in the year digital 
customer numbers grew by 43 with an increase in customer 
crossover from venues 32 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
strategic report
operating review continued
on 8 november 2013 the new london poker room opened 
which incorporates a 350 capacity poker room the capital  
cost of the poker room casino licence and associated ﬁtout 
costs was £116m
the integration of the acquired casinos was completed in  
the year with £178m of capital invested the investment 
included the conversion of three venues to the g casino 
format which included a major refurbishment of the  
leicester casino and the rollout of new gaming product  
across the acquired estate the group also carried out a  
major refurbishment at the london st giles formerly the 
tottenham court road venue in addition to major it 
upgrades across both the acquired and existing venues 
upcoming investments include the opening of a new  
casino in southend in autumn 2014 and the refurbishment  
of the acquired venues in nottingham and bournemouth
during the year the brand successfully extended its venues 
loyalty scheme play points across the digital channel and 
introduced an exclusive black card vip reward scheme  
work is currently underway to continue the play points  
rollout across the acquired casinos and should be completed  
by december 2014 
as part of the brand’s strategy to further develop its casino  
offer a trial sports betting offer has recently been introduced 
alongside the refurbished leicester casino there are plans  
to extend the trial into a further three venues in 201415
venues regional analysis
the casinos estate is split into three key areas – london 
provinces and belgium to better illustrate the differences 
across the estate the following analysis has been provided
customer visits 000s
1
spend per visit £
1
201314 201213 201314 201213
london 1452 1053 9056 10047
provinces 6406 4698 3617 3287
belgium 281 301 5160 4917
total 8139 6052 4641 4544
revenue £m operating proﬁt £m
201314 201213 201314 201213
london 1315 1119 279 282
provinces 2317 1638 294 213
belgium 145 148 04 –
total 3777 2905 577 495
1 201213 data excludes the impact of the acquired 19 casinos
london revenue increased by 18 due to the contribution of 
the acquired casinos however likeforlike revenue fell by 13 
as major player staking levels reduced and a lower more 
normal win margin was recorded in the year
provincial revenue also beneﬁted from the contribution from 
the acquired casinos up 41 on a likeforlike basis revenue 
fell 1 as the july 2013 hot weather and 2014 world cup 
adversely impacted visits
venues revenue analysis – great britain only
£m
201314 201213
existing acquired existing acquired
casino games 1703 772 1824 113
gaming machines 525 204 441 25
card room games 119 28 122 04
food  drinkother 213 68 215 13
total 2560 1072 2602 155 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 33
bingo
market review
supply
the number of bingo clubs continues to decline with an 
estimated 14 clubs closing in the year
at 30 june 2014 there were an estimated 380 bingo clubs 
operating in great britain
1
 down from 394 a year earlier 
mecca remains the second largest operator of licensed bingo 
clubs in great britain after gala bingo
operator june 2014 june 2013
gala bingo 135 138
mecca 96 97
top ten bingo 15 17
carlton clubs 13 13
others 121 129
total 380 394
performance review
mecca 
the challenging trading conditions continue to adversely 
impact the brand with total revenue down 3 in the period
201314 201213 change
total revenue
1
 £m 2882 2962 3
venues 2293 2349 2
digital 589 613 4
total ebitda
2
 £m 532 602 12
venues 349 376 7
digital 183 226 19
total operating proﬁt
2
 £m 370 441 16
venues 211 230 8
digital 159 211 25
likeforlike revenue 5
venues 5
digital 4
1 before adjustments for free bets promotions and customer bonuses
2 before exceptional items
venues revenue of £2293m was down 2 and 5 on a 
likeforlike basis the decline in revenue was principally 
driven by a fall in customer visits a major review of costs  
was carried out in the year resulting in a £41m reduction  
in labour costs
one underperforming venue was closed in the year and there 
are plans to close two further lossmaking venues in 201415 
as a consequence of the cut in bingo duty to 10 the group 
has committed to develop three new venues and to restart its 
venues refurbishment programme the group continues with 
its review of suitable locations and developing new concepts 
the highly competitive digital market contributed to a 4 
decline in digital revenue a reallocation of shared it and other 
overhead costs from the disposed blue square business and 
increased investment in technology contributed to a fall in 
operating proﬁt down 25 
during the year over 100 new games were released by mecca’s 
digital channel along with signiﬁcant upgrades to its mobile 
app despite total digital revenues falling in the period mobile 
revenues continue to grow up 41
1 bingo association
11 1 2
614
716
13
671
licensed bingo clubs 
gaming revenue
£671m
gaming revenue from 
licensed bingo clubs 
in great britain
•
 main stage bingo £124m
•
 mechanised cash bingo £260m
•
 prize bingo £10m
•
 slots £277m 34 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
strategic report
key performance indicators 
201314 201213
total customers 000s
1
1096 1134
venues 937 958
digital 229 242
total customer visits 000s 17429 18562
venues 12607 13559
digital 4822 5003
total spend per visit £ 1654 1596
venues 1819 1732
digital 1221 1225
total net promoter score 43 49
venues 47 53
digital 21 29
1 customers shown on a moving annual total ‘mat’ basis and crossover 
customers included only once
the decline in q1 customer visits prompted a detailed review 
of all venues session by session which concluded that certain 
offers were uncompetitive as a result numerous initiatives 
were launched focussed on improving value for money 
these included the introduction of lower priced sessions  
a ‘refer a friend’ reward programme and various food and 
beverage promotions these actions have contributed to  
an improvement in the second half with full year customer 
visits down 7 compared to a 10 fall at h1
digital spend per visit declined marginally in the year as more 
customers migrated to the mobile platform where dwell time 
and spend per visit are currently lower
venues revenue analysis 
£m 201314 201213 change
main stage bingo 351 391 10
interval games 947 1000 5
amusement machines 738 689 7
food  drinkother 257 269 4
total 2293 2349 2
the introduction of machine games duty ‘mgd’ in the prior 
period has positively impacted amusement machine revenue 
on a likeforlike basis there was a 3 fall
enracha 
our spanish brand enracha continues to operate in very 
difﬁcult economic conditions
201314 201213 change
revenue €m 340 345 1
revenue £m 283 285 1
ebitda
1
 £m 29 31 6
operating proﬁt
1
 £m 08 07 14
1 before exceptional items
euro revenue was marginally down during the year with euro 
spend per visit ﬂat in sterling revenue was down 1 
key performance indicators
201314 201213
customers 000s
1
260 276
customer visits 000s 1945 1980
spend per visit € 1748 1742
spend per visit £ 1455 1439
net promoter score 86 84
1 customers shown on a moving annual total ‘mat’ basis
venues revenue analysis 
€m 201314 201213 change
bingo 203 202 0
amusement machines 108 113 4
food  drinkother 29 30 3
total 340 345 1
during the year a lossmaking venue in madrid was closed and 
there are plans to exit a further lossmaking venue in santiago 
during the ﬁrst half of 201415
operating review continued the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 35
operating responsibly
making  
people happy
our role in society
at rank our aim is to make an overwhelmingly positive 
contribution to the quality of life in the communities we serve 
by bringing people together creating fun experiences and 
making people happy we understand that our success as a 
business is dependent upon society’s view of our effectiveness 
in doing this – and that the value that we generate from  
our operations is a measure of the value that we add to  
people’s lives
in this section we look in greater detail at our business from 
the perspective of our customers our team members and the 
communities that we serve 
customers – keeping it fun
rank’s purpose is to bring enjoyment to the lives of our 
customers through thrills socialisation and entertainment 
how it affects our performance and position
the success of our brands is predicated on our ability to  
“keep it fun” however with gambling – as with most forms  
of leisure – excessive or uncontrolled consumption will lead  
to harm the fact that the vast majority of our customers  
gain enjoyment from gambling must not be used to mask  
or marginalise the incidence of harm 
problem gambling is a complex issue involving a web of 
psychological sociological and economic factors sadly it is  
an issue where objective discussion is skewed by narrow self 
interest or deeplying views on the basic morality of gambling 
our policies and actions
at rank our approach is to seek a more sophisticated 
understanding of the problem and to use that understanding 
to tackle gamblingrelated harm
• understand through research and engagement
• inﬂuence customer behaviour through communication
• provide safeguards and intervene where problems arise 
• support treatment and counselling
team members – creating thrilling careers
rank is made up of nearly 11000 talented individuals who 
have a desire to entertain 
how it affects our performance and position
these are the people who bring our brands to life by creating 
memorable experiences for our customers – they are the most 
important reasons why people choose our brands and stay  
with us 
for more information see pages 
139 keep it fun
we recognise that it is critical to support our team  
members through the provision of the training necessary  
to accomplish their jobs development opportunities in  
line with their career aspirations and clarity in terms  
of leadership 
our policies and actions
training
during 201314 we invested £497000 in delivering 246000 
hours of training to our team members helping them to 
develop the skills required to do their jobs
career development
our career development programme is designed to enable  
our employees to progress within rank offering mobility 
between brand and group teams and the opportunity to  
work within different areas of operation and to participate  
in crossgroup projects
during 201314 nearly all team members participated in career 
development training in addition 6 of our team members 
achieved a promotion in the period
leadership and engagement
rank’s senior management team has an obligation to the 
group’s team members to set clear direction and expectations 
and to provide regular and motivational feedback our team 
member engagement scores tell us how effective we are in 
meeting this need in 201314 team member engagement 
increased slightly from 78 to 79 
health  safety
the group ensures the health safety and welfare of all our 
employees by providing safe working conditions to prevent 
injury or ill health rank regards legislative compliance as a 
minimum and whenever possible will seek to implement 
higher health and safety standards throughout the business 
with a focus on continual improvements of these standards
the directors and senior management of the group recognise 
the importance of providing all employees and visitors to our 
premises with a safe and healthy environment in which to 
work or enjoy our venues
during the year a twoday audit of the group’s support ofﬁce 
was carried out by the british safety council and the group 
retained its prestigious ﬁve star accreditation status for 
occupational health  safety  36 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
strategic report
diversity
rank is committed to providing equal opportunities for all  
of our employees our diversity policy ensures that every 
employee is treated equally and fairly and that all employees 
are aware of their responsibilities
the policy conﬁrms that there will be no direct or indirect 
discrimination in respect of age disability religious belief 
gender sexual orientation race colour marital status political 
belief and nationality or any other category deﬁned by law in 
all aspects of employment including recruitment promotion 
and opportunities for training pay and beneﬁts 
please refer to page 62 which outlines the board’s diversity policy
the table below provides a breakdown of the gender of 
directors and employees at the end of the ﬁnancial year
male female total  male  female
plc board
1
6 1 7 86 14
senior 
management
2
32 12 44 73 27
whole company 5599 5157 10756 52 48
1 the board consists of company directors as detailed on pages 48 to 49
2 senior management is as deﬁned in the companies act 2006 strategic report 
and directors’ report regulations 2013 and includes i persons responsible for 
planning directing or controlling the activities of the company or a strategically 
signiﬁcant part of the company other than company directors and ii any other 
directors of undertakings included in the consolidated accounts
disability
rank is committed to ensuring that people with disabilities are 
supported and encouraged to apply for employment with the 
group and to achieve progress whilst employed disabled 
persons will be treated so that they have an equal opportunity 
so far as is justiﬁable to be selected trained and promoted 
in order that people with disabilities may have an equal 
opportunity of being recruited the group strictly applies its 
equal opportunities and recruitment policies in particular 
rank takes reasonable steps to ensure that interview 
arrangements are such that disabled persons may attend 
without embarrassment or difﬁculty it also ensures that any 
enquiries made about an applicant’s health prior to offering  
a job are limited to establishing whether the applicant will be 
able to comply with a requirement to undergo an interview  
or other assessment whether a duty to make reasonable 
adjustments is or will be imposed on the group in relation to 
the applicant in connection with a requirement to undergo an 
interview or other assessment whether the applicant will be 
able to carry out a function that is intrinsic to the work 
concerned or for the purpose of monitoring diversity in the 
range of persons applying to the group to work the group is 
also committed to making such reasonable adjustments to 
premises work practices and equipment as are necessary to 
enable a disabled person to take up employment with rank
career development opportunities are communicated as 
appropriate to all employees and those with disabilities are 
encouraged to apply as detailed in the group’s equal 
opportunities policy both internal and external training 
opportunities are provided where they are appropriate to 
employees’ current occupations or potential opportunities and 
to the needs of the business where appropriate outside 
training providers are required to demonstrate that they are 
able to accommodate persons with a disability before the 
group will approve their usage the provision of internal 
courses is relocated as necessary in order to ensure that persons 
with disabilities may attend and the human resources 
department is responsible for making suitable arrangements 
with regard to the venue of the event or to the format in which 
any supporting course materials are provided
during performance appraisal meetings in particular managers 
are required to pay special attention to the views of disabled 
employees on career development issues such as access to 
trainingdevelopment events andor opportunities and are 
expected to enquire whether there is anything that the group 
may reasonably do to help the person develop and use their 
abilities at work
where an employee becomes disabled whether through 
accident illness or injury every reasonable and practicable 
consideration will be given to ensuring that they may remain 
in employment any situations involving an employee who 
becomes disabled require the involvement of human resources 
who monitor the employee’s disability and provide advice 
during their ongoing employment the group may take a 
variety of steps to enable continuing employment for example 
making adjustments to premises transfer to an alternative 
position which is vacant or to a different locationplace of work 
alteration of working hours time off during working hours for 
rehabilitation assessment or treatment training andor 
reskilling modiﬁcation or purchase of appropriate equipment  
and provision of supervision and assistance all necessary 
advice and counselling will be provided for the employee 
concerned by human resources who will also consult external 
specialist organisations as appropriate the group welcomes 
suggestions from disabled employees regarding adjustments 
which could assist with their ability to undertake their role 
operating responsibly continued the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 37
human rights
given the nature of our business and its geographical spread 
we have not included information on human rights issues as 
required by the companies act 2006 regulations 2013
communities – rank cares
rank and its brands have a long history of community 
involvement and charitable fundraising 
how it affects our performance and position
our venues are often cited as “community hubs” – particularly 
our mecca bingo venues we challenge all of our teams to 
consider what they can contribute to the communities that 
they serve
our policies and actions
in february 2014 we launched rank cares to support the work 
of the carers trust to help those who help others in need of 
care around oneinten people in britain today provide care 
for another – often a sick or elderly relation the carers trust 
provides support advice and relief for those undertaking what 
is often very physically and emotionally draining work
we have set ourselves a target of raising £05m for the carers 
trust and at 30 june 2014 we had already passed the £02m 
mark the funds are distributed within the communities in 
which they are raised via a series of grant panels
in addition rank cares provides a framework for team 
members to volunteer their time to help the carers trust often 
utilising hidden talents to bring relief and happiness to these 
selﬂess carers
during 201314 rank also participated in activities to support 
the following organisations
• marie curie cancer care
• dame kelly holmes trust
communities – rank and the environment
our policies and actions
greenhouse gas ghg emissions
the following ghg emission data has been calculated using 
the deccdefra emission factors provided by defra in june 
2013 subsequent years’ emissions will be based on an annually 
revised set of factors 
we have continued to communicate effectively our overall 
consumption levels for electricity gas and waste to the venues 
by means of our dedicated environmental website and 
automatic meter readings which produce weekly consumption 
reports direct to the venues this has been successfully 
integrated into the 19 casinos acquired in 2013
based on the conversion factors the group’s total ghg 
emissions for its operations as at 31 december 2013
1
 were
tonnes of
 co
2
e
2
 
tonnes of 
co
2
e£m 
revenue
scope 1 
constitutes gas use plus gas oil 
use in belgium owned transport  
and fugitive fgas emissions 19523 28
scope 2 
comprises electricity generation 37356 53
scope 3
3
 
comprises waste materials use 
ﬂights electricity transmission 
and distribution 13138 19
outside of scopes
4
 
represents the biogenic 
proportion of petrol and diesel 43 –
total 70060 100 1038
1 the above data is for the year ended 31 december 2013 as the data for the year 
ended 30 june 2014 was unavailable at the time of approving the annual report 
and financial statements for future years the group will endeavour to provide 
ghg data for the ﬁnancial year in review
2 co
2
e is a universal unit of measurement used to indicate the global warming  
of greenhouse gas expressed in terms of global warming potential of one unit  
of carbon dioxide
3 welltotank emissions for fuels electricity gas petrol diesel and aviation fuel 
which would sit within scope three are not included in this report
4 this is categorised as outside of scopes rather than scope three in line with the 
defra 2013 emission factor guidance 
we completed the tm44 air conditioning inspections and 
have utilised these to programme in our r22 removal which 
will be complete by 2019 latest in addition we are renewing 
controls on all chiller replacements and running trials on 
various control systems to improve our energy efﬁciency
over the last period we have carried out additional rd  
on various other energy opportunities
our new sites at reading and southend under construction 
have our latest control systems and led lighting throughout
we are continuing to replace existing lighting with leds where 
viable and available as technology progresses with these units
we now monitor our water consumption monthly and 
automatic meter reading ‘amr’ is about to be installed in 
the majority of our scottish sites 38 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
strategic report
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014 0 01 014 01 0 014 14 14 4 4 0 014 014 014 014 014 4 4 01 014 0 01 014 4 4 4 4 4 0 014 0 014 1 14 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 014 4 4 014 014 014 4 4 4 14 14 4 4 0 0 014 0 01 014 14 14 4 4 14 14 4 4 4 014 0 0 0 0 014 4 0 0 01 0 0 0 01 1 14 4 4 4 4 4
str str r str t s at at ate e ate a a ate te ate at gic ic gi g c gi ic c g r r re e re e e ep po po por or p p p por por or p p p p t t t
jan ‘14
increased stakes and prizes at mecca  
and grosvenor casinos
the government conﬁrmed in january that the stake limits and in some cases  
the prize limits could be increased on certain gaming machines machines in both 
the group’s bingo and casino venues were able to take advantage of these increases the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 39 the t the e t ra ra ra ra ra ra r nk nk nk nk gro gro gro group up up up up u up p pl plc plc pl plc plc p  a a  a a  a a  nnu n nnu nnu nnu n al al l al al rep rep rep rep rep r ort rt o o an an nd f d f d f fina ina ina i nc nc nci ncial al l sta sta sta s tem e em m e ent ent t en s 2 2 s s 2014 014 0 0 39 39
play points launched crosschannel
play points grosvenor casinos’ established venue customer loyalty  
programme was successfully launched across the brand’s digital channel
feb ‘14 40 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
strategic report
financial review
continuing to 
deliver results
following a challenging h1 and the successful execution of 
certain proﬁt improvement actions in h2 group revenue for 
the 12 month period from continuing operations rose by 13 
to £7077m while group operating proﬁt before exceptionals 
of £724m was 4 higher than the prior period
the growth in group revenues reﬂects the income from the  
19 acquired casinos offset by a highly competitive trading 
environment and a lower more normal win margin in our 
london casinos 
adjusted net interest payable for the 12 months was above the 
prior period due to the additional facilities used to fund the 
acquisition of the 19 casinos from gala
the group’s proﬁt for the year was £202m down 25 from 
the prior year
adjusted earnings per share was ﬂat yearonyear at 124p
acquisition of the former gala casinos 
the acquisition accounting relating to the acquisition of the  
19 casinos from gala on 12 may 2013 has now been ﬁnalised  
in the prior year provisional fair values of the assets and liabilities 
acquired were disclosed due to the proximity of the acquisition  
to the group’s year end and the completion accounts process 
outlined by the sale and purchase agreement extended beyond the 
ﬁnalisation of the ﬁnancial statements details of the adjustments 
made to the provisional accounting are outlined in note 25
the acquisition has now been successfully integrated and the 
initial capital investment plan has been completed on time 
and within budget since acquisition the casinos have 
performed in line with management’s expectations
taxation
the group’s effective corporation tax rate on continuing 
operations was 222 201213 255 and the group had  
an effective cash tax rate of 167 on adjusted proﬁt 
for further detail on our effective corporation tax rate and cash 
tax rate please refer to our tax fact file on pages 42 to 45
the gaming machine case concerning overpaid vat previously 
refunded to rank was decided on 30 october 2013 by the 
court of appeal in favour of hmrc rank has appealed the 
decision to the supreme court and the case will be heard on  
20 april 2015 in h2 rank had to repay amounts received  
in advance of the case being heard
the group previously participated in a disclosed tax avoidance 
scheme which has been included in the recently published list 
of disclosure of tax avoidance schemes “dotas” under 
new tax rules implemented this year hmrc can request 
payment of the amounts under dispute in advance of any  
tax tribunal the group has not yet received any request for 
payment with the amounts at dispute worth up to £220m 
this potential tax outﬂow is included within the income tax 
payable balance please refer to note 18
exceptional items
in order to give a full understanding of the group’s ﬁnancial 
performance and aid comparability between periods the 
group reports certain items as exceptional to normal trading 
during the year the group recognised impairment charges  
and onerous lease provisions which principally related  
to underperformance of the group’s new brighton casino  
and three enracha venues
as outlined above the group repaid amounts to hmrc following 
the decision at the court of appeal as recovery is not virtually 
certain this outﬂow has been expensed in the current period
full details of the group’s exceptional items are provided in note 4
going concern
in adopting the going concern basis for preparing the ﬁnancial 
information the directors have considered the issues impacting 
the group during the period as detailed in the business review 
above and have reviewed the group’s projected compliance 
with its banking covenants based on the group’s cash ﬂow 
forecasts and operating budgets and assuming that trading 
does not deteriorate considerably from those projected levels 
the directors believe that the group will generate sufﬁcient 
cash to meet its requirements for at least the next 12 months 
and comply with its banking covenants accordingly the 
adoption of the going concern basis remains appropriate
clive jennings finance director the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 41
cash ﬂow 
 
201314  
£m
 
201213 
restated  
£m
continuing operations 
cash inﬂow from operations 1072 1177
capital expenditure 443 382
fixed asset disposals 03 20
operating cash inﬂow 632 815
discontinued operations 06 91
net acquisitions and disposals 11 1762
net cash payments in respect of 
provisions and exceptional items 67 140
 570 1178
net interest and tax payments 155 128
settlement of legacy tax issues 566 –
net dividends paid 164 146
new ﬁnance leases 23 08
other including foreign exchange 
translation 09 01
cash outﬂow 329 1459
opening net debt  cash 1041 418
closing net debt 1370 1041
financial structure and liquidity
at the end of june 2014 net debt was £1370m compared  
with net debt of £1041m at the end of june 2013 the net 
debt comprised £1400m in bank term loans in respect of  
the acquisition of the former gala casinos £200m drawn 
revolvingcredit facilities £84m in ﬁxed rate yankee bonds 
£149m in ﬁnance leases and £08m in overdrafts offset by  
cash at bank and in hand of £471m
the group’s banking facilities comprise two £700m bilateral 
term loans and four £200m bilateral revolving credit facilities 
with its relationship banks totalling £2200m these facilities 
require the maintenance of a minimum ratio of earnings 
before interest tax depreciation and amortisation ‘ebitda’ 
to net interest payable a minimum ratio of ebitda plus 
operating lease charges to net interest payable plus operating 
lease charges and a maximum ratio of net debt to ebitda 
tested quarterly and biannually depending on the facility  
the group has complied with its banking covenants
the group has a strong balance sheet with a conservative 
leverage of 12 times net debt to ebitda
capital expenditure
201314 
 £m
201213 
 £m
cash
continuing operations
grosvenor casinos 355 210
mecca 59 96
enracha 13 14
central 16 62
443 382
discontinued operations – 11
443 393
finance leases
grosvenor casinos – 05
mecca 23 03
23 08
total capital expenditure 466 401
during 201314 rank invested £394m in making improvements 
to its venues with the majority being expended in the enlarged 
grosvenor casinos estate £178m was invested in the acquired 
estate which included £25m on the refurbishment of the 
leicester and london st giles casinos and £89m on new gaming 
equipment in the existing estate the new london poker room 
opened at a cost of £116m and £14m was spent on the new 
southend casino which is due to open in autumn 2014
we invested £40m in our mecca venues this low level of venues 
investment reﬂected uncertainty following trading during the 
ﬁrst half of the year and disappointing returns on major venue 
remodelling projects in previous years
on developing our digital capability we invested a total of £19m 
in mecca and £14m in grosvenor casinos
during 201415 we plan to spend between £400m and £450m 
of this £55m will be invested in refurbishing further our 
grosvenor casinos venues and £35m to complete the 
development of our new casino in southend £47m on 
improving our digital capability and £76m on groupwide it 
investments we will increase our capital investment in mecca 
venues in keeping with commitments made to hm treasury  
and heightened return expectations from the reduced rate of 
bingo duty 
capital committed at 30 june 2014 includes £31m for the new  
g casino in southend mecca had no material commitments  
at the year end 42 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
strategic report
rank is committed to contributing 
to the communities and economies 
where it is established this includes 
paying tax 
taxation
in the year 201314 the group’s businesses have generated 
£1894m 201213 £1769m for the uk exchequer and local 
government in vat gaming taxes income tax national 
insurance contributions and local business rates rank has 
provided employment to nearly 11000 201213 9500 people 
across the group the broader impact of rank’s operations 
including taxes paid by supplier companies is harder to 
quantify but no less signiﬁcant 
tax strategy
rank’s tax strategy is aligned with rank’s group strategic 
objectives of responsible operation and constructive  
political engagement 
tax fact file
contributing to  
our communities
group’s total outgoings
•
 taxation 306
•
 employees excluding taxation 251
•
 suppliers 242
•
 depreciationamortisation 61
•
 other 65
•
 shareholders 75
tax contribution by territory
•
 uk £1894m
•
 spain £239m
•
 belgium £101m
rank operates in a highly regulated and highly taxed industry 
and aims to engage effectively with governments to ensure 
that rank’s economic and societal contributions are 
understood and valued this is achieved by responding  
to consultations which may have a material impact upon  
the business actively pursuing opportunities to meet with 
government ofﬁcials and discuss the tax environment 
applicable to rank’s operating companies expressing 
considered opinions to government and industry on the 
current tax environment and how it may be improved and 
actively participating in forums designed to comment on  
and inform government policy on taxation 
taxation represents a signiﬁcant proportion of the group’s 
total outgoings as can be seen from the chart below the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 43
it remains rank’s objective to ensure that all taxes are correctly 
accounted for and that tax returns are completed accurately 
and on time and that any tax liabilities are paid there are 
sufﬁcient processes and controls in place to ensure that this 
objective is met rank has resolved a number of historic tax 
issues in the uk and abroad in the past year through working 
cooperatively with the local tax authorities the group aims 
to conclude tax audits as quickly as possible whilst also 
defending its position robustly with a view to protecting 
shareholder value and taking into account the cost of 
defending audits in relation to the amounts of tax at stake 
the group’s tax strategy is regularly reviewed and approved  
by the board and supported by the use of appropriate advisors 
where disputes arise over the interpretation and application  
of tax legislation the group will seek to resolve any differences 
by discussing the merits of its position with the relevant tax 
authority in the event that agreement cannot be reached 
rank will consider litigation provided that the grounds of 
appeal stand a good chance of success in litigation and that 
there is sufﬁcient tax at stake to warrant the cost of litigation
effective tax rate
the group’s effective corporation tax rate in 201314 was 
222 201213 255 based on a tax charge of £139m on 
adjusted proﬁt before taxation this is lower than the group’s 
anticipated effective tax rate due to prior year tax credits  
the effective corporation tax rate for 2015 and future periods is 
expected to be 22 to 24 reducing in line with the reduction 
to uk corporation tax rates but remaining 2 to 4 above the 
uk statutory tax rate as a result of overseas proﬁts being taxed 
at higher rates and depreciation of assets that do not qualify 
for capital allowances further details on the taxation charge 
are provided in note 7
cash tax rate
in the year ended 30 june 2014 the group had an effective 
cash tax rate of 167 on adjusted proﬁt reﬂecting the 
utilisation of capital allowances and losses in the group  
148 in the year ended 30 june 2013 the group is expected 
to have a cash tax rate of approximately 175 to 20 in the 
year ended 30 june 2015 excluding any tax payable on the 
resolution of legacy issues
gaming tax reform
rank considers that the current tax regime for gaming in great 
britain is unduly complex which has resulted in volatility in 
the past rank is in favour of a simpler regime that encourages 
sustained growth and investment 
more details of rank’s position are detailed in our paper 
‘responsible taxation fairness responsibility and 
sustainability’ which is available at wwwrankcom
in april 2013 rank published ‘gameplan – a candid exposition 
of rank’s approach to regulatory and ﬁscal reform’ available at 
wwwrankcom gameplan considers the positive contribution 
that rank makes to life in britain today as well as considering 
how rank can make a greater contribution in the future with  
a little support from our government 
monthly uk tax contribution
201314
201213
201112
2010
18
08
12
40
39
39
37
10
24
22
20
77
66
63
62
13
10
11
11
•
 rates
•
 gambling taxes
•
 vat
•
 employment taxes
•
 corporate tax 44 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
strategic report
tax fact file continued
‘gameplan – a candid update on rank’s approach to regulatory 
and ﬁscal reform volume ii’ available at wwwrankcom  
was published by rank in november 2013 in gameplan 
volume ii rank called for a reduction in bingo duty believing 
that this would enable bingo operators to offer customers a 
richer experience through a combination of increased prizes 
and greater innovation resulting in economic growth and  
job creation 
in budget 2014 the uk government announced a reduction  
in the rate of bingo duty from 20 to 10 with effect from  
30 june 2014 the announcement will provide an important 
boost for britain’s bingo clubs which provide a range of social 
and economic beneﬁts for the communities they serve by 
reducing the rate of bingo duty the government has created  
a basis for renewed investment and innovation in the bingo 
sector and rank has committed to a programme of investment 
and job creation in its bingo venues as a direct consequence of 
the reduction in duty
in budget 2014 it was also conﬁrmed that remote gambling 
will be taxed on a place of consumption basis from 1 december 
2014 tax at 15 will become due on any gambling revenue 
generated from consumers in the uk 
spain
in 2011 the spanish government invited online operators  
to apply for remote gaming licences and introduced tax 
changes which levied gaming duty on a place of consumption 
basis remote gaming duty was introduced at a rate of 20  
of revenue this differs from the taxation of landbased 
businesses which although taxed at similar rates of between 
135 to 25 are taxed on stakes received rather than 
revenue generated 
belgium
the belgium government introduced a taxation and licensing 
framework for online gaming companies in 2011 companies 
may only apply for an online gaming licence in belgium if 
they already hold a landbased gaming licence and are subject 
to remote gaming duty at a rate of 11
vat claims
since 2006 rank has invested signiﬁcant resource in pursuing 
litigation to reclaim overpaid vat in all rank has received 
£2842 million of vat and interest relating to this litigation 
following ﬁve rulings in rank’s favour from the uk courts 
rank’s case was referred to the court of justice of the european 
union ecj the decision of the ecj was published on  
10 november 2011 the decision led hm revenue  customs 
to concede the bingo element of rank’s claims however  
the element of rank’s claim relating to amusement machines 
totalling £307m has been referred back to the uk courts 
rank’s case was heard at the court of appeal in may 2013 
with the decision being found in hmrc’s favour following  
the court of appeal decision rank has repaid amounts to 
hmrc in respect of the claim
rank has however been granted permission to lodge an 
appeal to the supreme court the appeal hearing will be  
held on 20 april 2015 
depending on the outcome of the supreme court decision  
it is possible that certain other points in relation to the case 
will need to be considered further by the first tier tribunal
rank has submitted several further claims pursuant to the 
principle of ﬁscal neutrality pertaining in the main to vat 
overpaid on amusement machine income rank estimates that 
these claims total more than £275m including interest but the 
delay in the conclusion of rank’s current case has delayed the 
determination of these additional claims rank considers that 
the outcome of the supreme court should determine some of 
the claims included within the £275m in particular the 
amusement machine claim for the period 31 january 1976 to 
30 september 1996 however it is also possible that further 
litigation will be required in connection with part of these 
claims these delays have not altered rank’s appraisal of its 
chances of success in this matter
at present hmrc accepts that taxpayers are entitled to receive 
interest on repayments caused by hmrc’s error such interest 
is calculated on a simple basis however there is ongoing 
litigation that such interest should be calculated on a 
compound basis rank has protected its position with regard  
to such claims as other tax payers are bringing litigation on 
this point the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 45
uk tax regime 
gaming dutygross profits tax
mecca
category b3 gaming machines 20
category c gaming machines 20
category d gaming machines 5
main stage bingo
1
10
interval bingo
1
10
meccabingocom
2
0
grosvenor casinos
casino games and poker  
tax on gaming win in  
a six month period
15 – £0 to £22425k
20 – £22425k to £37885k
30 – £37885k to £6496k
40 – £6496k to £122105k
50 – over £122105k
category b1 gaming machines 20
grosvenorcasinoscom
2
0
1 in budget 2014 it was announced that from 30 june 2014 bingo would be taxed at 10 rather than 20 
2 rank’s online business is based offshore alderney channel islands and is not subject to this taxation at present however hm treasury has amended the betting and 
gaming tax regime which will bring this income into the uk tax net with effect from 1 december 2014
spanish tax regime 
bingo duty
1
remote  
gaming duty vat
licence  
annual average
bingo tax set by region 135 to 25–––
category b23 gaming machines – – – €3650
multipost electronics – – – €10600
enrachaes – 20––
1 calculated as a percentage of stake 
belgian tax regime 
gaming duty vat
licence  
annual
table games 33 – €0 to €865k – –
44 – over €865k
electronic roulette  amusement machines 20 – €0 to €1200k – –
25 – €1200k to €2450k
30 – €2450k to €3700k
35 – €3700k to €6150k
40 – €6150k to €8650k
45 – €8650k to €12350k
50 – over €12350k
directors’ approval statement
the strategic report as set out on pages 4 to 45 has been reviewed and approved by our board of directors
henry birch chief executive
13 august 2014 46 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
strategic report
mar ‘14
bingo duty cut to 10
following a successful lobbying campaign bingo duty was halved  
to 10 in the chancellor’s 2014 budget as a consequence rank 
committed to the construction of three new bingo venues the 
restarting of its venues refurbishment programme and providing  
better value for customers in terms of games and prize funds the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 47 the th t th the th th the t th t th h t t t t t t t t t t t t t th t t t t t t t t t t t t t t th t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t th t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t th t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t e e e e ra ra r ra rank nk nk gro group up plc c a  annual al report and f fi inancial l s statements 2014 47 e e e e
don pelayo club opens
the enracha look was unveiled in barcelona when the 
doors opened on the refurbished don pelayo bingo 
club this was the third club to receive the enracha 
brand makeover and the ﬁrst for barcelona
henry birch appointed  
chief executive
after eight years as chief executive ian burke stepped 
away from the role and was succeeded by henry birch 
henry and ian in his capacity as group chairman 
have been working closely together to ensure a smooth 
transition of executive responsibilities
apr ‘14 ma y ‘14 48 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
directors’ report
board of directors
1 
ian burke 
chairman
appointment
march 2006
age
58 years old
experience
ian has spent the majority of his career  
in the leisure industry initially in bingo 
clubs then hotels and health and ﬁtness 
clubs he was chief executive of the rank 
group plc from march 2006 to may 2014 
chief executive of the holmes place group 
from july 2003 to february 2006 chief 
executive of thistle hotels plc from may 
1998 to may 2003 and held various roles 
with bass plc from february 1990 to april 
1998 including managing director of  
gala clubs and managing director of 
holiday inns
2
henry birch 
chief executive
appointment
may 2014
age
45 years old
experience
henry has more than 20 years of 
experience in the betting and gaming 
sector and in online and broadcast media 
from july 2013 to may 2014 he was a 
nonexecutive director of the aimlisted 
cfd trading platform operator plus 500 
plc from october 2008 to november 
2012 he was the chief executive ofﬁcer  
of william hill online the joint venture 
between william hill plc and playtech  
plc which managed william hill’s online 
business prior to working at william hill 
online henry was the chief executive 
ofﬁcer of leisure  gaming plc an 
aimlisted company that owned and 
operated a number of online and retail 
betting and gaming subsidiaries prior  
to working at leisure  gaming plc  
henry was the chief operating ofﬁcer  
of bettingcorp ltd an israeli company 
focused on the development and operation 
of online and interactive tv gaming 
platforms prior to working in the  
3
12
5
78
6
4 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 49
gambling industry he held  
management roles at time warner 
turner broadcasting and riffage an  
early digital music operator based in 
silicon valley and started his career 
working in the house of commons
3
clive jennings 
finance director
appointment
july 2011
age 
53 years old
experience
clive was previously rank’s group 
ﬁnancial controller prior to which  
he was the ﬁnancial controller of  
rank’s gaming division he held senior 
ﬁnance positions in a number of other 
companies prior to joining rank in july 
2000 he is a chartered accountant
4
the rt hon the earl  
of kilmorey pc 
nonexecutive director
appointment
may 2012
age
72 years old
experience
lord kilmorey has diverse  
experience in commerce and  
industry and in government 
current roles
nonexecutive chairman of rose 
petroleum plc since july 2009 and  
of tetra strategy limited a political 
consultancy since may 2009 director  
of smarta enterprises limited the  
uk’s largest online resource for small 
businesses since october 2008 and 
nonexecutive director of nec europe 
ltd a leading internet services and 
systems solutions provider since  
october 1997 
former roles
nonexecutive director of avon  
rubber plc 2007 to 2013 including 
ﬁve years as chairman a director of 
various dyson group companies 1995  
to 2012 including four years as deputy 
chairman chairman of biocompatibles 
international plc 2000 to 2006 and  
of the heart hospital limited 1998  
to 2001 director of gec plc 1995 to 
1997 minister of trade 1992 to 1995 
and northern ireland minister 1985  
to 1992 
5
owen o’donnell 
nonexecutive director
appointment
september 2008
age
47 years old
experience
owen’s background is in online 
businesses including online media  
and online gaming he is also a  
chartered accountant and chairs  
rank’s audit committee 
current roles
nonexecutive director of plumbee 
limited a social and mobile casino 
games business since may 2012 
former roles
finance director at ovo energy 2012  
to 2014 nonexecutive chairman of 
fanduelcom the online fantasy sports 
site 2009 to 2011 chief ﬁnancial ofﬁcer 
of joost kingcom betfair and of ftcom 
and director of ﬁnance and performance 
measurement of pearson plc
6
tim scoble 
nonexecutive director
appointment
april 2010 
age
57 years old
experience
tim is an experienced leisure operator 
with particular expertise in developing 
consumer brands and service delivery  
he is a chartered accountant and chairs 
rank’s remuneration committee 
current roles
european hotel adviser to apollo 
management international llp and 
chairman of qhotels holdings limited 
former roles
uk chief executive of guoman hotels 
formerly thistle hotels 2006 to 2012 
chief executive of guocoleisure limited 
a singapore listed company controlled by 
guoco group limited 2009 to 2012 
managing director of moat house hotels 
2001 to 2003 and chief executive of 
little chef and a director of travelodge  
2003 to 2005
7
shaa wasmund 
nonexecutive director 
appointment
november 2012
age
42 years old
experience
shaa has had a distinguished digital 
career advising both startups and large 
corporations she is an international 
speaker on the topic of digital media 
current roles
director of smarta enterprises limited 
which owns smartacom the uk’s largest 
independent online resource for small 
businesses and smarta business builder 
business software as a service for small 
and mediumsized enterprises which  
she founded in july 2008
 8
frances bingham 
company secretary
appointment
may 2008 
age
49 years old
experience
for eight years frances was company 
secretary and legal director of the 
multinational health and ﬁtness group 
holmes place group and prior to that 
she was a solicitor in private practice 50 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
directors’ report
management team
board committees
management team 
our executive committee is not a board committee it is 
responsible for daytoday trading and is accountable to the 
chief executive for promoting and developing a proﬁtable 
longterm business
grosvenor casinos
managing director – phil urban
mecca 
managing director – mark jones
corporate 
chief executive – henry birch
finance
finance director – clive jennings
legal compliance and security
company secretary – frances bingham
technology
chief information ofﬁcer – keith woodcock
people
human resources director – sue waldock
board composition
•
 independent nonexecutive director 4
•
 nonindependent executive director 2
•
 nonexecutive chairman 1
board tenure
•
 less than 1 year 1
•
 2 to 3 years 3
•
 4 to 6 years 2
•
 8 to 10 years 1 
audit committee 
owen o’donnell
chairman
remuneration committee
tim scoble
chairman
 
 
 see page 64
nominations committee
ian burke
chairman 
 
 
 see page 61
finance committee
ian burke
chairman 
 
 
 see page 63
 
 
 see page 56 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 51
corporate governance
governance statement
the board is committed to ensuring that the group is well 
managed and that rigorous and transparent procedures allow 
this to happen
the principal governance rules applying to uk companies 
listed on the london stock exchange are contained in the  
uk corporate governance code revised by the financial 
reporting council in september 2012 the “code” this report 
also includes the information that is required by the financial 
conduct authority’s listing rules “lr” and disclosure rules 
and transparency rules “dtr” to be contained in the 
company’s annual report
save in relation to code provisions a21 roles of  
chairman and chief executive not to be exercised by the  
same individual a31 chief executive not to become 
chairman a41 requirement for a senior independent 
director c31 audit committee to comprise at least three 
independent nonexecutive directors and b62 triennial 
externallyfacilitated board evaluation the board conﬁrms 
that it has complied with the provisions of the code 
throughout the year ended 30 june 2014 please see pages  
52 to 56 for an explanation as to why the board has not 
complied with code provisions a21 a31 a41 c31  
and b62 
this statement explains how we have applied the principles  
of the code our governance policies and practices and how  
we run the business for the beneﬁt of shareholders 
in this statement the following abbreviations are used
“fca” – financial conduct authority
“guoco” – guoco group limited
“hong leong” – hong leong company malaysia berhad
code main principles
leadership
the role of the board
board composition
as at the date of this report the board consists of
• a nonexecutive chairman
• four independent nonexecutive directors and
• two executive directors – the chief executive and the  
ﬁnance director
the names and biographies of all directors are published  
on pages 48 to 49
key board responsibilities
the board is responsible for
• group strategy objectives and policies 
• general and longterm progress of the group within the 
political economic environmental and social setting  
of the day
• ﬁnancial performance annual budgets and business plans
• major capital expenditure acquisitions and divestments
• annual and halfyear ﬁnancial results and interim 
management statements
• board committees and their terms of reference
• internal controls and risk management
• responsible gambling and ethical behaviour
• sound governance health and safety and environmental 
policies
• board and company secretary appointments
• senior management structure remuneration and  
succession and
• investor relations
speciﬁc responsibilities are delegated to our four board 
committees – audit remuneration nominations and ﬁnance 
they report to the board and operate within deﬁned terms  
of reference which can be obtained from our website at 
wwwrankcomgovernanceindexjsp or by writing to  
the company secretary
the executive directors conduct the company’s business 
within clearly deﬁned limits delegated by the board and 
subject to those matters reserved to the board
board meetings
board meetings allow for regular and frank discussion on 
strategy trading ﬁnancial performance and risk management 
there were nine scheduled meetings during the year and one 
further meeting 
during the period under review the board’s committees also 
met regularly to discharge their duties
in exceptional circumstances when a director is unable to 
attend a meeting their comments on brieﬁng papers are  
given in advance to the relevant chairman 52 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
directors’ report
insurance and indemnity
the company has arranged insurance cover and indemniﬁes 
directors in respect of legal action against them to the extent 
permitted by law neither applies in situations where a director 
has acted fraudulently or dishonestly
conﬂicts of interest
the directors have a statutory duty to avoid conﬂicts of interest 
in accordance with our articles of association we have adopted 
a policy and procedure for managing and if appropriate 
authorising actual or potential conﬂicts of interest
directors are required to disclose any other new appointments 
before agreeing to take them on so that any conﬂicts of 
interest can be identiﬁed and addressed
the board also assesses conﬂicts of interest before making any 
new appointments
division of responsibilities
between 15 july 2011 and 6 may 2014 the company’s then 
chief executive also assumed the role of executive chairman 
given the size of guoco’s shareholding in rank the board  
was of the view that it was important for there to be a clear 
line of communication between the company and its majority 
shareholder and that this would be for the beneﬁt of all 
shareholders the board was of the view that this would be 
best achieved by combining the role of chairman and chief 
executive when mr burke indicated that he would like to 
retire from executive management of the business the board 
wished to retain the established line of communication with 
guoco and so was pleased when mr burke agreed to become 
nonexecutive chairman the board is aware that this is not  
in compliance with code provision a31 but believes it to  
be in the best interests of all shareholders at this time since  
the appointment of henry birch as chief executive on 6 may 
2014 the role of chairman and chief executive has been split 
we have now approved a clear division of responsibilities for 
the chairman and chief executive
chairman
the chairman is charged to
• manage the business of the board preside over meetings  
and seek prompt and appropriate decisions
• work with the company secretary to ensure directors receive 
accurate and clear information for the proper execution of 
their duties
• oversee effective communication with shareholders
• keep the group’s progress and development under review
• ensure the chief executive’s group objectives policies and 
strategies are consistent with lasting shareholder value
• evaluate the board and its committees and
• ensure the group’s governance is effective and in line with 
best practice
corporate governance continued
the directors’ attendance at board and committee meetings during the year is recorded in the table below it shows the number  
of meetings attended by each director compared with the number of meetings that director was eligible to attend
board meeting attendance
full board
audit  
committee
nominations 
committee
finance  
committee
remuneration 
committee
current directors
ian burke
1
1010 na 11 99 na
henry birch
2
22 na na 22 na
clive jennings 1010 na na 99 na
lord kilmorey
3
1010 na 23 na na
owen o’donnell
3
910 33 33 na 88
tim scoble
4
810 22 23 99 88
shaa wasmund
3
810 na 33 na 78
former directors
colin child
5
67 22 22 55 na
john warren
6
44 11 na na 22
1 mr burke joined and became chair of the nominations committee and joined the audit committee on 25 june 2014
2 mr birch joined the board on 6 may 2014 and joined the nominations committee on 1 july 2014
3 lord kilmorey mr o’donnell and ms wasmund became members of the nominations committee on 27 february 2014
4 mr scoble joined the audit committee on 17 october 2013
5 mr child resigned from the board with effect from 18 march 2014
6 mr warren retired from the board with effect from 17 october 2013 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 53
chief executive
the chief executive’s role is to
• manage and promote longterm proﬁtable development
• exercise stewardship of intellectual property human and 
ﬁnancial resources and ensure that the relevant policies  
are implemented
• plan strategy and prepare objectives and policies for  
board approval
• ensure action is taken to achieve strategies objectives and 
policies as approved by the board
• ensure objectives policies and strategies are adopted for each 
group business that appropriate budgets are set for them 
individually that their performance is monitored and that 
guidance is given when needed
• take responsibility for group health and safety policies
• make sure the group complies with all relevant  
legislation and
• lead ongoing communication with employees
nonexecutive directors
the directors are satisﬁed that there are proper procedures  
in place to ensure that
• they are receiving accurate and clear information for  
the proper execution of their duties
• the group’s objectives policies and strategies are  
consistent with enhancing shareholder value
• they are able to keep the group’s progress and  
development under review
• they have an opportunity to challenge constructively  
and help develop proposals on strategy
• there are effective communications with all  
shareholders and
• the group’s governance is effective
senior independent director
since the resignation of colin child on 18 march 2014  
the company has been endeavouring to recruit a senior 
independent director this has proved more challenging  
than anticipated and as at the date of this report no suitable 
candidate has been identiﬁed the company is therefore in 
breach of code provision a41 the committee continues  
to seek candidates for the role of senior independent director
effectiveness
the composition of the board
more than half of our board excluding the chairman  
is independent
name independent appointed
chairman
ian burke
1
na march 2006
executive
henry birch x may 2014 
clive jennings x july 2011
nonexecutive
lord kilmorey may 2012
owen o’donnell september 2008
tim scoble
2
 april 2010
shaa wasmund november 2012
1 ian burke was originally appointed to the board on 6 march 2006 he resigned 
from the board on 28 june 2011 and was reappointed on 3 july 2011 on 15 july 
2011 he became executive chairman on 6 may 2014 he resigned his role as chief 
executive and became nonexecutive chairman with effect from that date
2 until 30 april 2012 tim scoble was not independent – he was an appointee  
of guoco a parent company of rank’s largest shareholder tim scoble has been 
independent since 30 april 2012 when he ceased to be an appointee of guoco 
the principal terms and conditions of appointment for each 
director are set out on pages 70 and 73 to 76 and their interests  
in rank shares are detailed on page 76 
committees
the composition and chairmanship of our board committees 
are considered annually and have been considered twice 
during the period under review 
commitment
the terms of appointment of nonexecutive directors are 
outlined on page 70 of the directors’ remuneration report  
all nonexecutive directors are required to disclose their  
other signiﬁcant commitments both before appointment and 
following subsequent changes so that the board can satisfy 
itself that each of the directors has sufﬁcient time to allocate  
to the company to discharge their responsibilities effectively
neither henry birch nor clive jennings currently holds any 
directorships outside the rank group executive directors are 
not permitted to take up nonexecutive directorships outside 
the group henry birch was a nonexecutive director of the 
aimlisted plus 500 limited until 12 may 2014 and received 
fees in respect of such directorship he was permitted to retain 
the fees relating to the six days that such directorship 
overlapped with his employment by the company 54 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
directors’ report
development
induction
during the period under review no new nonexecutive directors 
were appointed to the board the chief executive was appointed 
to the board and he was given a comprehensive induction 
skills and knowledge
all directors are given regular written brieﬁngs with regard to 
matters affecting the group’s businesses such as the political 
and regulatory environment additionally at the board’s 
request the group’s auditor keeps the board abreast of key 
impact items such as political and regulatory initiatives with 
regard to narrative reporting executive remuneration going 
concern and the role of the audit committee 
directors are invited to identify to the company secretary  
or human resources director any desired skills and knowledge 
enhancements that they require so that appropriate training 
can be arranged
additionally once a year the directors have an opportunity  
to review and agree their respective training and development 
needs during their oneonone meetings with the chairman
information and support
assisted by the company secretary the chairman is responsible 
for ensuring that directors receive accurate and timely 
information on all relevant matters 
the directors receive a monthly report of current and forecast 
trading results and treasury positions as well as updates on 
shareholder views 
a rolling programme of items sets the agenda for board 
discussion this is regularly reviewed and updated to cover 
topical issues and developments
comprehensive brieﬁng papers on substantive agenda items 
are circulated at least ﬁve working days before meetings where 
possible these contain detailed background information thus 
freeing time for informed debate
we operate an opendoor policy between the board and the 
management team members of the management team also 
make regular board presentations to ensure a ﬂow of 
operational information reaches the directors in a timely way
all directors have access to the advice and services of the 
company secretary and if required may take independent 
advice andor professional development at the  
company’s expense
evaluation
to monitor overall board performance we use offtherecord 
questionnaires between the chairman and each director to 
evaluate individuals the committees and the board as a whole 
the chairman conducted individual interviews with each 
board member to discuss their contributions during the year 
the nonexecutive directors met privately to discuss the 
effectiveness of the board and its committees during the year 
and agreed that overall the board had functioned effectively 
during the period under review and that its committees 
continued to discharge their duties in line with their respective 
terms of reference the nonexecutive directors also met 
privately without the chairman present to discuss how the 
transition to the new chief executive was going and although 
it was too early to make a full assessment there was nothing 
that had emerged that was of concern to the board thus far 
the board is mindful of the requirement to have conducted an 
externallyfacilitated board evaluation by 30 june 2014 given 
the recent board changes it was thought that to conduct an 
evaluation now would serve little useful purpose and that more 
beneﬁt would be gained from conducting one slightly later 
the board therefore intends conducting an evaluation during 
the ﬁnancial year ended 30 june 2015 and in this respect the 
chairman has already engaged with several board evaluation 
consultants the company has therefore not complied with 
code provision b62
corporate governance continued
evaluation questionnaire
individual interviews with the chairman
nonexecutive directors meeting  
with the chairman
nonexecutive directors meeting
evaluation  
process the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 55
reelection
all new directors must stand for election at the ﬁrst annual 
general meeting after their appointment and thereafter at 
intervals of no more than three years nonexecutive directors 
are engaged for an initial period of three years and must stand 
for election and reappointment in the same way rank’s 
articles of association require one third of serving directors  
to retire annually
the company complies with the code’s requirement  
for annual reelection of directors of ftse 350 companies 
therefore all directors will also submit themselves for  
reelection at the forthcoming annual general meeting
relations with shareholders
dialogue with shareholders
the board as a whole takes responsibility for ensuring that 
satisfactory dialogue with shareholders takes place as at  
30 june 2014 693 of our shares were held by our majority 
shareholder guoco and its connected parties and a further 
235 were held by 15 institutional shareholders
rank’s chairman takes the lead on dialogue with the 
company’s largest shareholder guoco additionally given  
that rank is a 689 subsidiary of guoco the chief executive 
and other members of rank’s executive management team 
meet with representatives of guoco four times a year to discuss 
business performance and other issues that could impact their 
ﬁnancial statements
we speak with our institutional shareholders and city analysts 
through a programme of investor relations and regular 
meetings with principal shareholders conducted by our chief 
executive ﬁnance director and director of investor relations 
all directors receive reports to keep them in touch with 
shareholder opinion during the period under review a total 
of 23 meetings with 11 shareholders were attended by one or 
more of the chairman chief executive and ﬁnance director  
formal brieﬁngs on shareholder opinion are circulated to  
the board after presentation of the company’s interim and 
annual results
the principal method of communicating with all our 
shareholders is via our corporate website wwwrankcom 
information can be provided in paper format but only when 
shareholders speciﬁcally request this
constructive use of the annual general meeting
all shareholders are welcome to attend our annual general 
meeting “agm” private investors are encouraged to ask 
questions following a summary business presentation of the 
group’s results and development plans 
the chairman chief executive and chairmen of the audit 
remuneration and nominations committees are all present 
shareholders are invited to vote on the formal resolutions 
contained in the notice of meeting which is published at least 
20 working days beforehand the business presentation and 
voting results are made available at wwwrankcom or in 
printed format on request 
shareholders may also use electronic means to vote – or 
appoint a proxy to vote on their behalf – at the annual and 
other general meetings of the company
next agm
the 2014 agm will be held on 16 october 2014 and the full 
text of the notice of meeting together with explanatory notes 
is set out in a separate document at wwwrankcom
downloadsagmjsp 
if you have elected for paper information this will be enclosed 
with your hard copy of this annual report shareholders 
wishing to change that election may do so at any time by 
contacting the company’s registrar contact details are on  
page 141 and on our website at wwwrankcominvestors
shareholderfaqsjsp  56 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
directors’ report
audit committee
chairman
owen o’donnell
other members 
tim scoble ian burke
role of the audit committee
the audit committee assists the board in reviewing and 
maintaining internal controls the management of risk  
and our compliance with law and regulation
it monitors and reviews the effectiveness of the group’s 
internal audit function
it also assesses the integrity of all public ﬁnancial statements 
before their submission to the board ensuring we present a  
fair assessment of the group’s ongoing position and prospects 
any changes in accounting policies are authorised by the 
committee which also reviews the objectivity and effectiveness 
of our external auditor every year
the committee oversees the company’s internal code of 
conduct and monitors our whistleblowing procedures through 
which employees may in conﬁdence raise concerns about 
possible improprieties in areas of ﬁnancial reporting ﬁnancial 
control and other ethical matters 
the committee is regularly updated on accounting and 
legislative changes through brieﬁng papers from the auditor 
ﬁnance director and others
the committee’s terms of reference are available from the 
company’s website at wwwrankcomdownloadsterms 
ofreferencetorauditcommitteepdf or by writing  
to the company secretary
audit committee membership and meetings
until 18 march 2014 the board had an audit committee 
comprised of three independent nonexecutive directors 
however upon the resignation of the former audit committee 
chairman on 18 march 2014 the audit committee membership 
reduced to two independent nonexecutive directors chaired 
by owen o’donnell pending recruitment of a new non
executive director to serve on the audit committee the 
company’s chairman has joined the committee on a 
temporary basis so that there are three committee members 
this is in breach of code provision c31 which requires the 
audit committee to consist of at least three independent 
nonexecutive directors
a rolling agenda and topical items determine the committee’s 
discussions the committee met formally three times in the 
period under review 
members of the audit committee as at the date of this document 
are owen o’donnell chair tim scoble and ian burke the 
board is satisﬁed that the committee has recent and relevant 
ﬁnancial experience 
at the invitation of the audit committee chairman the chief 
executive ﬁnance director company secretary director of 
group ﬁnancial control and director of internal audit normally 
attend committee meetings as does the external auditor other 
directors are encouraged to attend at least one committee 
meeting a year at which the external auditor is present
the internal and external auditors also meet the committee 
without executive directors and other employees being present
risk management
as part of its risk oversight role the board as a whole 
including the audit committee satisﬁes itself that the necessary 
steps are taken to foster a culture of riskadjusted decision
making throughout the group the board strives to ensure  
that risk management is an integral component of the  
group’s corporate strategy culture and value generation 
process the board’s view is that risk management should be 
neither an impediment to the conduct of business nor a mere 
supplement to the group’s overall compliance programme
the risk management process is reviewed by the audit 
committee on behalf of the board and monitored regularly  
by the chief executive supported by the company secretary 
corporate governance continued the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 57
during the year under review the audit committee has 
examined the group’s approach to assessment of risk by 
reviewing evidence of current and emerging risk and the 
group’s risk management processes and also by reviewing 
action plans to manage signiﬁcant risks at its meeting in  
may 2014 the board considered and discussed its appetite  
for risk which remained unchanged from previous years
the company’s risk management reporting provides 
knowledge of current and emerging risks trends and 
opportunities that may colour strategic decisions  
rank communicates with regulators government non
governmental organisations and other bodies that have 
opinions about rank’s business its future and effects
compliance with the bribery act 2010 and hm treasury 
financial sanctions forms part of the general risks and  
internal controls reported to the board our audit committee 
also reviews management’s biannual reports on anti money 
laundering internal and external fraud whistleblowing  
code of conduct and inadvertent breaches of legislation
an external risk management review of the group’s digital 
businesses was completed in the second quarter of the 201314 
ﬁnancial year that review focused on information security 
fraud and payments customer management and afﬁliates  
the board considered the conclusions and recommendations 
of that review and delegated followup of management’s 
actions in relation to information security to the audit 
committee the audit committee has reviewed management’s 
information security improvement programme and continues 
to monitor progress against the plan 
during the year under review the board through  
the former chair of the audit committee assessed its  
understanding of and approach to socalled cyber risk  
as a result of that assessment the board has resolved to  
work with management to understand better the importance 
of cyber risks to the business and the actions necessary to 
protect against such risks
internal control framework
our system of internal control is designed to manage rather 
than eliminate the risk of failure to achieve business objectives 
and provides reasonable not absolute assurance against 
material misstatement or loss it controls rather than 
eliminates any human error deliberate misconduct or 
uncertain events 
to maintain control and direction over strategic ﬁnancial 
operational and compliance issues the board has put in  
place formally deﬁned lines of responsibility and delegation  
of authority 
established procedures are geared to identify evaluate and 
manage signiﬁcant risks and to monitor the group’s businesses 
and performance
this framework is reviewed annually and is designed to 
safeguard shareholders’ investments and the group’s assets 
while ensuring that proper accounting records are maintained 
senior management is responsible for making sure that 
controls and procedures are enforced and that the board  
is informed of any risks and control issues that arise
financial control there is a comprehensive system for 
reporting ﬁnancial results to the board a budgeting process 
incorporating an approved budget and biannual reforecasts 
the chief executive and ﬁnance director hold monthly review 
meetings with brand managing directors and their respective 
directors of ﬁnance
financial reporting control detailed policies and procedures 
are in place to ensure the accuracy and reliability of  
ﬁnancial reporting 
strategic control the board reviews the group’s strategic plans 
annually and regularly reviews strategic progress
operational control our procedures are laid down in detailed 
manuals and reinforced by employee training each business 
unit carries out a monthly selfaudit to test key controls and 
report weaknesses to operational management
compliance control across the group we have teams whose 
responsibility it is to ensure daytoday adherence to all 
legislation to which our operations are subject including 
gambling anti money laundering and health and safety  
senior executives and the internal audit team are responsible 
for monitoring overall compliance they report to the audit 
committee and the board 
the executive directors and senior management meet regularly 
with representatives from the businesses to address ﬁnancial 
human resource risk management and other control issues
at its meetings in the year to 30 june 2014 the audit 
committee examined the effectiveness of the group’s approach 
to internal control by reviewing changes to controls made 
during the year including the implementation of a new 
general ledger system for our digital channel approving a 
revised 201314 internal operational audit plan a revised 
corporate and systems audit cycle reviewing the structure of 
the internal audit department and the level of internal audit 
resource the committee also reviewed action plans to address 
failings or weaknesses identiﬁed in the group’s system of 
internal control 58 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
directors’ report
this process has been in place during the period and up to the 
date of approval of this annual report and ﬁnancial statements 
it has been reviewed by the board and meets the financial 
reporting council’s internal control guidance to directors
internal audit
the audit committee has responsibility for the internal audit 
function and the director of internal audit reports directly  
to the chairman of the audit committee our internal audit 
team provides an objective and continuous stream of data  
and opinion on risk management and control to avoid bias  
it is entirely independent of the business operations under 
audit and line management is to the chairman of the audit 
committee the audit committee agrees the annual audit plan 
and reviews audit reports produced by the internal audit team 
the scope of the audit coverage is deﬁned by the audit 
committee and covers all systems procedures and activities  
of all operations departments and functions within the  
group including projects policy developments ﬁnancial  
and nonﬁnancial processes 
the internal audit team seeks to determine whether the system 
of risk management control and governance processes as 
designed and operated by management is adequate and 
functioning in such a manner as to ensure that
• risks are appropriately identiﬁed and managed in line with 
the company’s risk appetite
• operations are run with sufﬁcient and adequate controls  
and in an efﬁcient and effective manner
• signiﬁcant ﬁnancial managerial and operating information 
is accurate reliable and timely
• employee actions are in compliance with policies standards 
procedures and applicable laws and regulations and
• relevant laws rules and regulations are complied with  
in the operation of the business
to embed control further the scores used by internal audit to 
monitor each business unit’s reporting performance also affect 
operational management bonuses 
the director of internal audit makes regular presentations  
to the audit committee and reporting includes comparative 
and trend analysis during the period under review the audit 
committee had three closed sessions with the director of 
internal audit without executive management being present
risk committee
during the year a risk committee was established in order to 
improve the group’s approach to risk management this is  
not a committee of the board it comprises the chief executive 
ﬁnance director company secretary chief information ofﬁcer 
and director of internal audit other employees attend 
meetings of the risk committee by invitation as appropriate 
depending on the speciﬁc agenda items to be discussed at the 
meeting the risk committee meets monthly and its primary 
purpose is to
• review the corporate risk register
• carry out ‘deepdive’ reviews into speciﬁc departments’ and 
functions’ risk registers and
• provide a forum to remedy lack of progress in making agreed 
riskmitigation actions happen
code of conduct
rank has an employee code of conduct that sets out our values 
and principles and guides everyone’s behaviour adherence to 
the code is important it upholds our reputation and 
relationships inside and outside the company
the audit committee is responsible for monitoring 
management reports on employee conduct including our 
whistleblowing procedures
financial reporting and signiﬁcant ﬁnancial issues
the committee assesses whether suitable accounting policies 
have been adopted and whether management has made 
appropriate estimates and judgements the committee reviews 
accounting papers prepared by management which provide 
details of the main ﬁnancial reporting judgements the 
committee also reviews reports by the external auditor on the 
fullyear and halfyear results which highlight any issues with 
respect to the work undertaken on the full year audit and the 
half year review
signiﬁcant accounting issues considered by the committee 
during the year included
• impairment review of intangible assets and property plant 
and equipment
• review of provisions including those in relation to property 
leases and indirect tax
• review of ongoing direct tax issues
• treatment of exceptional items and
• contingent assets and liabilities
corporate governance continued the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 59
audit committee activity in 201314
in addition to those items detailed under internal control risk 
management and ﬁnancial reporting and signiﬁcant ﬁnancial 
issues during the year under review the committee’s business 
has included the following
• full and halfyear results
• principal judgemental accounting matters affecting the group
• external audit plans and reports including auditor 
observations and recommendations as a result of controls 
testing completed for the purposes of the 201213 and 
201314 audits
• internal audit plans and key reports
• information security and cyber risk
• external and internal theft and fraud
• anti money laundering
• responsible gambling
• litigation and
• whistleblowing and code of conduct reports
the committee and the board also reviewed the recently 
published formal guidance to boards with regard to cyber risk 
that had been prepared by the institute of chartered secretaries 
 administrators icsa with the assistance of industry experts 
from the department for business innovation and skills bis 
and other industry experts on cyber risk
signiﬁcant ﬁnancial judgements
before recommending the halfyear and fullyear ﬁnancial 
statements to the board for approval the committee reviewed 
the following key accounting issues that rely on signiﬁcant 
ﬁnancial judgements
impairments – for indeﬁnite life assets not subject to 
amortisation the group performs an annual impairment 
review in addition the group also reviews assets that are 
subject to amortisation or depreciation for events or changes  
in circumstances that indicate that the carrying amount  
of an asset or cashgenerating unit may not be recoverable  
the group considers each venue to be a cashgenerating unit 
and therefore the review covers in excess of 160 individual 
cashgenerating units
the committee reviewed management’s impairment review 
process including where applicable the cash ﬂow projections 
and discount rate used to derive a value in use this included 
considering the impairment charge arising in spain of £75m 
where performance at three clubs has not seen the expected 
recovery following the introduction of the smoking ban in 
2011 which has been compounded by a period of prolonged 
difﬁcult economic conditions in spain in addition the 
committee considered the £41m impairment charge at the 
grosvenor casinos venue in new brighton where performance 
has not developed as expected
the committee was of the view that the exceptional 
impairment charges recognised of £129m and exceptional 
impairment reversals of £15m were appropriate further 
details of the impairment charges and reversals are disclosed  
in note 4
property lease provisions – at both the half and full year  
the committee considered the group’s approach to property 
lease provisions the discount rate applied and management’s 
recommendations in order to satisfy itself how management 
came to its best estimate of property lease obligations
the committee noted that the group has a number of property 
leasehold contracts and was of the view that appropriate 
provision had been made against those property leases where 
the unavoidable costs exceed the expected economic beneﬁt 
expected to be derived from the property further details of the 
property lease provision held are disclosed in note 22 and the 
exceptional adjustments made in the current year are disclosed 
in note 4
in addition the committee was also updated in respect of 
certain property leasehold contracts where the rights and 
obligations but not the legal titles have been transferred to 
third parties such that the group remains potentially liable  
in the event of default by the third party should default  
occur then the group would normally have recourse to one  
or more guarantor entities these leasehold contracts include 
16 remaining property leases with lease durations of between 
one month and 99 years and a current annual obligation  
net of sublet income of approximately £15m that were 
transferred concurrent to the £211m sale and leaseback in 
2006 the committee noted the risk associated with the 
transfer of such property leasehold contracts but that the 
group has not to date been notiﬁed of any default or intention 
to default in respect of the transferred leases further details  
of this contingent liability are disclosed in note 31
indirect tax provisions – the committee receives and 
considers an update paper covering the group’s indirect tax 
issues at both the half and the full year this covers both the 
accounting treatment of the group’s various vat claims and 
other indirect tax issues 
the committee was of the view that management’s best estimate 
of the liability for the issues that remained outstanding was 
appropriate details of the indirect tax liability recognised are 
disclosed in note 22 60 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
directors’ report
direct tax – the committee receives and considers an update 
paper covering the group’s ongoing direct tax issues at both 
the half and the full year these issues cover both discontinued 
operations with historic tax audits and continuing operations 
where tax returns submitted have been or are likely to be 
challenged by the relevant tax authority the committee noted 
that a number of these issues were successfully concluded 
during the year by working cooperatively with the relevant 
tax authorities
the committee was of the view that management’s best 
estimate of the liability for the remaining issues was 
appropriate see note 18 for details of the direct tax  
liability recognised
contingent assets and liabilities – the group as noted in  
the areas of signiﬁcant judgement above has had to consider 
the accounting treatment of a number of potential assets and 
liabilities this requires management to apply judgement in 
assessing the probability of occurrence or nonoccurrence of 
one or more uncertain future events not wholly within the 
control of the company
the audit committee receives triannual updates from 
management incorporating legal advice as appropriate on  
the accounting treatment for potential assets and liabilities  
in relation to disclosure or recognition the committee is  
of the view that management has appropriately treated such 
items in the ﬁnancial statements details of the contingent 
liabilities disclosed are included in note 31
principal risks and uncertainties
details of the group’s principal risks and uncertainties and 
what we are doing to address them can be found on pages 22 
to 25 additionally details of the ﬁnancial risks that the group 
faces can be found in note 20 to the ﬁnancial statements
assessment of effectiveness of external audit process
agreement on how best to assess the effectiveness of the 
external audit process was discussed and agreed between  
the audit committee and senior management part of the 
effectiveness of the external audit process was assessed by  
the use of a questionnaire which posed questions in relation 
to different aspects of the external audit process those 
individuals employed by rank most actively involved with the 
daytoday aspects of the audit provided responses to certain 
questions asked of them the responses were provided to audit 
committee members for discussion amongst themselves 
additionally the audit committee considered the financial 
reporting council’s audit quality review ﬁndings of ernst  
young llp’s group and subsidiary audit of rank in respect of 
the 18month period ended 30 june 2012 as outlined in its 
letter of 25 november 2013 to ernst  young llp 
in addition to a private meeting between the audit committee 
chair and the external audit partner the committee met  
with the auditor following each audit committee meeting  
in a closed session without executive directors to assess the 
objectivity and accuracy of ﬁnancial reporting and to hear  
any other observations that the auditor had to make
audit tendering
the committee has noted the requirements regarding audit 
tender and rotation of the audit engagement partner the 
company’s external audit was most recently tendered during 
2009 resulting in a change of external auditors and the 
appointment of ernst  young llp at the company’s annual 
general meeting on 22 april 2010 the committee will 
continue to give consideration to the timing of the next  
formal tender in the light of the then prevailing regulatory 
requirements the committee does not anticipate that a  
tender will be undertaken during the 201415 ﬁnancial  
year there are no contractual obligations that restrict the 
choice of external auditors
auditor
having reviewed their performance throughout the period  
our conclusion that ernst  young llp’s effectiveness is 
satisfactory enables us to recommend their reappointment  
for 201415
the auditor ernst  young llp is willing to continue in ofﬁce 
and a resolution that they be reappointed at a remuneration 
to be agreed by the audit committee will be proposed at the 
forthcoming annual general meeting 
relations with external auditor
our auditor is employed to express an opinion on the ﬁnancial 
statements it reviews the systems of internal ﬁnancial control 
and the data contained in the ﬁnancial statements to the 
extent necessary to express its opinion 
it discusses with management the reporting of operational 
results and the ﬁnancial position of the group and presents 
ﬁndings to the audit committee
corporate governance continued the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 61
information
the directors in ofﬁce at the date of this report are not aware  
of any relevant information that has not been made available 
to the auditor and each director has taken steps to be aware  
of all such information and to ensure it is available to the 
company’s auditor
nonaudit work
the audit committee oversees the nature and amount of  
any nonaudit work undertaken by the auditor to ensure  
it remains independent consequently the committee is 
required to approve in advance all nonaudit services above  
a speciﬁed value 
when seeking external accountancy advice in relation to 
nonaudit matters the group’s policy is to invite competitive 
tenders where appropriate it is also the group’s policy to 
balance the need to maintain audit independence with the 
desirability of taking advice from the leading ﬁrm in the area 
of advice being sought and the desirability of being efﬁcient
details of the fees paid to ernst  young llp throughout the 
period under review can be found in note 3
rank has used the services of other accounting ﬁrms for 
nonaudit work during the period under review
rank is satisﬁed that the objectivity and independence of the 
audit partner and the audit engagement team have not been 
compromised by the fees paid for the nonaudit work 
undertaken by ernst  young llp 
assurance
the internal audit function and the external auditor presented 
their ﬁndings to the committee in august 2013 and in january 
june and august 2014 we conﬁrm that action plans to remedy 
identiﬁed weaknesses in internal control have been in place 
throughout the period
nominations committee
chairman
ian burke
other members 
lord kilmorey owen o’donnell tim scoble  
shaa wasmund henry birch
appointments to the board
nominations committee
the formal terms of reference of the nominations committee 
are available on our website at wwwrankcomdownloads
termsofreferencetornominationscommitteepdf or by 
written request to the company secretary 
the nominations committee is responsible for identifying 
relevant talent and nominating all board appointments  
with due regard for the beneﬁts of diversity on the board 
including gender
during the year under review the committee met formally  
on three occasions the main issues which it discussed were
• succession planning
• chairmanship and membership of board committees
• board composition and
• board diversity 62 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
directors’ report
mr burke also advised the majority shareholder that he was 
considering retiring from executive management of the 
company the majority shareholder decided to engage an 
executive search ﬁrm forza international australia pty ltd to 
assist them in identifying suitable candidates that the board 
might consider from that process the majority shareholder 
identiﬁed mr birch as a suitable candidate and introduced him 
to the committee so that it might consider him for the role
the committee agreed that mr birch’s experience met the 
committee’s speciﬁcation and each board member then 
interviewed mr birch individually the board met to discuss 
their individual views on mr birch’s suitability for the role and 
concluded that he was an excellent candidate who possessed 
all the skills and attributes that it would look for in a successor 
to the chief executive the board concluded that it should 
appoint mr birch to the rank board as chief executive
the role of chairman
the committee also considered the role of chairman mr burke 
had indicated that he would if so invited by the board be 
willing to continue to act as chairman of rank in a non
executive capacity the committee was mindful of the general 
principle that a chief executive should not go on to become 
chairman of the same company 
however given mr burke’s particular strengths knowledge  
of the existing business and ability to manage communication 
with all shareholders the board formed the view that it would 
be beneﬁcial for all rank’s shareholders if mr burke were to 
continue as chairman but in a nonexecutive capacity so as  
to ensure a smooth transition of executive responsibilities
reappointment of nonexecutive directors  appointment 
of new nonexecutive directors
on 11 september 2014 owen o’donnell will have served six 
years on the board mindful of code provision b23 which 
provides that any term beyond six years for a nonexecutive 
director should be subject to particularly rigorous review and 
should take into account progressive refreshing of the board 
the committee considered carefully the reappointment of  
mr o’donnell for a further term 
board and committee composition
the nominations committee keeps the board’s size and 
structure under review the nominations committee is of the 
view that the board is well balanced providing a collective 
competence to suit the group’s developing needs and an 
appropriate blend of executive and nonexecutive skill we 
believe that all our directors are suitably qualiﬁed to help steer 
and challenge group strategy
the composition and chairmanship of our board committees 
are considered annually and have been considered twice 
during the period under review 
board diversity
during the period under review the nominations committee 
has continued to consider the issue of diversity in the context 
of the board and is mindful of the beneﬁts that diversity brings 
to the board 
the board’s diversity policy is to recruit the best candidate 
having regard to the skills and experience required but with  
a mind to diversity including gender diversity the directors 
aspire to achieving 25 female representation on rank’s board 
by 30 june 2016 
details of the gender breakdowns of directors senior 
management and the group as a whole can be found  
on page 36 of the strategic report
appointment of chief executive
when mr burke indicated to the board that he was considering 
retiring from executive management of the company the 
nominations committee considered the skills and attributes 
that it would look for in a potential successor to mr burke the 
committee concluded that any successor to mr burke would in 
addition to the typical skills and experience expected of a chief 
executive need to have signiﬁcant expertise in digital gaming 
as this had been identiﬁed as a major strategic opportunity for 
the group the committee was of the view that there were no 
suitable internal candidates with the required experience on 
the group’s succession plan to put through a formal 
assessment process 
corporate governance continued the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 63
in this respect the committee had regard to the fact that with 
the exception of the chairman mr o’donnell was the longest 
serving member of the board and that it was desirable to retain 
some corporate memory additionally it had proven challenging 
to recruit an independent director to join the audit committee 
and that it would be best for the company if mr o’donnell 
served a further term therefore on the recommendation  
of the nominations committee the board reappointed  
mr o’donnell as a director of the company for a third 
threeyear term commencing 11 september 2014
the nominations committee also considered the reappointment 
of tim scoble as a director mr scoble served for approximately 
two years as an appointee of rank’s majority shareholder and by 
the time of this year’s annual general meeting in october 2014 
will have served as an independent director for approximately 
30 months mr scoble’s breadth of experience as a leisure 
operator and his prior experience as a chief executive of a listed 
company are attributes which are of beneﬁt to the rank board 
and therefore on the recommendation of the nominations 
committee the board reappointed mr scoble for a term of three 
years commencing 16 october 2014
senior independent director
the committee continues to seek candidates for the role of 
senior independent director since the resignation of colin 
child on 18 march 2014
the board has established a ﬁnance committee which is 
comprised of the chairman chief executive ﬁnance director 
and one nonexecutive director and which is authorised to 
approve capital expenditure and make ﬁnancing decisions for 
the group up to authorised limits on behalf of the board the 
ﬁnance committee’s role includes setting monitoring and 
reporting on
• operating plans
• monthly comparison of operating divisions’ actual ﬁnancial 
performance against budget and
• yearend forecasts
the committee’s terms of reference are available from the 
company’s website at httpwwwrankcomdownloads
termsofreferencetorﬁnancecommitteepdf or by 
writing to the company secretary
the committee met on nine occasions during the year and the 
issues it discussed included insurance cover and uninsured 
risks and some lease renewals within its delegated authority
finance committee
chairman
ian burke
other members 
henry birch clive jennings tim scoble 64 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
directors’ report
directors’ remuneration report
annual statement
introduction
on behalf of the board i have pleasure in presenting rank’s 
directors’ remuneration report for the year ended 30 june 
2014 there are two parts to the report
• the ﬁrst sets out rank’s intended executive remuneration 
strategy and policy which will take effect immediately 
following the 2014 annual general meeting the “policy 
report” and
• the second describes how the remuneration policy has  
been implemented during the year ending 30 june 2014  
the “annual remuneration report”
at the company’s forthcoming annual general meeting on  
16 october 2014 shareholders will be invited to approve the 
policy report by way of a binding vote and the annual 
remuneration report by way of a nonbinding advisory vote
performance outcome
rank experienced a challenging ﬁrst half to the ﬁnancial year 
and although performance improved in the second half the 
improvement was not sufﬁcient to make up the lost ground  
in the ﬁrst half although revenue and operating proﬁt have 
grown during the year this was due to the contribution of the 
acquired casinos on a likeforlike basis revenues declined 
during the year against this backdrop targets for bonus 
purposes were not achieved and therefore no annual cash 
bonuses have been awarded to the executive directors
committee activity during the year
the key focus of the committee during the year has  
been to ensure alignment of remuneration policy with  
the group’s business strategy and to ensure that the 
company’s remuneration policy will continue to be 
motivating performancerelated and retentionfocused  
with this in mind the committee has embarked on a review  
of remuneration arrangements for the senior management 
team in particular longterm incentive arrangements the 
committee is reviewing the suitability of the current plan  
and potential changes to the plan over the course of the year 
we will consult with shareholders regarding any new plan  
or changes to the current plan towards the end of the year
responsible gambling 
the committee gave consideration to whether it was appropriate 
to include measures tied to ‘responsible gambling’ within the 
remuneration framework in light of shareholder feedback  
the rank board ﬁrmly believes that responsible operation is a 
fundamental part of each employee’s day job and that to link a 
component of remuneration to responsible gambling measures 
would detract from that principle therefore the committee 
and the board do not currently believe it appropriate to link 
aspects of rank’s executive remuneration to responsible 
gambling measures further information with regard to rank’s 
approach to responsible gambling can be found on page 139 
and at wwwkeepitfunrankcom
balancing shareholder feedback
during the year the committee received feedback from 
shareholders largely on the use of ‘endtoend’ or ‘block’ 
awards under the longterm incentive plan not all 
shareholders hold the same views on executive remuneration 
and the committee has to balance the different perspectives 
above all the committee needs to ensure that the 
remuneration arrangements enable rank to attract retain and 
motivate skilled directors and other senior executives of the 
highest calibre so as to deliver optimal returns for shareholders 
which are sustainable in conclusion the committee will 
continue to be mindful of the concerns of shareholders and 
other stakeholders and welcomes shareholder feedback on 
issues related to executive remuneration
tim scoble chairman of the remuneration committee
13 august 2014
remuneration committee
chairman
tim scoble
other members 
owen o’donnell shaa wasmund the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 65
policy report
remuneration and its components
the committee reviews the company’s remuneration 
philosophy and structure each year to ensure that the 
remuneration framework remains effective in supporting  
the company’s strategic objectives and fairly rewards 
individuals for the contribution that they make to the 
business having regard to the size and complexity of the 
group’s operations and the need to motivate and attract 
employees of the highest calibre
the policy on remuneration of directors the “policy” is  
set out on pages 65 to 70 a binding resolution will be put  
to shareholders at the annual general meeting to approve  
the policy which if approved will take effect immediately 
following the annual general meeting on 16 october 2014
the performance of rank is dependent upon the quality of its 
directors senior executives and employees and therefore the 
group seeks to attract retain and motivate skilled directors 
and senior executives of the highest calibre without paying 
more than is necessary in order to attract such individuals the 
committee needs to ensure that the remuneration packages 
properly reﬂect an individual’s duties and responsibilities are 
appropriate and competitive sensitive to pay elsewhere within 
the group and directly linked to performance
committee approach to setting pay policy
the committee intends that the base salary and total 
remuneration of executive directors should be in line with 
market median remuneration is benchmarked against rewards 
available for equivalent roles in suitable comparator companies 
with the aim of paying neither signiﬁcantly above nor below 
the median for each element of remuneration at par target 
performance levels
the committee also considers general pay and employment 
conditions of all employees within the group and is sensitive 
to these to prevailing market and economic conditions and  
to governance trends when assessing the level of salaries and 
remuneration packages of executive directors and other 
members of the executive committee 
the total remuneration package links corporate and individual 
performance with an appropriate balance between short  
and longterm elements and ﬁxed and variable components  
the policy is designed to incentivise executives to meet the 
company’s key objectives and so a signiﬁcant proportion  
of total remuneration is performancerelated
the committee considers that the targets set for the different 
components of performancerelated remuneration are both 
appropriate and sufﬁciently demanding in the context of the 
business environment and the challenges facing the group 66 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
directors’ report
future policy table
the key components of executive directors’ remuneration as applicable from 16 october 2014 are summarised below
component
purpose and link to  
business strategy mechanics operation and performance framework
base salary to attract and retain 
skilled highcalibre 
individuals to deliver  
the group’s strategy
base salaries are reviewed annually and are appropriately set to reﬂect 
• the role’s scope responsibility and accountabilities
• market data 
• general rates of increase across the group and 
• the performance and effectiveness of the individual
any increase will take effect on 1 january of the following year
insured and 
other benefits
insured and other 
beneﬁts are offered to 
executive directors as 
part of a competitive 
remuneration package
insured beneﬁts comprise private healthcare insurance for executive directors  
and dependants life assurance and permanent health insurance 
other beneﬁts comprise a cash car allowance and the fuel cost of all mileage  
private and business the amount of the cash car allowance is reviewed  
periodically by the committee in the light of market conditions 
retirement 
provisions
rewards sustained 
contribution and 
encourages retention
executive directors are automatically enrolled in the rank group workplace pension  
scheme the “pension scheme” in accordance with the company’s obligations under  
the pensions act 2008 the company will contribute into the pension scheme at the  
rate of 10 of the executive director’s base salary if the executive director chooses  
to opt out of his automatic enrolment in the pension scheme he is entitled to receive  
a cash allowance of an annual amount equivalent to 10 of basic salary 
annual bonus motivates the 
achievement of  
annual strategic  
ﬁnancial and personal 
performance rewards 
individual contribution 
to the success of the 
company
rank operates an annual cash bonus scheme in which executive directors participate  
under the scheme an annual bonus pool is created based on the return on shareholder  
funds over a oneyear period 
the bonus plan operates on a pool system with sharing rates varying based on performance 
above a threshold the mechanics of the plan are set by the committee at the start of the  
year with payment made after year end following the committee’s assessment of performance 
relative to targets the primary performance measure is the return on shareholder funds as  
this determines the size of the pool the allocation of the pool between individuals is at the 
committee’s discretion in light of the achievement of annual ﬁnancial and strategic goals as 
well as individual performance a full description of the performance measures in place and 
how these determine the bonus pool will be provided in the annual remuneration report 
the scheme operates a threshold level of performance below which no bonus is paid  
however the resulting payout as a percentage of salary will vary yearonyear in  
line with bonus pool funding 
longterm 
incentive plan
the longterm  
incentive plan is 
intended to align  
the interests of the 
executive directors  
and shareholders 
through the creation  
of shareholder value  
over the long term 
the rank group plc 2010 longterm incentive plan is currently the only  
longterm equitybased incentive scheme in place for the executive directors and  
other senior executives 
executive directors may receive contingent share awards which have the ability to  
vest after a threeyear period based on the achievement of speciﬁed performance targets  
the committee may apply a further holding period to all or part of the award to further align 
directors’ interests with those of shareholders 
the committee will determine measures and targets at the beginning of each cycle  
to ensure continuing alignment with strategy performance targets may relate to both 
ﬁnancial and nonﬁnancial measures linked to the company’s longterm business  
strategy including 
• group ebitda
• group proﬁt after tax
directors’ remuneration report continued the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 67
maximum
ordinarily any increases in executive directors’ base 
salaries will be limited to those received by the wider 
workforce during the year except for reasons of 
promotion or salary being determined to be 
signiﬁcantly out of line with market median
the committee retains the discretion to offer relocation assistance in  
the form of an allowance or otherwise to support the movement of  
executive talent across the business if provided the committee aims to  
ensure payments are not excessive and support business needs as such 
relocation assistance will be reviewed on a casebycase basis taking into 
account factors such as the individual’s circumstances and the geographies 
involved meaning that there is no prescribed formula for calculating the  
level or structure of payments
it is anticipated that the provision of insured  
and other beneﬁts will not exceed 10 of salary 
the committee may exceed this should the cost  
of the beneﬁts provided change in accordance with 
market conditions or in the event of the payment of 
relocation assistance
the committee retains the discretion to honour all contractual pension 
arrangements agreed prior to the application of this policy details of  
such arrangements are disclosed in the annual remuneration report
for all new appointments the maximum  
pension contribution deﬁned contribution  
or cash supplement will be 10 of base salary 
legacy arrangements to be honoured  
 of salary 
fd 15
the measures governing the allocation of the pool to executive directors  
will be set and disclosed retrospectively on an annual basis to the extent  
this is not commercially sensitive 
the annual bonus plan is discretionary and the committee reserves the right  
to adjust payments up or down any such adjustment would only be in 
exceptional circumstances which would be outlined in the relevant year’s  
annual remuneration report 
to allow the committee to assess the quality of earnings over the year and  
to introduce an element of retention into the scheme any cash bonuses  
earned by the executive directors will be subject to a sixmonth deferral  
period and will be paid in the december following the 30 june ﬁnancial  
year end
ceo 100 of base salary 
fd 80 of base salary
• group annual active customers
• group digital revenue
• strategic objectives of the group
the following amounts will vest in accordance with performance
• there is no threshold level of performance under the plan
• maximum 100
• other points on the vesting schedule will be determined by the committee 
when the performance targets are set
at the end of the performance period the committee will have absolute 
discretion to determine the extent to which the awards will vest if at all  
on account of underlying company performance if discretion is applied  
the level and reasons for its application will be fully disclosed in the 
following year’s annual report on remuneration 
per annum award levels  of base salary
ceo 200 
fd 133 
to date threeyear block awards have been granted to 
the ceo and fd at 600 and 400 of base salary 
respectively 68 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
directors’ report
additional notes to the policy table
setting of performance measures and targets 
the committee reviews and selects performance measures at 
the beginning of each award cycle under both the annual 
bonus plan and the longterm incentive plan being informed 
by the short and longterm priorities of the group at the time 
the committee considers the group’s key performance 
indicators and strategic business plan when selecting measures 
and calibrating targets details of these are included in the 
annual report each year factors that the committee may 
consider include the benchmark return rate on shareholder 
funds strategic plan the annual budget analysts’ forecasts 
economic conditions individuals’ areas of responsibilities the 
committee’s expectations over the relevant period and input 
from the major shareholder
differences in the remuneration policy for executives relative to the 
broader employee population
the remuneration policy in place for the executive directors is 
informed by the structure operated for the broader employee 
population pay levels and components vary by organisational 
level but the broad themes and philosophy remain consistent 
across the group
• salaries are reviewed annually with regard to the same factors 
as set out in the policy table for executive directors
• consistent with executive directors senior executives 
together with general and some operational managers of  
our business units participate in the annual bonus plan with 
bonus pool funding dependent on proﬁt performance of the 
group or brand depending on their level
• members of the senior management team can be considered 
for awards under the longterm incentive plan this is 
intended to encourage share ownership in the company  
and align the management team with the strategic business 
plan and
• eligibility for and provision of beneﬁts and allowances varies 
by level and local market practice it is standard for senior 
management team members to receive a company car 
allowance pension provision below board level is overall  
at lower contribution rates with the majority of rank’s 
eligible employees now being automatically enrolled into 
the pension scheme however a signiﬁcant proportion of 
employees remain in the rank group stakeholder pension 
plan where the standard contribution rates are the same as  
those offered to boardlevel members
potential reward opportunities at different levels of performance
the following graphs exhibit the policy for existing executive 
directors and show indicative total remuneration levels under 
different performance scenarios the remuneration policy 
results in a high portion of total remuneration being 
dependent on performance with a majority tied to the 
longterm performance of the group 
the annual bonus and longterm incentive schemes do not 
operate an ‘ontarget’ award level under the bonus scheme 
awards will depend on bonus pool funding and as such are 
variable yearonyear a maximum cap is in place under the 
scheme under the longterm incentive plan performance is 
considered against each selected metric independently with 
committee discretion applied as to the level of overall vesting 
given the structure of incentive arrangements we have not 
provided an ‘ontarget’ scenario in the following charts rather 
a minimum and maximum only which better reﬂects the 
operation of the incentive schemes at rank the two 
performance scenarios are calculated as follows
• minimum – performance below target which results in no 
variable remuneration being payable 
• maximum – 100 of the maximum annual cash bonus and 
full vesting of the longterm incentive award achieved 
chief executive
minimum
maximum
£524441
£1874441 24 48 28
100
£0 £500000 £1000000 £1500000 £2000000
finance director
•
 fixed elements 
•
 annual variable element 
•
 longterm variable elements
minimum
maximum
£366752
£1006752 24 40 36
100
£0 £500000 £1000000 £1500000 £2000000
assumptions
fixed elements comprise base salary pension and beneﬁts base salary and pension 
levels are as at 1 july 2014 beneﬁt levels are assumed to be the same as those 
provided during the last ﬁnancial year as henry birch became chief executive 
during 201314 his beneﬁt levels have been annualised
the longterm incentive award values depicted in the charts above represent the 
annualised opportunity to directors under the currentlyoperated remuneration policy
the graph depicting policy for the chief executive represents policy as applied  
to henry birch the new chief executive of the company ian burke the former 
chief executive now acts as chairman and is not subject to the executive director 
remuneration policy going forward
no account is made for share price growth or the payment of dividends
no element of pay for the chairman or nonexecutive directors varies with 
performance and so no separate graphs are included 
approach to recruitment remuneration
the committee will apply the policy to new executive directors 
in respect of all components of remuneration as such the 
maximum level of variable remuneration which may be 
granted is 300 of base salary on an annualised basis for the 
ceo and 213 of base salary on an annualised basis for other 
executive directors
the committee may also make an additional award of cash  
or shares on the appointment of a new director in order to 
compensate for the forfeiture of an award from a previous 
employer such awards would be made on a comparable  
basis taking account of performance the proportion of  
the performance period remaining and the type of award  
the committee will set appropriate performance conditions 
and vesting would be on the same time horizon as the  
forfeited award
directors’ remuneration report continued the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 69
for both internal and external appointments the committee 
may agree that the company will meet certain relocation 
expenses as set out in the policy table
new nonexecutive directors will be appointed on the same 
remuneration elements as the existing nonexecutive directors 
it is not intended that variable pay day rates or beneﬁts in 
kind be offered
approach to termination payments
the company does not believe in reward for failure  
the circumstances of a director’s termination including the 
director’s performance and an individual’s duty to mitigate 
losses are taken into account in every case rank’s policy  
is to stop or reduce compensatory payments to former 
executive directors to the extent that they receive remuneration 
from other employment during the compensation period 
compensatory payments are limited to 12 months’ base  
salary cash car allowance and deﬁned pension contributions 
or salary supplements
annual bonus awards will lapse in their entirety in the event 
an individual is no longer employed or serving their notice 
period at the time of payout
if the holder of a longterm incentive award ceases for any 
reason to be an executive director or employee of a rank 
group company that holder’s longterm incentive award  
shall lapse immediately upon him ceasing to be an executive 
director or employee however the committee may in its 
absolute discretion allow awards to continue until the normal 
vesting date and be satisﬁed subject to the achievement of  
the relevant performance conditions in such circumstances 
awards vesting will be prorated on a timeapportioned basis 
unless the committee determines otherwise any such 
discretion in respect of leavers would only be applied by the 
committee to ‘good leavers’ where it considers that continued 
participation is justiﬁed for example by reference to past 
performance to the date of leaving 
change of control
in the event of a change of control the committee has 
absolute discretion as to whether and on what basis awards 
should vest under the longterm incentive plan the committee 
would normally allow awards to vest upon a change of control 
subject to satisfaction of performance conditions and reduction 
on a timeapportioned basis
executive directors’ service agreements
it is the company’s policy that executive directors have rolling service agreements
the current executive directors’ service contracts contain the key terms shown in the table below
provision detailed terms
remuneration • base salary pension and beneﬁts
• cash car allowance
• private health insurance for director and dependants
• life assurance
• permanent health insurance
• participation in annual bonus plan subject to plan rules
• participation in longterm incentive plan subject to plan rules
• 25 days’ paid annual leave
notice period • 12 months’ notice from both the company and from the director
termination payment payment in lieu of notice equal to
• 12 months’ base salary
• cash car allowance chief executive only
• pension supplement chief executive only
all of the above would be paid in monthly instalments subject to an obligation on the part of the 
director to mitigate his loss such that payments would either reduce or cease completely in the event 
that the director gained new employment
restrictive covenants during employment and for nine months chief executive and 12 months ﬁnance director  
after leaving
service agreements outline the components of remuneration paid to the individual director but do not prescribe how 
remuneration levels may be adjusted from year to year
the executive directors have served on the board for the periods shown below and have service agreements dated  
as follows
position name date of contract length of board service at 30 june 2014
chief executive henry birch 24 april 2014 2 months
finance director clive jennings 27 july 2011 2 years 11 months 70 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
directors’ report
chairman
the company separated the role of chairman and chief 
executive with effect from 6 may 2014 
the chairman ian burke has a letter of engagement dated  
22 april 2014 which is effective from 6 may 2014 and which 
replaced his service agreement dated 6 march 2006 in respect 
of his former role as chief executive he has initially been 
engaged as nonexecutive chairman for a period of three years 
his appointment is terminable without compensation on three 
months’ notice from either side the chairman receives a fee of 
£150000 per annum which includes his chairmanship of the 
nominations and ﬁnance committees this fee will be reviewed 
annually by the committee with reference to the size and 
complexity of the role and external market comparisons in  
the ﬁnal quarter of each calendar year with any increase taking 
effect on 1 january the chairman is not entitled to any beneﬁts 
in kind and is not eligible for pension scheme membership 
bonus or incentive arrangements
nonexecutive directors’ remuneration
the fees for the nonexecutive directors are generally reviewed 
and determined by the ﬁnance committee in the ﬁnal quarter 
of each calendar year to reﬂect appropriate market conditions 
nonexecutive director annual base and additional fees for the 
year ended 30 june 2014 comprise
• base nonexecutive annual fee  £40000
• audit committee chair   £8500
• remuneration committee chair  £7500
• senior independent director  £2500
the base fee includes membership of the audit remuneration 
nominations and ﬁnance committees nonexecutive directors 
are not entitled to any beneﬁts in kind and are not eligible for 
pension scheme membership bonus or incentive arrangements
the company reserves the right to review fee levels annually 
with reference to the size and complexity of the role and 
external market comparisons any increases to fee levels will be 
effective from 1 january the following year the aggregate fees 
will not exceed the maximum permitted by the company’s 
articles of association which is currently £500000 
nonexecutive directors have letters of engagement setting out 
their duties and the time commitment expected they are 
appointed for an initial period of three years after which the 
appointment is renewable by mutual consent at intervals of 
directors’ remuneration report continued
nonexecutive directors’ appointments 
nonexecutive director original date of appointment date of letter of engagement total length of service as at 30 june 2014
owen o’donnell 11 september 2008 20 august 2008 5 years 9 months
tim scoble 22 april 2010 17 may 2010 4 years 2 months
lord kilmorey 1 may 2012 29 march 2012 2 years 2 months
shaa wasmund 1 november 2012 26 september 2012 1 year 8 months
not more than three years in accordance with the code  
all directors offer themselves for annual reelection by 
shareholders details of nonexecutive directors’ appointments 
which are terminable without compensation are set out in the 
table below
shareholder engagement 
the table on page 78 shows the voting outcome for the 
201213 directors’ remuneration report at the 2013 annual 
general meeting both including and excluding the company’s 
majority shareholder
the voting outcome for the 2013 directors’ remuneration 
report although disappointing was not wholly unexpected 
given the feedback received from the institutional shareholder 
consultation that had taken place regarding proposals for the 
201213 longterm incentive award whilst the committee had 
been mindful of the reservations of some shareholders with 
regard to ‘endtoend’ schemes also known as ‘block’ awards 
the committee had also considered the views of the majority 
shareholder the majority shareholder was of the view that 
rank’s historical longterm incentive awards based on 
incremental earnings per share targets were not incentivising 
management to deliver transformational growth and therefore 
superior returns for the beneﬁt of all shareholders the 
majority shareholder had experience elsewhere in its group  
of companies of ‘endtoend’ schemes working well to deliver 
exceptional performance and urged the committee to consider 
the beneﬁts to all shareholders of incentivising executives  
in a different way the committee will be reconsidering  
this approach in 2014 and anticipates undertaking a further 
shareholder consultation in the latter part of the 2014 calendar 
year for the purposes of implementing a new longterm 
incentive scheme
statement of consideration of employment conditions elsewhere  
in the company
as described in the notes to the policy table on page 68 the 
overarching themes of the policy in place for executive 
directors are broadly consistent with those applied to the wider 
employee population the committee does not use any 
comparison metrics when reviewing pay in relation to the 
wider employee population other than the consideration of 
the general rates of increase across the group nor does it deem 
it to be appropriate to consult with employees on the 
remuneration policy for executive directors the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 71
09 10 11 13 12 14
•
 the rank group plc
•
 ftse 350 index excluding investment trusts
£100
£200
£300
historical tsr performance
growth in the value of a hypothetical £100 holding over ﬁve years
comparison based on spot values on 30 june each year
08 09 10 12 11 13
•
 the rank group plc
•
 ftse 350 index excluding investment trusts
£100
£200
£300
historical tsr performance
growth in the value of a hypothetical £100 holding over ﬁve years
comparison based on spot values on 31 december each year
annual remuneration report
the directors’ remuneration report has been prepared on 
behalf of the board by the remuneration committee the 
“committee” under the chairmanship of tim scoble
the committee has applied the principles of good governance 
set out in the uk corporate governance code and in 
preparing this report has complied with the requirements of 
the companies act 2006 and the large and mediumsized 
companies and groups accounts and reports amendment 
regulations 2013 the “regulations” 
rank’s external auditor is required to report to shareholders on 
the audited information contained in this report and to state 
whether in its opinion it has been prepared in accordance 
with the regulations the audited information in the annual 
remuneration report is as follows directors’ single 
remuneration ﬁgure contingent share awards with a 
performance period ended on 31 december 2013 active 
contingent share awards and targets as at 30 june 2014 
pensions other payments and obligations share ownership 
guidelines and directors’ interests in shares
total shareholder return
the following graph illustrates the company’s total 
shareholder return “tsr” performance shown in red on  
the following charts compared with the ftse 350 index 
excluding investment companies for the ﬁve years to  
30 june 2014 the committee has selected this index as the 
company was a constituent of the ftse 350 for the entirety of 
this period in addition the committee feels it also appropriate 
to provide a view of tsr for the ﬁve years to 31 december 
2013 allowing for the fact that the performance period of the 
contingent share award made in 2011 was the three calendar 
years ended 31 december 2013 72 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
directors’ report
directors’ single remuneration ﬁgure
the tables below present a single remuneration ﬁgure for each director for the years ended 30 june 2014 and 30 june 2013 in 
respect of performance during the years ended on those dates
fixed pay £ performance pay £
201314 salary
taxable 
beneﬁts pension subtotal cash bonus
2011 ltip 
vesting subtotal
201314 total 
remuneration 
£
executive directors
henry birch
1
70385 4517 6948 81850 0 na 0 81850
ian burke
2
476137 25968 161698 663803000 663803
clive jennings 300000 21752 44145 365897000 365897
nonexecutive directors
ian burke
2
18269 na na £18269 na na na £18269
colin child
3
33640 na na £33640 na na na £33640
lord kilmorey 40000 na na £40000 na na na £40000
owen o’donnell
4
41646 na na £41646 na na na £41646
tim scoble
5
47500 na na £47500 na na na £47500
john warren
6
14550 na na £14550 na na na £14550
shaa wasmund
7
40000 na na £40000 na na na £40000
fixed pay £ performance pay £
201213 salary
taxable 
beneﬁts pension subtotal cash bonus
2010 ltip 
vesting subtotal
201213 total 
remuneration 
£
executive directors
ian burke 525300 29576 183855 738731 0 528758 528758 1267489
clive jennings 300000 21147 44161 365308 0 na 0 365308
nonexecutive directors
colin child
3
40000 na na 40000 na na na 40000
lord kilmorey 40000 na na 40000 na na na 40000
owen o’donnell
4
40000 na na 40000 na na na 40000
tim scoble
5
40000 na na 40000 na na na 40000
john warren
6
48500 na na 48500 na na na 48500
shaa wasmund
7
27000 na na 27000 na na na 27000
1 henry birch became chief executive on 6 may 2014
2 ian burke resigned as chief executive on 6 may 2014 and continued to be paid his full salary until 16 may 2014 whereupon of payment of his nonexecutive chairman 
fees began ian burke received no other payments in connection with termination of his employment
3 colin child became senior independent director on 1 july 2013 chairman of the audit committee on 18 october 2013 and resigned as a director on 18 march 2014
4 owen o’donnell became chairman of the audit committee with effect from 22 april 2014
5 tim scoble became chairman of the remuneration committee on 1 july 2013
6 john warren resigned as a director on 17 october 2013
7 shaa wasmund was appointed to the board on 1 november 2012
nonexecutive directors receive fees only details of which are provided on page 70 together with the nonexecutive chairman’s 
fees which have been paid since 17 may 2014 these amounts are within the maximum annual aggregate amount of £500000 
permitted by the company’s articles of association
the aggregate total annual amount received by all directors during the year ended 30 june 2014 is shown below
201314 201213
executive directors £1111551 £1104039
chairman
1
 and nonexecutive directors £235605 £306000
2
total £1347156 £1410039
1  the separate role of nonexecutive chairman was created with effect from 6 may 2014 and was remunerated with effect from 17 may 2014 
2 the reason for the difference between this number and the total on the 201213 table above is due to two former directors
directors’ remuneration report continued the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 73
performance pay
the tables below show former and current chief executive total remuneration over the last ﬁve years in the case of henry birch 
since his date of appointment on 6 may 2014 and their achieved annual variable and longterm incentive pay awards as a 
percentage of the plan maximum
henry birch  
from 6 may 2014 single ﬁgure of total remuneration
annual cash bonus actual pay out vs 
maximum opportunity
ltip vesting rates against  
maximum opportunity
201314  
2 months £81850 00 na
ian burke until 16 may 2014 single ﬁgure of total remuneration
annual cash bonus actual pay out vs 
maximum opportunity
ltip vesting rates against  
maximum opportunity
201314  
105 months £663804 00 000
201213  
12 months £1267489 00 9625
201112  
18 months £3254000
1
400 10000
2010 12 months £1083000 635 000
2009 12 months £1110000 695 000
1 this included an exceptional discretionary bonus equal to 100 of base salary to reward exceptional efforts on behalf of the then chief executive in creating additional 
sustainable longterm shareholder value via the transformation of the company’s balance sheet that was paid by three equal instalments in september 2012 april 2013 
and december 2013
1 in the company’s 201213 annual report the bonus pool available for distribution was stated as being £450000 that ﬁgure was total cost to the 
company in the event that the available bonus pool was paid out ie it was inclusive of associated employer’s national insurance contributions
base salary
there were no increases to base salary for the executive 
directors or other members of the executive committee during 
the year ended 30 june 2014 base salaries for the executive 
directors as at 1 july 2014 are
• chief executive £450000
• finance director £300000
annual bonus plan
the annual bonus plan is structured as a pool funded each 
year as a percentage of adjusted proﬁt for the year with the 
sharing rate dependent on performance performance is based 
on the rate of return achieved on opening shareholder funds 
for the year shareholder funds is determined by the market 
value of the group when the scheme was introduced in july 
2012 inﬂated annually by the difference between proﬁt after 
tax exceptionals and discontinued operations for the year and 
cash dividends paid to shareholders the target rate of return is 
set at the beginning of each year by the committee if the 
target rate of return is achieved a bonus pool of 2 of 
shareholder funds is created a modiﬁer is applied to the bonus 
rate for below target performance at the minimum rate of 
return the bonus pool modiﬁer is set at 50 up to 100 at the 
maximum rate of return the remuneration committee has the 
discretion to exclude items reported as discontinued or 
exceptional the bonus pool is allocated at the discretion of 
the committee with regard to individual corporate and relative 
performance to peers
201213 annual cash bonus
at the time of publication of last year’s report the committee 
had not determined the extent to which the executive directors 
had earned a bonus the committee is therefore reporting in 
this year’s report the outcome of that year’s bonus scheme 
the target group adjusted proﬁt after tax in order to trigger 
creation of a bonus pool in that year was £382m with  
the target required for maximum bonus entitlement being 
£545m the group achieved £392m adjusted proﬁt after tax 
which resulted in the creation of a bonus pool of £391540
1
 
equal to 1 of the group adjusted proﬁt after tax for 
distribution amongst the executive directors and other 
members of the executive committee at the discretion of  
the committee 
taking into consideration the performance of the group as a 
whole the executive directors were of the view that it would 
not be appropriate to receive a bonus in respect of ﬁnancial 
year 201213 and recommended to the committee that  
no bonus be paid for the year the committee accepted  
this recommendation 
201314 annual cash bonus
the target group proﬁt after tax in order to trigger creation  
of a bonus pool for that year was £436m with the target 
required for maximum bonus entitlement being £623m  
the group did not achieve the minimum rate of return  
and consequentially no bonus pool has been created  
for distribution 74 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
directors’ report
directors’ remuneration report continued
contingent share awards with a performance period ended on 31 december 2013
following the half year end on 31 december 2013 the committee considered whether the 2011 threeyear contingent share 
awards should vest the details and targets for those awards were
2011 award
director ceo ian burke fd clive jennings
date of grant 11 march 2011 4 august 2011
performance period 1 january 2011 to 31 december 2013 1 january 2011 to 31 december 2013
no of shares comprised in award 307193 124819
value of award at grant £393975 £172500
minimum adjusted eps threshold vest 120p 120p
maximum adjusted eps 100 vest 140p 140p
mean consensus eps forecast prior to grant 117p 117p
adjusted eps at end of performance period  
on 31 december 2013 118p 118p
given that the adjusted eps at the end of the performance period on 31 december 2013 was less than the minimum required for 
threshold vesting the contingent share awards made in 2011 lapsed in full
the table below which is unaudited sets out the vesting percentage of each ltip award made to executive directors within the 
last ﬁve years and the vesting percentage of the sole extant award had it vested on 30 june 2014
year of award maturity date performance conditions
eps performance indicative 
vesting percentage tsr adjusted vesting performance
2007 1 january 2010 adjusted eps 435 00
2007 1 january 2011 adjusted eps 580 00
2008 1 january 2011 adjusted eps 1000 1000
2009 1 january 2012 adjusted eps 1000 1000
2010 1 january 2013 adjusted eps 9625 9625
2011 1 january 2014 adjusted eps 00 00
201213 1 july 2015 various see page 75 00 00
given that the adjusted eps at the end of the performance period on 31 december 2013 was less than the minimum required for 
threshold vesting the contingent share awards made in 2011 lapsed in full the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 75
active contingent share awards and targets as at 30 june 2014
the only outstanding contingent share awards made under the ltip are those with a threeyear performance period ending  
on 30 june 2015 the “awards” outstanding awards to the executive directors are set out below
201213 award
director ceo henry birch
1
fd clive jennings
plan 2010 ltip 2010 ltip
date of grant 29 may 2014 26 june 2013
number of shares comprised in award 656250 770218
market value of award at grant £1050000
1
£1200000
annualised market value of award at grant £350000
1
£400000
performance period 1 july 2012 to 30 june 2015
earliest vest date for ﬁrst instalment 1 september 2015 or if later as soon as practicable 
following completion of the audit of the company’s 
consolidated ﬁnancial statements for the year ended  
30 june 2015 40
vest date for second instalment 1 september 2016 40
vest date for third instalment 1 september 2017 20
award targets for performance period ending 30 june 2015
group ebitda £1485m
group proﬁt after tax £633m
group annual active customers 3175000
group digital revenue £1092m
strategic objectives of the group speciﬁc objectives deemed to be commercially sensitive 
by the committee
1 henry birch’s award was made on the same basis of that to ian burke but prorated so as to reﬂect his joining part way through the threeyear performance period
as reported last year in 2013 the committee resolved to make ‘block’ contingent share awards to the executive directors and 
other senior executives covering the period 1 july 2012 to 30 june 2015 the award sizes for the chief executive and ﬁnance 
director were respectively 60x and 40x base salary equivalent to an annual award of 20x base salary for the chief executive 
and 133x for the ﬁnance director ian burke’s contingent award over 2022978 shares made on 26 june 2013 lapsed in full 
upon his ceasing to be an executive director on 6 may 2014
the performance targets for the award which are set out in the table above will be measured against the audited consolidated 
results of the company for the ﬁnancial year ended 30 june 2015 to the extent that achievement of a performance target  
would not ordinarily be readily identiﬁable from the published audited consolidated ﬁnancial statements of the company  
for the ﬁnancial year ended 30 june 2015 the auditor of the company will be requested to include a review of the relevant 
performance target as part of its yearend audit procedures for the ﬁnancial year ended 30 june 2015
where not all of the performance targets are met the committee will determine the extent to which the awards shall vest  
if at all based upon the performance against the set objectives
notwithstanding achievement of all or any part of the performance targets the directors have absolute discretion to determine 
the extent to which the awards will vest if at all having regard to the company’s tsr performance over the performance period 
as compared with the comparable tsr performance of companies within the ftse 350 index 76 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
directors’ report
directors’ remuneration report continued
pensions
ian burke received a salary supplement equal to 35 of his 
base salary in lieu of pension until 16 may 2014 henry birch 
received a salary supplement equal to 10 of his base salary 
from the date of his appointment on 6 may 2014 until 30 
march 2014 clive jennings was a member of the rank group 
stakeholder pension plan and received a company pension 
contribution of 15 of base salary less the statutory ‘lower 
earnings limit’ since 1 april 2014 he has received a cash 
supplement in lieu of those company contributions
executive director amount paid
ian burke until 16 may 2014 £161698
henry birch from 6 may 2014 £6948
clive jennings £44145
beneﬁts
executive director company car other beneﬁts
total beneﬁts 
paid
ian burke  
until 16 may 2014 £16271 £9697 £25968
henry birch  
from 6 may 2014 £3128 £1389 £4517
clive jennings £12750 £9002 £21752
other payments and obligations
no payment for compensation for loss of ofﬁce was paid  
to or receivable by ian burke upon his resignation as chief 
executive no other executive directors left the company 
during the year ended 30 june 2014 and therefore no payments 
for compensation for loss of ofﬁce were paid to or receivable 
by any director 30 june 2013 £nil with the exception of  
a payment to the widow of john garrett a former executive 
director who resigned on 2 february 1998 who received 
£44035 201213 £42855 in respect of an unfunded pension 
obligation no payments were made during the year ended  
30 june 2014 to any past director of the company
external appointments 
executive directors are not permitted to take up nonexecutive 
directorships outside the group henry birch was a non
executive director of the aimlisted plus 500 limited until  
12 may 2014 and received fees in respect of such directorship 
he was permitted to retain the fees relating to the six days  
that such directorship overlapped with his employment  
by the company
share ownership guidelines and directors’ interests in shares
below we set out details of the share ownership guidelines in 
operation until october 2011 in light of the company’s free 
ﬂoat position see page 80 these have been suspended until a 
higher free ﬂoat position is achieved
until october 2011 independent nonexecutive directors were 
using between 30 and 40 of their base net fees after tax to 
purchase ordinary shares in the company at quarterly 
intervals with the intention that such shares be retained 
throughout their tenure of service 
similarly the group had guidelines for executive shareholding 
which were set as a percentage of base salary and in respect of 
which executives had ﬁve years from appointment to build up 
these guidelines were as follows
chief executive 150
finance director 100
other executive committee members 50
shareholdings of directors of the company and its subsidiaries 
are not considered to be in public hands for the purposes  
of determining the sufﬁciency of the percentage of shares in 
public hands the “free ﬂoat” in the context of qualiﬁcation 
for a listing on the ukla’s premium market in view of the  
low level of free ﬂoat following the completion of guoco 
group limited’s general offer for rank in july 2011 the 
nonexecutive director quarterly share purchase programme 
and the shareholding guidelines for executive directors and 
other members of the executive committee who are directors 
of rank subsidiary companies were suspended pending  
a restoration of the company’s free ﬂoat to a higher level  
for further information with regard to the company’s free  
ﬂoat position please see page 80
directors’ shareholdings as at 30 june 2014 and as at  
13 august 2014 are set out in the table below
name
ordinary 13
8
 9 p 
shares as at 30 june 
2014 and as at  
13 august 2014 
ordinary 13
8
 9 p 
shares as at  
1 july 2013
nonexecutive directors
ian burke 763556 763556
lord kilmorey 0 0
owen o’donnell 21224 21224
tim scoble 0 0
shaa wasmund 0 0
executive directors
henry birch 0 na
clive jennings 0 0 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 77
dilution limits
the ltip being the company’s only equitybased incentive 
plan incorporates the current abi guidelines on headroom 
which provide that overall dilution under all plans should not 
exceed 10 over a 10year period in relation to the company’s 
issued share capital with a further limitation of 5 in any 
10year period for executive plans
the committee regularly monitors the position and prior to 
the making of any award considers the effect of potential 
vesting of awards to ensure that the company remains within 
these limits any awards which are required to be satisﬁed by 
market purchased shares are excluded from the calculations 
no treasury shares were held or utilised in the year ended  
30 june 2014
relative importance of spend on pay
the table below shows the expenditure and percentage change 
in overall spend on employee remuneration and distributions 
paid to shareholders through the dividend paid in the year and 
share buybacks
201314 201213
percentage 
change 
overall expenditure on pay
1
£2082m£1859m 12
dividend paid in the year £ 164m £147m 12
share buyback £ nil £ nil 0
1 the growth in pay is in part due to the acquisition of 19 gala casinos during  
the 201213 ﬁnancial year
statement of change in pay of chief executive compared with  
other employees 
the table below sets out the chief executive’s base salary 
beneﬁts and annual bonus amounts for the period from when 
he joined on 6 may 2014 to 30 june 2014 as the chief 
executive was appointed during the year no yearonyear 
change can be reported we show the average change in gross 
earnings for all uk employees across the group
chief executive all uk employees
2
6 may 2014 to 30 
june 2014
percentage change
1
 201213 vs 
201314
percentage change 
201213 vs 
201314
salary £70385 na na
beneﬁts £4517 na na
bonus £0 na na
gross earnings
3
£73513 na  31
1  mr birch joined the group on 6 may 2014 and therefore has not had a pay 
increase during the year under review his predecessor mr burke who stood 
down as chief executive on 6 may 2014 did not have a pay increase during the 
year under review
2 for the avoidance of doubt ‘all uk employees’ includes the former and current 
chief executives individual compensation elements for the wider employee 
population are not readily available to compare separately hence providing gross 
earnings as our main comparison metric
3 ‘gross earnings’ excludes insured beneﬁts and pension payments gross earnings 
for employees of the former gala casinos acquired in may 2013 are also 
excluded from this value as 201213 gross earnings ﬁgures are unavailable for 
comparison to 201314 ﬁgures
role and remit of the committee
the committee assists the board in setting the remuneration 
packages for the company’s executive directors and other 
executive committee members
the committee has three scheduled meetings a year to discuss 
a rolling agenda of items and additional meetings are 
convened as necessary by invitation the chief executive 
human resources director company secretary and since 6 may 
2014 the chairman attend and contribute to meetings but are 
not present at discussions regarding their own remuneration
the committee’s formal terms of reference are available on 
rank’s website at wwwrankcomdownloadstermsof
referencetorremunerationcommitteepdf or by written 
request to the company secretary
committee membership
current committee members committee member since
tim scoble – committee 
chairman
14 september 2011 chair from 
1 july 2013
owen o’donnell 15 january 2010
shaa wasmund 1 july 2013
former committee members 
who served during the year 
under review
john warren retired 17 october 2013
biographical details of the current members of the committee 
are set out on pages 48 and 49 the group company secretary 
acts as secretary to the committee the committee met on 
eight occasions during the year and attendance details are 
shown in the table on page 52
committee activity during the year
matters discussed by the committee during the year included 
the following
• institutional shareholder feedback on executive longterm 
incentive award
• remuneration packages for nonexecutive chairman  
chief executive and other new members of the  
executive committee
• 2014 ﬁxed pay review
• 201213 and 201314 annual bonus payments
• 2010 ltip – vesting of 2011 threeyear award
• 201314 and 201415 annual bonus plan structure  
and targets
• consideration of new bis remuneration regulations
• annual review of remuneration policy and practices and
• review and approval of the policy report and the annual 
remuneration report 78 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
directors’ report
shareholder vote on 201213 directors’ remuneration report
the table below shows the voting outcome for the 201213 directors’ remuneration report at the 2013 annual general meeting 
both including and excluding the company’s majority shareholder
‘for’ and ‘discretionary’ ‘against’ total
no of votes  of votes cast no of votes  of votes cast no of votes cast
 of total 
shareholders 
eligible to vote
no of votes
 ‘withheld’
1
including majority 
shareholder 307282267 8639 48413998 1361 355696265 9104 42078
excluding majority 
shareholder 37876839 4389 48413998 5611 86290837 7115 42078
1 a vote ‘withheld’ is not a vote in law
directors’ remuneration report continued
advisers to the committee
the committee has access to external information and research 
on market data and trends from independent consultants 
after a tender process towers watson were appointed as 
external remuneration advisers to the committee they have 
been sole advisers to the committee since january 2007 towers 
watson is a member of the remuneration consultants’ group 
the body which oversees the code of conduct in relation to 
executive remuneration consulting in the united kingdom
the current and former chief executives the company 
secretary and the human resources director provided assistance 
to the committee during the year they attended meetings of 
the committee although none of them was involved in any 
decisions relating to his or her own remuneration
towers watson attended two out of the committee’s seven 
meetings during the year during the year the committee 
requested towers watson to advise on matters including 
remuneration of the combined role of the chairman and  
chief executive and the roles of the ﬁnance director and other 
executive committee members towers watson also provided 
the tsr performance graph for the directors’ remuneration 
report towers watson was paid fees totalling £38884 for 
services provided to the committee during the year fees are 
based on hours spent towers watson did not provide any 
other services to the group during the period under review 
the committee remains satisﬁed that towers watson’s advice 
was objective and independent and that towers watson’s 
provision of other services in no way compromises  
its independence
committee evaluation
the committee’s performance during the period under review 
was assessed via conﬁdential questionnaires with committee 
members and other individuals who support its work results 
were then reviewed by the committee chairman and discussed 
with the board the board agreed that the committee 
continued to perform effectively
implementation of policy in 201415
for the following ﬁnancial year it is not anticipated that the 
policy outlined on pages 65 to 70 will change and therefore  
the committee will manage pay decisions within the set policy
salaries will be reviewed with any changes effective 1 january 
2015 the executive directors will participate in the annual 
bonus plan as per the policy it is the view of the committee 
that the absolute targets as well as the targets governing 
individuals’ allocations are commercially sensitive the proﬁt 
growth targets and actual performance will be disclosed in next 
year’s report as they have been this year 
as reported on page 64 the committee is mindful of the 
concerns of shareholders with regard to the use of ‘block’ awards 
as longterm incentives for management the committee is 
considering whether or not a further ‘block’ award should be 
made or whether it should revert to the more usual practice of 
annual awards it is anticipated that the committee will engage 
with its largest shareholders on this subject towards the end of 
the calendar year 2014
we believe that our policy continues to be aligned with our 
strategic goal of creating longterm sustainable value for 
shareholders we welcome shareholder feedback on issues 
related to executive remuneration
tim scoble chairman of the remuneration committee
13 august 2014 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 79
the companies act 2006 the large and mediumsized 
companies and groups accounts and reports regulations 
2008 the “2008 regulations” the companies disclosure of 
auditor remuneration and liability limitation agreements 
regulations 2008 the financial reporting council’s uk 
corporate governance code september 2012 the “code” 
the financial conduct authority’s the “fca” listing rules 
and the financial conduct authority’s disclosure rules and 
transparency rules “dtr” contain mandatory disclosure 
requirements in relation to this annual report in respect of 
the year ended 30 june 2014
directors
the directors who served during the period under review are
name position effective date of change
ian burke nonexecutive chairman with effect from  
6 may 2014
chairman  chief 
executive
until 6 may 2014
henry birch chief executive appointed  
6 may 2014
colin child
1
nonexecutive director resigned  
18 march 2014
clive jennings finance director
lord kilmorey nonexecutive director
owen o’donnell nonexecutive director
tim scoble nonexecutive director
john warren nonexecutive director resigned  
17 october 2013
shaa wasmund nonexecutive director
1 mr child was appointed senior independent director with effect from  
1 july 2013 and resigned on 18 march 2014 
share capital
the company’s authorised share capital as at 30 june 2014  
was £180m divided into 1296000000 ordinary shares of 
13
8

9
p each the ordinary shares are listed on the london stock 
exchange and can be held in certiﬁcated or uncertiﬁcated form 
there were 390683521 shares in issue at the period end 
390683521 as at 30 june 2013 which were held by 11320 
registered shareholders 11552 as at 30 june 2013
signiﬁcant shareholders 
majority shareholder
hong leong company malaysia berhad “hong leong” the 
ultimate parent company of guoco group limited “guoco” 
has a controlling interest in rank consequent upon the general 
offer made by its hong kong listed subsidiary company 
guoco via its whollyowned subsidiary rank assets limited 
then known as all global investments limited
hong leong group is a leading conglomerate based in 
malaysia with diversiﬁed businesses in banking and ﬁnancial 
services manufacturing and distribution property 
development and investments and hospitality and leisure 
further information on the hong leong group of companies 
can be found at wwwhongleongcom
guoco is an investment holding company the principal 
activities of its subsidiaries and associated companies include 
investment property development ﬁnancial services and 
hospitality and leisure further information on the guoco 
group of companies can be found at wwwguococom
interests of 3 or more
the table on page 80 shows interests of 3 or more of the  
total voting rights attached to ordinary shares that have been 
notiﬁed to the company in accordance with the fca’s dtrs 
due to the fact that the dtrs only require notiﬁcation where 
the percentage voting rights reach exceed or fall below 3  
and each 1 threshold above 3 there is a difference between 
disclosures made pursuant to the dtrs and those disclosed on 
our website at wwwrankcominvestorsmajorshareholders
jsp which are based on responses to s793 companies act 2006 
“ca 2006” notices issued by the company for ease of 
reference we have included below voting rights in respect of 
both dtrs disclosures and s793 ca 2006 responses up to and 
including 31 july 2014
other disclosures
distribution of registered shareholders as at 30 june 2014
range
total no  
of registered 
shareholders  of holders
total no of 
shares
 of issued 
share capital
1 – 1000 9493 8386 1902420 049
1001 – 5000 1420 1254 2962340 076
5001 – 10000 164 145 1150688 029
10001 – 100000 178 157 5177074 132
100001 – 1000000 44 039 12023479 308
1000001 and above 21 019 367467520 9406
totals 11320 10000 390683521 10000 80 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
directors’ report
other disclosures continued
as per fca dtrs disclosures
as per s793 ca 2006 enquiry 
responses as at 30 jun 2014
as per s793 ca 2006 enquiry 
responses as at 31 jul 2014
date last notified 
under dtr shareholder  held voting rights  held voting rights  held voting rights
9 sep 2013 hong leong co malaysia berhad 6888 269120221 6888 269120221 6888 269120221
9 mar 2012
prudential plc and subsidiary 
companies 585 22878293 675 26384675 675 26384675
– fidelity worldwide investment – – 435 16982526 453 17705539
28 mar 2012
ameriprise financial inc and its 
group companies threadneedle 
retail funds – linked strategies 503 19640833 417 16295634 417 16295634
under listing rule 6119r shares held by persons who have 
an interest in 5 or more of a listed company’s share capital 
are not regarded as being held in public hands the “free ﬂoat” 
under this rule the shares held by hong leong and prudential 
plc and subsidiary companies “prudential” may not be 
regarded as being in public hands with the result that the 
number of rank’s shares distributed to the public is below the 
25 threshold set out in listing rule 6119r under listing 
rule 6120a the fca may modify listing rule 6119r to 
accept a percentage below 25 if it considers that the market 
will operate properly with a lower percentage under listing 
rule 521r the fca has the power to cancel the listing of 
securities if it is satisﬁed that there are special circumstances 
that preclude normal regular dealings in them on 3 july 2013 
guoco announced that it had declared a special interim 
dividend in specie of approximately 8884 million rank  
shares representing 2274 of rank the “distribution”  
that distribution reduced the overall interest of hong leong 
from 745 to 689 however due to the fact that prudential’s 
shares are not regarded as being in public hands the free  
ﬂoat remains below the 25 threshold the company  
has made a formal submission to the fca requesting it to 
modify lr 6119 r so it can continue to be a premium listed 
company with a slightly lower free ﬂoat percentage than 25
directors’ interests in shares
please see page 76 of the directors’ remuneration report  
for details of the directors’ interests in shares
rights and restrictions attaching to shares
voting rights
each ordinary share carries the right to one vote at general 
meetings of the company
meeting rights
registered holders of ordinary shares are entitled to attend  
and speak at general meetings and to appoint proxies
information rights
holders of ordinary shares are entitled to receive the 
company’s annual report and ﬁnancial statements
share transfer restrictions
there are no speciﬁc restrictions on the transfer of shares 
contained in the company’s articles of association
the company is not aware of any agreements between the 
holders of rank shares that may result in restrictions on  
the transfer of shares or that may result in restrictions on 
voting rights
variation of rights
subject to applicable legislation the rights attached to rank’s 
ordinary shares may be varied with the written consent of  
the holders of at least threequarters in nominal value of those 
shares or by a special resolution passed at a general meeting  
of the ordinary shareholders
directors’ powers in relation to shares
allotment and issue of shares
subject to the provisions of the ca 2006 and subject to any 
resolution passed by the company pursuant to the ca 2006 
and other shareholder rights shares in rank may be issued 
with such rights and restrictions as the company may by 
ordinary resolution decide if there is no such resolution or  
so far as the company does not make speciﬁc provision they 
may be issued as rank’s board of directors may decide subject 
to the company’s articles of association the ca 2006 and 
other shareholder rights unissued shares are at the disposal  
of the board  the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 81
the company currently has no shareholder authority to  
allot and grant rights over any proportion of the company’s 
unissued share capital nor does it have shareholders’ authority 
to allot and grant rights over ordinary shares without ﬁrst 
making a pro rata offer to all existing ordinary shareholders 
neither of these authorities is required for the purpose of 
allotting shares pursuant to employee share schemes since the 
board has no present intention of allotting shares for any other 
reason these shareholder authorities will not be sought at the 
forthcoming annual general meeting
market purchases of own shares
the company currently has no shareholder authority  
to make market purchases of its own shares and it has no 
present intention of making any such purchases therefore  
the company does not intend to seek such authority at the 
forthcoming annual general meeting
directors’ other powers
subject to legislation the directors may exercise all the powers 
permitted by the company’s memorandum and articles of 
association a copy of these can be obtained by writing to  
the company secretary or from companies house
the articles contain provisions to empower the directors  
on certain speciﬁc matters including
• appointment of directors subject to subsequent  
shareholder approval
• delegation of powers to a director secretary or committee  
of one or more persons
• the company’s powers to borrow money and
• the ability of a director to vote on matters in which he has 
an interest
changes to the company’s articles of association can only be 
made by a resolution passed by a majority of no less than 75 
of shareholders
change of control
our principal term loan and credit facility agreements  
contain provisions that on a change of control of rank 
immediate repayment can be demanded of all advances  
and any accrued interest
the provisions of the company’s share schemes and incentive 
plans may cause options and awards granted to employees  
to vest in the event of a takeover
a change of control may also affect licences to operate as 
speciﬁed in the provisions of the gambling act 2005 and  
the alderney egambling regulations 2009 as amended  
and the belgian games of chance act 1999 as amended
political donations
we made no political donations during the period  
under review
it has been rank’s longstanding practice not to make cash 
payments to political parties and the board intends that this 
will remain the case however the companies act 2006 is  
very broadly drafted and could catch activities such as funding 
seminars and other functions to which politicians are invited 
supporting certain bodies involved in policy review and  
law reform and matching employees’ donations to certain 
charities accordingly as in previous years the directors will  
be seeking shareholders’ authority for political donations and 
political expenditure at the forthcoming annual general 
meeting in case any of rank’s activities are inadvertently 
caught by the legislation
dividend
please see the chairman’s statement on page 9 for details of the 
ﬁnal dividend being recommended
going concern
the going concern statement can be found in the ﬁnancial 
review on page 40
employees with disabilities
please see the operating responsibly section of our strategic 
report on page 36 for the disclosure required by part 3 of 
schedule 7 to the 2008 regulations relating to the employment 
of disabled persons
greenhouse gas emissions
please see the operating responsibly section of our strategic 
report on page 37 for the disclosure required by part 7 of 
schedule 7 to the 2008 regulations relating to greenhouse 
gas emissions
by order of the board
frances bingham company secretary 
13 august 2014 82 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
strategic report
14 14 14 14 14 1 14 14 4 4 14 14 14 14 4 4 4 14 4 4 4 4 4 14 4 14 4 4 4 4 4 14 14 14 14 14 4 4 4 14 1 14 14 4 4 4 4 4 4 14 14 4 4 4 4 4 14 4 4 14 1 14 4 14 4 82 82 82 2 2 2 8 8 8 82 8 t th th h h he he e t e e he h he h t e t r r ra ra a a r ra an nk nk k n n n n n gro gro grou u up up p p p p p pl l l lc c c c c plc plc c lc p   a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a  a a a a a a  annu nnu nn nnu nnu nu nu nu n n al al al a al al al al l al l l l al al l l l l r rep rep rep rep rep rep rep ep rep rep rep rep rep r rep rep rep ep ep r rep re ep p rep p p p rep e rep p r rep rep rep re rep rep r re re e e rep r repor o or rt rt rt or o or ort o or o o o o t t an a an an an an n n nd d df d f d f d f f f f d f d f f f f f d f f d d f f f d fina i ina ina ina na in i a i a in in nci nci nci nci nci nci nci nc nci nc n nci c c c al a al l l al al al l a a al a al al s s st st ta t ta ta ta ta a ta ta ta a a a s st ta ta a st ta ta sta ta sta s st sta sta s st s a sta st s a a a ta t sta a ta ta a a a s a a a a t te te tem te tem te em em em em em em em m m m t t te em em em m te t tem tem tem t t t t t t t tem tem te t te te te tem t t m m tem te te t m te te en en en en en en n nt nt nt t t t t t t n n nt t nt t t t en en en n nt t t t en en nt en e ent en en en ent e ent t t t t ent t t t t nt ent t n nt t t nt t ts 2 s 2 s 2 s 2 s 2 s2 s2 s2 2 2 2 2 2 s 2 s2 2 s2 s2 s2 s 2 2 s s2 s2 s 2 2 s 2 s 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 s 2 s 2 s 2 2 s s2 2 2 2 2 2 201 01 0 01 0 0 01 01 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 01 01 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
str str str str tr str tr str s ate ate ate ate ate ate ate ate ate e e tegic gic gic gic gic gic ic gic gic c c ic c c gic re r re re re re e re e re re e re re r re r por por por por por por or por por or por r or o t t t t t t t t t t
jun ‘14
continuing the entertainment experience
we’ve seen a lot of change in the business this year from launching  
a new live casino to our refurbishments at leicester liverpool and  
st giles casino in london in the next year we will be continuing  
to improve the entertainment experiences we offer our customers the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 83 the he ra rank nk gro gro gro g up p up up plc plca  annu nnual l rep ep eport ort ort a a an nd f dfinancial statements 2014 83 84 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
financial statements
annual report and ﬁnancial statements
the directors are responsible for preparing the annual report 
including the directors’ report the strategic report the 
directors’ remuneration report and the corporate governance 
statement and the ﬁnancial statements of the group and the 
company in accordance with applicable united kingdom law 
and regulations company law requires the directors to prepare 
group and company ﬁnancial statements for each ﬁnancial 
year under that law the directors are required to prepare 
group ﬁnancial statements under ifrss as adopted by the 
european union as permitted by the companies act 2006  
the directors have elected to prepare the company ﬁnancial 
statements under ifrss as adopted by the european union 
under company law the directors must not approve the group 
and company ﬁnancial statements unless they are satisﬁed 
that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the 
group and company and of the proﬁt or loss of the group  
for that period in preparing the group and company  
ﬁnancial statements the directors are required to
• present fairly the ﬁnancial position ﬁnancial performance 
and cash ﬂows of the group and company
• select suitable accounting policies in accordance with ias 8 
accounting policies changes in accounting estimates and errors 
and then apply them consistently
• present information including accounting policies in a 
manner that provides relevant reliable comparable and 
understandable information
• make judgements that are reasonable 
• provide additional disclosures when compliance with the 
speciﬁc requirements in ifrss as adopted by the european 
union is insufﬁcient to enable users to understand the 
impact of particular transactions other events and 
conditions on the group and company’s ﬁnancial position 
and ﬁnancial performance and
• state whether the ﬁnancial statements have been prepared  
in accordance with ifrss as adopted by the european union 
subject to any material departures disclosed and explained  
in the ﬁnancial statements
the directors conﬁrm that they have complied with all of  
the above
accounting records 
the directors must keep proper accounting records that 
disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the ﬁnancial 
position of the company and the group and ensure that the 
group ﬁnancial statements comply with the companies act 
2006 and for the group ﬁnancial statements article 4 of the 
international accounting standard ias regulation 
safeguarding assets
the directors are also accountable for safeguarding the assets of 
the company and the group and therefore for taking reasonable 
steps to prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities
corporate website
the maintenance and integrity of rank’s corporate website  
on which this annual report and ﬁnancial statements are 
published is the board’s responsibility we would draw 
attention to the fact that legislation in the uk on the 
preparation and publication of ﬁnancial statements may  
differ from that in other jurisdictions
directors’ responsibilities’ statement
the annual report and ﬁnancial statements are the 
responsibility of and have been approved by the directors
each of the directors named on pages 48 and 49 conﬁrms that 
to the best of their knowledge
• the annual report and ﬁnancial statements taken as a whole 
are fair balanced and understandable and provide the 
information necessary for shareholders to assess the 
company’s performance business model and strategy
• the ﬁnancial statements prepared in accordance with 
international financial reporting standards ifrss as 
adopted by the european union 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 strategic report includes a 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 risks and 
uncertainties that they face
by order of the board
henry birch  clive jennings  
chief executive finance director
13 august 2014 13 august 2014
statement of directors’ responsibilities the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 85
opinion on ﬁnancial statements
in our opinion
• the ﬁnancial statements give a true and fair view of the  
state of the group’s and of the parent company’s affairs  
as at 30 june 2014 and of the group’s proﬁt for the year  
then ended
• the group ﬁnancial statements have been properly  
prepared in accordance with ifrss as adopted by the 
european union and 
• the parent company ﬁnancial statements have been properly 
prepared in accordance with ifrss as adopted by the 
european union and as applied in accordance with the 
provisions of the companies act 2006 and
• the ﬁnancial statements have been prepared in accordance 
with the requirements of the companies act 2006 and  
as regards the group ﬁnancial statements article 4 of  
the ias regulation
what we have audited 
we have audited the ﬁnancial statements of the rank group 
plc for the year ended 30 june 2014 which comprise the group 
income statement the group statement of comprehensive 
income the group and company balance sheets the group 
and company statements of changes in equity the group and 
company statements of cash ﬂow and the related notes 1 to 
33 the ﬁnancial reporting framework that has been applied in 
their preparation is applicable law and international financial 
reporting standards ifrss as adopted by the european union 
and as regards the parent company ﬁnancial statements  
as applied in accordance with the provisions of the  
companies act 2006
this report is made solely to the company’s members  
as a body in accordance with chapter 3 of part 16 of the 
companies act 2006 our audit work has been undertaken so 
that we might state to the company’s members those matters 
we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for 
no other purpose to the fullest extent permitted by law we do 
not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the 
company and the company’s members as a body for our audit 
work for this report or for the opinions we have formed 
respective responsibilities of directors and auditor
as explained more fully in the directors’ responsibilities’ 
statement set out on page 84 the directors are responsible  
for the preparation of the ﬁnancial statements and for being 
satisﬁed that they give a true and fair view our responsibility 
is to audit and express an opinion on the ﬁnancial statements 
in accordance with applicable law and international standards 
on auditing uk and ireland those standards require us to 
comply with the auditing practices board’s ethical standards 
for auditors
scope of the audit of the ﬁnancial statements
an audit involves obtaining evidence about the amounts  
and disclosures in the ﬁnancial statements sufﬁcient to give 
reasonable assurance that the ﬁnancial statements are free from 
material misstatement whether caused by fraud or error  
this includes an assessment of whether the accounting 
policies are appropriate to the group’s and the parent 
company’s circumstances and have been consistently applied 
and adequately disclosed the reasonableness of signiﬁcant 
accounting estimates made by the directors and the overall 
presentation of the ﬁnancial statements in addition we read 
all the ﬁnancial and nonﬁnancial information in the annual 
report and accounts to identify material inconsistencies with 
the audited ﬁnancial statements and to identify any 
information that is apparently materially incorrect based on or 
materially inconsistent with the knowledge acquired by us in 
the course of performing the audit if we become aware of any 
apparent material misstatements or inconsistencies we 
consider the implications for our report
our assessment of risk of material misstatement
we identiﬁed the following risks that have the greatest impact 
on our audit strategy the allocation of resources in the audit 
and directing the efforts of the engagement team
• inaccuracy of revenue reported from casino and  
bingo venues
• inaccuracy of revenue reported from casino and bingo  
digital channels
• identiﬁcation and assessment of impairment of intangible 
and tangible assets and goodwill and investments 
• incorrect provisions made in relation to property leases and
• inaccurate provisions made in relation to direct and indirect 
tax risk exposures and claimsreclaims in relation to 
continuing and discontinuing businesses
our application of materiality 
we apply the concept of materiality both in planning and 
performing our audit and in evaluating the effect of 
misstatements on our audit and on the ﬁnancial statements 
for the purposes of determining whether the ﬁnancial 
statements are free from material misstatement we deﬁne 
materiality as the magnitude of misstatement that makes  
it probable that the economic decisions of a reasonably 
knowledgeable person relying on the ﬁnancial statements 
would be changed or inﬂuenced we also determine a level of 
performance materiality which we use to determine the extent 
of testing needed to reduce to an appropriately low level the 
probability that the aggregate of uncorrected and undetected 
misstatements exceeds materiality for the ﬁnancial statements 
as a whole
independent auditor’s report to the members of the rank group plc 86 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
financial statements
independent auditor’s report to the members of the rank group plc continued
when establishing our overall audit strategy we determined  
a magnitude of uncorrected misstatements that we judged 
would be material for the ﬁnancial statements as a whole  
we determined planning materiality for the group to be 
£32m which is 5 of adjusted proﬁt before tax for the year 
ended 30 june 2014 we used adjusted proﬁt before tax to 
exclude those items classiﬁed as exceptional items within  
the ﬁnancial statements
on the basis of our risk assessments together with our 
assessment of the group’s overall control environment our 
judgement is that overall performance materiality ie our 
tolerance for misstatement in an individual account or 
balance for the group should be 50 of planning materiality 
namely £16m our objective in adopting this approach is to 
ensure that total detected and undetected audit differences do 
not exceed our planning materiality of £32m for the ﬁnancial 
statements as whole this provided a basis for determining  
the nature timing and extent of risk assessment procedures 
identifying and assessing the risk of material misstatement  
and determining the nature timing and extent of further  
audit procedures
we agreed with the audit committee that we would report to 
the committee all audit differences in excess of £01m as well 
as differences below that threshold that in our view warranted 
reporting on qualitative grounds
an overview of the scope of our audit 
we used a riskbased approach for determining our audit 
strategy ensuring that our audit teams performed consistent 
procedures and focused on addressing the risks that are 
relevant to the business this approach focused our audit effort 
towards higher risk areas such as signiﬁcant management 
judgements and on locations that were considered material 
based upon size complexity and risk
our assessment of audit risk our evaluation of materiality and 
our allocation of that materiality determined our audit scope
the factors that we considered when assessing the scope of the 
group audit and the level of work to be performed at each 
location included the following the ﬁnancial signiﬁcance and 
speciﬁc risks of the location the effectiveness of the control 
environment and monitoring activities including groupwide 
controls and recent internal audit ﬁndings
our group audit scope focused on two locations of which one 
was subject to a full scope audit whilst the remaining location 
was subject to speciﬁc audit testing based on our judgement of 
risk and materiality these locations represent the principal 
business units within the group’s six reportable segments and 
accounted for 91 of the group’s adjusted proﬁt before tax
the senior statutory auditor oversaw all planning at the full 
scope location including discussion of the potential for 
material fraud and error reviewed key working papers 
participated in the planning and execution of the responses to 
the risks and attended the audit closing meetings
for the remaining locations we performed other procedures 
to conﬁrm there were no signiﬁcant risks of material 
misstatement in the group ﬁnancial statements the senior 
statutory auditor attended the audit closing meeting for the 
speciﬁc scope location by conference call 
our response to the risks of material misstatement identiﬁed 
above included the following procedures
inaccuracy of revenue reported from casino and bingo venues
• we updated our understanding of the revenue processes  
and tested key management controls for recognition and 
measurement of revenue both at a site level and head  
ofﬁce level
• we veriﬁed the recognition and measurement of revenue by 
reperforming cash counts throughout the year at a sample 
of casino and bingo venues and
• we performed substantive analytical review procedures 
which included comparing actual results against forecasted 
win rates and substantiating deviations from expectations 
in addition we performed journal testing speciﬁcally 
focusing on revenue accounts
inaccuracy of revenue from casino and bingo digital channels 
• we updated our understanding of the revenue processes  
and controls and tested key management manual and it 
controls for recognition and measurement of revenue
• we veriﬁed the recognition and measurement of revenue  
by tracing a sample of transactions throughout the year to 
source data to verify the accuracy of reported revenue and
• we performed substantive analytical review procedures 
which included comparing actual results against forecasted 
win rates and substantiating deviations from expectations 
in addition we performed journal testing speciﬁcally 
focusing on revenue accounts the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 87
identiﬁcation and assessment of impairment of intangible  
and tangible assets goodwill and investments
• we updated our understanding of management’s annual 
impairment testing process including the controls that 
management has in place to validate assumptions in relation 
to impairment 
• we ensured that the methodology of the impairment  
exercise continues to comply with the requirements of ifrs 
as adopted by the european union including evaluating 
management’s assessment of indicators of impairment  
and their assessment of what the group considers a cash 
generating unit cgu to be compared to other existing 
industry practice
• we challenged the forecasts underlying the impairment 
review and agreed to budgets approved by the board 
reviewing these against actual performance and historic 
accuracy of forecasting 
• we agreed other key assumptions such as discount rates  
to supporting evidence and corroborated these to industry 
averagestrends with the assistance of ey internal experts and
• we challenged the individual cgu projections with 
appropriate ﬁnance and commercial personnel 
inaccurate provisions made in relation to property leases
• we updated our understanding of management’s processes 
and controls for identifying and calculating property  
lease provisions
• we checked underlying calculations and agreed key inputs  
to supporting evidence including lease agreements and for 
trading properties corroborated management’s assumptions 
to underlying audit work performed and
• we challenged management’s assumptions through 
discussions with the ﬁnance team and the property 
management responsible for the management of the 
group’s estate
inaccurate provisions made in relation to direct and indirect tax risk 
exposures in relation to continuing and discontinuing businesses
• we understood the latest position in all material open direct 
and indirect tax matters including any conclusions reached 
during the year with the assistance of ey internal experts
• we read all material correspondence with hmrc and other 
tax authorities in the period for entities in scope for tax to 
form our view on the appropriate tax treatment of 
judgemental items 
• we tested the calculations of all current and deferred tax 
assets and liabilities to support the valuation presentation 
and appropriateness of all direct tax balances at year  
end and
• we concluded on the appropriateness of the indirect tax 
balances presentation and disclosures
opinion on other matters prescribed by the companies  
act 2006
in our opinion
• the part of the directors’ remuneration report to be audited 
has been properly prepared in accordance with the 
companies act 2006 and
• the information given in the strategic report and the 
directors’ report for the ﬁnancial year for which the 
ﬁnancial statements are prepared is consistent with the 
ﬁnancial statements
matters on which we are required to report by exception
we have nothing to report in respect of the following 
under the isas uk and ireland we are required to report  
to you if in our opinion information in the annual report is 
• materially inconsistent with the information in the audited 
ﬁnancial statements or 
• apparently materially incorrect based on or materially 
inconsistent with our knowledge of the group acquired  
in the course of performing our audit or 
• is otherwise misleading 
in particular we are required to consider whether we have 
identiﬁed any inconsistencies between our knowledge acquired 
during the audit and the directors’ statement that they 
consider the annual report is fair balanced and understandable 
and whether the annual report appropriately discloses those 
matters that we communicated to the audit committee which 
we consider should have been disclosed 
under the companies act 2006 we are required to report to 
you if in our opinion
• adequate accounting records have not been kept by the 
parent company or returns adequate for our audit have  
not been received from branches not visited by us or
• the parent company ﬁnancial statements and the part of  
the directors’ remuneration report to be audited are not  
in agreement with the accounting records and returns or
• certain disclosures of directors’ remuneration speciﬁed by 
law are not made or
• we have not received all the information and explanations 
we require for our audit
under the listing rules we are required to review
• the directors’ statement set out on page 40 in relation  
to going concern and
• the part of the corporate governance statement relating to 
the company’s compliance with the nine provisions of the 
uk corporate governance code speciﬁed for our review
iain wilkie senior statutory auditor
for and on behalf of ernst  young llp  
statutory auditor london  
13 august 2014 88 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
financial statements
year ended 30 june 2014 year ended 30 june 2013
note
before 
exceptional 
items  
£m
exceptional 
items  
note 4  
£m total £m
before 
exceptional 
items  
£m
exceptional 
items  
note 4  
£m total £m
continuing operations
revenue before adjustment for free bets 
promotions and customer bonuses 2 7077 – 7077 6250 – 6250
free bets promotions and customer bonuses 2 292 – 292 288 – 288
revenue 2 6785 – 6785 5962 – 5962
cost of sales 3800 – 3800 3296 – 3296
gross proﬁt 2985 – 2985 2666 – 2666
other operating costs 2261 465 2726 1967 177 2144
group operating proﬁt loss 23 724 465 259 699 177 522
financing
– ﬁnance costs 101 43 144 52 42 94
– ﬁnance income 01 18 19 02 – 02
– other ﬁnancial gains losses 10 – 10 03 – 03
total net ﬁnancing charge 6 90 25 115 53 42 95
proﬁt loss before taxation 634 490 144 646 219 427
taxation 7 106 136 30 165 27 138
proﬁt loss for the year from continuing 
operations 528 354 174 481 192 289
discontinued operations – proﬁt loss 45 – 28 28 56 37 19
proﬁt loss for the year 528 326 202 425 155 270
attributable to
equity holders of the parent 528 326 202 425 155 270
earnings loss per share attributable to equity 
shareholders
– basic 10 135p 83p 52p 109p 40p 69p
– diluted 10 135p 83p 52p 109p 40p 69p
earnings loss per share – continuing 
operations
– basic 10 135p 90p 45p 123p 49p 74p
– diluted 10 135p 90p 45p 123p 49p 74p
earnings loss per share – discontinued 
operations
– basic 10 – 07p 07p 14p 09p 05p
– diluted 10 – 07p 07p 14p 09p 05p
details of dividends paid and payable to equity shareholders are disclosed in note 9
group income statement
for the year ended 30 june 2014 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 89
note
year ended 
30 june 
2014 
£m
year ended 
30 june 
2013 
£m
comprehensive income
proﬁt for the year 202 270
other comprehensive income
items that may be reclassiﬁed subsequently to proﬁt or loss
exchange adjustments net of tax 24 27
items that will not be reclassiﬁed to proﬁt or loss
actuarial loss gain on retirement beneﬁts net of tax 29 03 02
total comprehensive income for the year 175 299
attributable to
equity holders of the parent 175 299
the tax effect of items of comprehensive income is disclosed in note 7
group statement of comprehensive income
for the year ended 30 june 2014 90 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
financial statements
group company
note
as at 
30 june  
2014 
£m
as at 
30 june  
2013 
restated
1
 
£m
as at 
30 june  
2014 
£m
as at  
30 june  
2013  
£m
assets
noncurrent assets
intangible assets 11 3902 3892 – –
property plant and equipment 12 2175 2311 – –
investments in subsidiaries 14 – – 11851 11854
deferred tax assets 21 25 26 – 02
other receivables 16 31 29 – –
6133 6258 11851 11856
current assets
inventories 15 31 33 – –
other receivables 16 311 321 442 429
income tax receivable 18 66 63 – –
cash and shortterm deposits 26 471 650 02 02
879 1067 444 431
assets held for sale 12 – 03 – –
total assets 7012 7328 12295 12287
liabilities
current liabilities
trade and other payables 17 1132 1248 14 16
income tax payable 18 403 422 – –
financial liabilities
– ﬁnancial guarantees 19 – – 27 34
– loans and borrowings 19 44 74 8298 7950
provisions 22 105 195 – –
1684 1939 8339 8000
net current liabilities 805 872 7895 7569
noncurrent liabilities
trade and other payables 17 405 438 – –
income tax payable 18 – 217 – –
financial liabilities
– loans and borrowings 19 1795 1611 – –
deferred tax liabilities 21 181 185 – –
provisions 22 490 488 – –
retirement beneﬁt obligations 29 34 31 – –
2905 2970 – –
total liabilities 4589 4909 8339 8000
net assets 2423 2419 3956 4287
capital and reserves attributable to the company’s equity shareholders
share capital 23 542 542 542 542
share premium 984 984 984 984
capital redemption reserve 334 334 334 334
exchange translation reserve 137 161 – –
retained earnings 426 398 2096 2427
total shareholders’ equity 2423 2419 3956 4287
1 the prior year comparative has been restated for the adjustments to the provisional amounts recognised on the acquisition of gala casino 1 limited  
now grosvenor casinos gc limited further details are provided in notes 1 and 25
these ﬁnancial statements were approved by the board on 13 august 2014 and signed on its behalf by
henry birch chief executive clive jennings finance director
balance sheets
at 30 june 2014 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 91
statements of changes in equity
for the year ended 30 june 2014
group
share  
capital  
£m
share 
premium  
£m
capital 
redemption 
reserve  
£m
exchange 
translation 
reserve  
£m
retained 
earnings 
losses  
£m
total  
£m
at 1 july 2012 542 983 334 134 287 2280
comprehensive income
proﬁt for the year –––– 270 270
other comprehensive income
exchange adjustments net of tax – – – 27 – 27
actuarial gain on retirement beneﬁts net of tax –––– 02 02
total comprehensive income for the year – – – 27 272 299
transactions with owners
shares issued – 01––– 01
dividends paid to equity holders see note 9 –––– 147 147
refund of unclaimed dividends see note 9 –––– 01 01
debit in respect of employee share schemes including tax –––– 15 15
at 30 june 2013 542 984 334 161 398 2419
comprehensive income
proﬁt for the year –––– 202 202
other comprehensive income
exchange adjustments net of tax – – – 24 – 24
actuarial loss on retirement beneﬁts net of tax – – – – 03 03
total comprehensive expense income for the year – – – 24 199 175
transactions with owners
dividends paid to equity holders see note 9 – – – – 164 164
debit in respect of employee share schemes including tax –––– 07 07
at 30 june 2014 542 984 334 137 426 2423
there were no noncontrolling interests in either year
company
share  
capital  
£m
share 
premium  
£m
capital 
redemption 
reserve  
£m
retained 
earnings 
losses  
£m
total  
£m
at 1 july 2012 542 983 334 2860 4719
loss and total comprehensive expense for the year – – – 272 272
transactions with owners
shares issued – 01 – – 01
dividends paid to equity holders see note 9 – – – 147 147
refund of unclaimed dividends see note 9 – – – 01 01
debit in respect of employee share schemes including tax – – – 15 15
at 30 june 2013 542 984 334 2427 4287
loss and total comprehensive expense for the year – – – 160 160
transactions with owners
dividends paid to equity holders see note 9 – – – 164 164
debit in respect of employee share schemes including tax – – – 07 07
at 30 june 2014 542 984 334 2096 3956 92 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
financial statements
statements of cash flow
for the year ended 30 june 2014
group company
note
year ended  
30 june  
2014  
£m
year ended  
30 june  
2013
 restated
1
£m
year ended  
30 june  
2014  
£m
year ended  
30 june  
2013  
£m
cash ﬂows from operating activities
cash generated from utilised in operations 24 616 1037 02 02
interest received 01 02 – –
interest paid 82 27 – –
tax paid 191 85 – –
discontinued operations 5 66 80 – –
net cash from used in operating activities 278 847 02 02
cash ﬂows from investing activities
acquisition of subsidiary including deferred consideration  
net of cash acquired 25 11 1786 – –
purchase of intangible assets 135 62 – –
purchase of property plant and equipment 308 320 – –
proceeds from sale of property plant and equipment 03 01 – –
proceeds from sale of assets held for sale – 19 – –
disposal of business 5 – 24 – –
discontinued operations 5 – 11 – –
net cash used in investing activities 429 2135 – –
cash ﬂows from ﬁnancing activities
dividends paid to equity holders 164 147 164 147
refund of unclaimed dividends – 01 – 01
proceeds from issue of shares – 01 – 01
drawdown on revolving credit facilities 200 – – –
proceeds from new term loans net of fees – 1382 – –
finance lease principal payments 32 32 – –
amounts received from subsidiaries – – 166 148
net cash from ﬁnancing activities 04 1205 02 03
net decrease increase in cash cash equivalents and bank overdrafts 147 83 – 01
effect of exchange rate changes 06 03 – –
cash and cash equivalents at start of year 616 696 02 01
cash and cash equivalents at end of year 26 463 616 02 02
1 the prior year comparative has been restated for the adjustments to the provisional amounts recognised on the acquisition of gala casino 1 limited now grosvenor 
casinos gc limited further details are provided in notes 1 and 25 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 93
1 general information and accounting 
policies
general information
the rank group plc ‘the company’ and its subsidiaries 
together ‘the group’ operate gaming and betting services  
in great britain including the channel islands spain  
and belgium
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 statesman house 
stafferton way maidenhead berkshire sl6 1ay
in accordance with ifrs3 ‘business combinations’ the prior 
year comparatives for the group balance sheet and group  
cash ﬂow statement have been restated for the adjustments  
to the provisional amounts recognised on the acquisition of 
gala casino 1 limited now grosvenor casinos gc limited 
there is no impact on the income statement reported in the 
prior year the amounts disclosed in the prior year were 
provisional due to the proximity of the acquisition to the 
group’s year end and the completion account process outlined 
by the sale and purchase agreement extending beyond the 
ﬁnalisation of the prior year ﬁnancial statements further 
details are provided in note 25 
on 2 april 2013 the group sold the assets and trademarks of 
its blue square bet business in accordance with ifrs5 
‘noncurrent assets held for sale and discontinued 
operations’ the results of blue square bet have been classiﬁed 
as discontinued in the prior period 
summary of signiﬁcant accounting policies
the principal accounting policies applied in the preparation  
of these consolidated and company ﬁnancial statements are 
set out below these policies have been consistently applied  
to all periods presented
11 basis of preparation
the consolidated and company ﬁnancial statements have 
been prepared under the historical cost convention 
111 statement of compliance
the consolidated and company ﬁnancial statements have 
been prepared in accordance with international financial 
reporting standards ‘ifrs’ and ifric interpretations as 
adopted by the european union and the companies act 2006 
applicable to companies reporting under ifrs
notes to the financial statements
112 going concern
in adopting the going concern basis for preparing the 
consolidated and company ﬁnancial statements the directors 
have considered the issues impacting the group during the 
period as detailed in the strategic report on pages 4 to 45 and 
have reviewed the group’s projected compliance with its 
banking covenants detailed in the ﬁnance review on page  
41 based on the group’s cash ﬂow forecasts and operating 
budgets and assuming that trading does not deteriorate 
considerably from these projected levels the directors  
believe that the group will generate sufﬁcient cash to meet  
its borrowing requirements for at least 12 months from the 
date of approval of the ﬁnancial statements and comply with 
its banking covenants
113 accounting estimates and judgements
the preparation of ﬁnancial statements in conformity with ifrs 
requires the use of certain critical accounting estimates it also 
requires management to exercise its judgement in the process 
of applying the group’s accounting policies the resulting 
accounting estimates will by deﬁnition seldom equal the 
actual results the areas involving a higher degree of judgement 
or complexity where assumptions and estimates are signiﬁcant 
to the consolidated ﬁnancial statements are set out below
a estimated impairment of goodwill intangible assets and 
property plant and equipment
the group tests annually whether assets that have an 
indeﬁnite useful life including goodwill and gaming licences 
have suffered any impairment the group also reviews assets 
that are subject to amortisation or depreciation for events or 
changes in circumstances that indicate the carrying amount  
of the asset may not be recoverable further details of the 
group’s accounting policy in relation to impairment are 
disclosed in note 113
the application of the policy requires the use of accounting 
estimates and judgements in determining the recoverable 
amount of cashgenerating units to which the intangible  
assets and property plant and equipment are associated  
the recoverable amount is the higher of the fair value less  
costs to sell and value in use estimates of fair value less costs 
to sell are performed internally by experienced senior 
management supported by knowledge of similar transactions 
and advice from external estate agents or if applicable offers 
received value in use is calculated using estimated cash ﬂow 
projections from ﬁnancial budgets discounted by selecting an 
appropriate rate for each cashgenerating unit further details 
of the assumptions and estimates are disclosed in note 13 94 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
financial statements
1 general information and accounting 
policies continued
b classiﬁcation of casino and other gaming licences as intangible 
assets with an indeﬁnite life
as disclosed in note 112 certain casino and other gaming 
licences have been classiﬁed as intangible assets with an 
indeﬁnite life this assumption is based on management’s 
belief that there is no foreseeable limit to the period over 
which the licences are expected to generate net cash inﬂows 
and that each licence holds a value outside the property in 
which it resides as a consequence each licence is reviewed 
annually for impairment 
c recoverability of deferred tax assets
deferred tax assets are recognised to the extent that it is 
probable future taxable proﬁt will be available against which 
the temporary differences can be utilised the key area of 
judgement is therefore an assessment of whether it is probable 
that there will be suitable taxable proﬁts against which any 
deferred tax assets can be utilised further details of deferred 
tax assets recognised are disclosed in note 21
d income taxes
the group is subject to income taxes in numerous 
jurisdictions including jurisdictions of now discontinued 
operations there are many transactions and calculations  
for which the ultimate tax determination is uncertain  
the group recognises liabilities for anticipated tax audit  
issues based on estimates of whether additional taxes will  
be due where the ﬁnal outcome of these matters is different 
from the amount recognised such differences will impact the 
ﬁnancial statements in the period such determination is made 
further details of income tax are disclosed in note 18 
e provisions
provisions are recognised in accordance with the policy 
disclosed in note 110 in calculating property lease provisions 
estimates are made of the discounted cash ﬂows associated 
with the property and its associated operations including 
sublet income together with estimates of any dilapidation 
obligations estimates have been made in determining the 
amount and timing of disposal provisions including legacy 
industrial disease and personal injury claims estimates have 
also been made in determining the amount and likelihood of 
settlement of indirect tax provisions and restructuring provisions 
further details of provisions made are disclosed in note 22
f contingent assets and liabilities
management is required to apply judgement in assessing  
the probability of the occurrence or nonoccurrence of one or 
more uncertain future events not wholly within the control of 
the company this judgement is supported by external advice 
and precedent case law where appropriate and is continually 
assessed to ensure that developments are appropriately 
reﬂected in the ﬁnancial statements further details of 
contingent liabilities are disclosed in note 31
g acquisition
the group made an acquisition in the prior year establishing 
the fair value of the acquired assets and liabilities notably  
the valuation of the casino licences and property contracts 
required a number of estimates and judgements to be made 
the main judgements made in valuing the casino licences 
include using estimated cash ﬂow projections discounted  
by selecting an appropriate rate the main judgement used in 
valuing property contracts is the estimation of the open market 
rent at the date of acquisition for each property open market 
rent was determined by a third party ﬁrm of property valuation 
experts see note 25 for further details 
114 changes in accounting policy and disclosures
a standards amendments to and interpretations of existing 
standards adopted by the group
the following new standards and amendments to existing 
standards are mandatory for the ﬁrst time for the ﬁnancial 
period beginning 1 july 2013
• ifrs1 firsttime adoption of international reporting 
standards – government loans
• ifrs7 financial instruments disclosures – offsetting 
financial assets and financial liabilities amendment
• ifrs13 fair value measurement
• ias19 employee beneﬁts revised
the group has not been materially impacted by the adoption 
of any of these standards or amendments 
the group has not early adopted any other standard 
amendment or interpretation that was issued but is not  
yet effective
b standards amendments to and interpretations of existing 
standards that are not yet effective
the following standards amendments to and interpretations 
of existing standards have been published and are mandatory 
for accounting periods starting after 1 july 2013
• ifrs10 consolidated financial statements – effective  
1 january 2014
• ifrs11 joint arrangements – effective 1 january 2014
• ifrs12 disclosure of interests in other entities – effective  
1 january 2014
• ias27 separate financial statements revised – effective  
1 january 2014
• ias28 investments in associates and joint ventures  
revised – effective 1 january 2014
• ias32 financial instruments presentation – offsetting 
financial assets and financial liabilities amendment  
– effective 1 january 2014
• ias36 recoverable amount disclosures for nonfinancial 
assets – effective 1 january 2014
• ias39 novation of derivatives and continuation of hedge 
accounting amendment – effective 1 january 2014
• ifric21 levies – effective 1 january 2014
notes to the financial statements continued the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 95
it is not anticipated that the adoption of the above standards 
amendments and interpretations will have a material impact 
on the group or company ﬁnancial statements in the period 
of initial application
12 consolidation
subsidiaries are entities over which the group has the power  
to govern the ﬁnancial and operating policies generally 
accompanying a shareholding of more than one half of  
the voting rights the existence and effect of potential  
voting rights that are currently exercisable or convertible  
are considered when assessing whether the group controls 
another entity all subsidiaries are fully consolidated from  
the date on which control is transferred to the group they  
are deconsolidated from the date that control ceases
intercompany transactions balances and unrealised gains  
on transactions between group companies are eliminated 
unrealised losses are also eliminated unless the transaction 
provides evidence of an impairment of the asset transferred 
accounting policies as applied to subsidiaries have been 
changed where necessary to ensure consistency with the 
policies adopted by the group
the group has no material associates or joint ventures
13 business combinations and goodwill
business combinations are accounted for using the acquisition 
method the cost of an acquisition is measured as the 
aggregate of the consideration transferred measured at 
acquisition date fair value and the amount of any non
controlling interest in the acquiree acquisition costs incurred 
are expensed and included in administrative expenses within 
exceptional items 
when the group acquires a business it assesses the ﬁnancial 
assets and liabilities assumed for appropriate classiﬁcation  
and designation in accordance with the contractual terms 
economic circumstances and pertinent conditions as at  
the acquisition date 
goodwill is initially measured at cost being the excess of the 
aggregate of the acquisition date fair value of the consideration 
transferred over the fair value of the net identiﬁable amounts 
of the assets acquired and the liabilities assumed in exchange 
for the business combination identiﬁable intangible assets  
are recognised separately from goodwill
if the aggregate of the acquisition date fair value of the 
consideration transferred is lower than the fair value of the 
assets liabilities and contingent liabilities in the business 
acquired the difference is recognised in proﬁt and loss 
14 revenue recognition 
revenue consists of the fair value of sales of goods and services 
net of vat rebates and discounts
a gaming win
revenue for casinos includes the gaming win before deduction 
of gaming related duties revenue for bingo is net of prizes 
before deduction of gaming related duties revenue for digital 
products including interactive games and sports betting 
discontinued in prior year represents gaming win the fair 
value of free bets promotions and customer bonuses are also 
deducted from all revenue streams
although disclosed as revenue gaming win is accounted for 
and meets the deﬁnition of a gain under ias39 financial 
instruments recognition and measurement
b food and beverage
revenue from food and beverage sales is recognised at the 
point of sale 
15 segment reporting
operating segments are reported in a manner consistent with 
the internal reporting provided to the chief operating decision 
maker the chief operating decision maker who is responsible 
for allocating resources and assessing performance of the 
operating segments has been identiﬁed as the management 
team the composition of which is disclosed on page 50  
that makes strategic and operational decisions
16 foreign currency translation
the consolidated ﬁnancial statements are presented in uk 
sterling which is also the company’s functional currency 
items included in the ﬁnancial statements of each of the 
group’s entities are measured using the currency of the 
primary economic environment in which the entity operates 
‘the functional currency’ 
a transactions and balances 
foreign currency transactions are translated into the functional 
currency using the exchange rates prevailing at the dates of the 
transactions foreign exchange gains and losses resulting from 
the settlement of such transactions and from the translation  
at yearend exchange rates of monetary assets and liabilities 
denominated in foreign currencies are recognised in the 
income statement in ﬁnance costs or income
b group companies
the results and ﬁnancial position of all the group companies 
none of which has the currency of a hyperinﬂationary 
economy that have a functional currency different from  
the presentation currency are translated into the presentation 
currency as follows 96 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
financial statements
1 general information and accounting 
policies continued
i assets and liabilities for each balance sheet presented are 
translated at the closing rate on the balance sheet date the 
closing euro rate against uk sterling was 125 30 june 2013 
117 and the closing us dollar rate against uk sterling was 
170 30 june 2013 153
ii income and expenses for each income statement are 
translated at average exchange rates unless this average is not a 
reasonable approximation of the cumulative effect of the rates 
prevailing on the transaction dates in which case income and 
expenses are translated at the rates prevailing on the dates of 
the transactions the average euro rate against uk sterling was 
120 year ended 30 june 2013 121 and the average us dollar 
rate against uk sterling in the year was 164 year ended 30 
june 2013 157 and
iii all resulting exchange differences are recognised as a 
separate component of equity
when a foreign operation is sold such exchange differences 
are recognised in the income statement net of hedging  
as part of the gain or loss on sale goodwill and fair value 
adjustments arising on the acquisition of a foreign entity  
are treated as assets and liabilities of the foreign entity and 
translated at the closing rate
17 financial assets
financial assets within the scope of ias39 are classiﬁed as 
ﬁnancial assets at fair value through proﬁt or loss loans and 
receivables held to maturity investments available for sale 
ﬁnancial assets or as derivatives designated as hedging 
instruments in an effective hedge as appropriate the group 
determines the classiﬁcation of its ﬁnancial assets at  
initial recognition
a ﬁnancial asset is derecognised when the rights to receive the 
cash ﬂows from the asset have expired been transferred or an 
obligation to pay the cash ﬂows received to a third party 
without material delay has been assumed and either
• substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership have 
been transferred or
• substantially all the risks and rewards have neither been 
retained nor transferred but control has been transferred
the group’s ﬁnancial assets include loans and receivables and 
cash and cash equivalents
a loans and receivables
loans and receivables are nonderivative ﬁnancial assets  
with ﬁxed or determinable payments that are not quoted  
in an active market they are included in current assets  
when the asset is expected to be realised in the normal 
operating cycle otherwise they are classiﬁed as noncurrent 
assets loans and receivables are classiﬁed as other receivables 
in the balance sheet
other receivables are recognised initially at fair value and 
subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective 
interest method less provision for impairment 
b cash and cash equivalents
cash and shortterm deposits in the balance sheet include cash 
at banks and in hand and shortterm deposits with an original 
maturity of three months or less
for the purpose of the cash ﬂow statement cash and cash 
equivalents consist of cash and shortterm deposits as deﬁned 
above net of outstanding bank overdrafts bank overdrafts are 
shown within loans and borrowings in current liabilities on 
the balance sheet
18 financial liabilities
financial liabilities within the scope of ias39 are classiﬁed  
as ﬁnancial liabilities at fair value through proﬁt or loss loans 
and borrowings or as derivatives designated as hedging 
instruments in an effective hedge as appropriate the group 
determines the classiﬁcation of its ﬁnancial liabilities at  
initial recognition
a ﬁnancial liability is derecognised when the obligation under 
the liability is discharged cancelled or expires
the group’s ﬁnancial liabilities include trade and other 
payables loans and borrowings including bank overdrafts 
and ﬁnancial guarantee contracts financial liabilities also 
include onerous contracts a policy for which is included  
in note 110
a trade and other payables
trade payables are recognised initially at fair value and 
subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective 
interest method
b loans and borrowings
after initial recognition at fair value interest bearing loans  
and borrowings are subsequently measured at amortised cost 
using the effective interest rate method gains and losses are 
recognised in the income statement when the liabilities are 
derecognised as well as through the effective interest rate 
method amortisation process
amortised cost is calculated by taking into account any 
discount or premium on acquisition and fees or costs that  
are an integral part of the effective interest rate method  
the effective interest rate method amortisation is included  
in ﬁnance costs in the income statement
c financial guarantee contracts company only
financial guarantee contracts issued by the company are  
those contracts that require a payment to be made to 
reimburse the holder for a loss it incurs because the speciﬁed 
debtor fails to make a payment when due in accordance with 
the terms of a debt instrument financial guarantee contracts 
are initially measured at fair value by applying the estimated 
probability of default to the cash outﬂow should default occur 
and subsequently amortising over the expected length of  
the guarantee
notes to the financial statements continued the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 97
19 leases
leases are tested at inception to determine whether the lease  
is a ﬁnance or operating lease and treated accordingly for 
leases entered into prior to 1 january 2005 inception is deemed 
to be 1 january 2005 in accordance with the transitional 
requirements of ifric4 property leases comprising a lease of 
land and a lease of buildings within a single contract are split 
into their two component parts before testing
a finance leases
leases of property plant and equipment which transfer 
substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership to the 
group are classiﬁed as ﬁnance leases finance leases are 
capitalised at the inception of the lease at the lower of the  
fair value of the leased property plant and equipment or the 
present value of minimum lease payments each lease payment 
is allocated between the liability and ﬁnance charges so as to 
achieve a constant periodic rate of interest on the remaining 
balance of the liability for each period the corresponding 
rental obligations net of ﬁnance charges are included in  
loans and borrowings finance charges are recognised in the 
income statement property plant and equipment acquired 
under ﬁnance leases is depreciated over the shorter of the 
useful life of the asset or the lease term
b operating leases
leases of property plant and equipment which do not transfer 
substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership to the 
group are classiﬁed as operating leases operating lease 
payments including any lease incentives or premiums are 
recognised as an expense in the income statement on a straight 
line basis over the lease term
110 provisions 
provisions are recognised when the group has a present legal 
or constructive obligation as a result of past events if it is more 
likely than not that an outﬂow of resources will be required to 
settle the obligation and the amount can be reliably estimated 
provisions are measured at the best estimate of the 
expenditures required to settle the obligation if the effect of 
the time value of money is material provisions are discounted 
using a pretax rate that reﬂects where appropriate the risks 
speciﬁc to the liability where discounting is used the increase 
in the provision due to the passage of time is recognised as a 
ﬁnance cost
111 property plant and equipment
property plant and equipment is stated at cost net of 
accumulated depreciation and impairment such cost includes 
expenditure that is directly attributable to the acquisition of 
the items subsequent costs are included in the asset’s carrying 
amount or recognised as a separate asset as appropriate only 
when it is probable that future economic beneﬁts associated 
with the item will ﬂow to the group and the cost of the item 
can be measured reliably all other repairs and maintenance are 
charged to the income statement during the ﬁnancial period in 
which they are incurred 
depreciation is calculated on assets using the straight line 
method to allocate their cost less residual values over their 
estimated useful lives as follows 
• freehold and leasehold 50 years or lease term if less 
property
• refurbishment of property 5 to 20 years
• ﬁxtures ﬁttings plant 3 to 20 years 
and machinery
land is not depreciated
residual values and useful lives are reviewed at each balance 
sheet date and adjusted prospectively if appropriate
an item of property plant and equipment is derecognised 
upon disposal or when no future economic beneﬁts are 
expected from its use or disposal any gain or loss arising on 
derecognition of the asset calculated as the difference between 
the net disposal proceeds and the carrying amount of the asset 
is included in the income statement 
preopening costs are expensed to the income statement  
as incurred
112 intangible assets
a goodwill
goodwill represents the excess of the cost of an acquisition 
over the fair value of the group’s share of the net identiﬁable 
assets of the acquired subsidiary at the date of acquisition 
goodwill on acquisition of subsidiaries is included in 
intangible assets goodwill is tested annually for impairment 
and carried at amortised cost as at 1 january 2004 plus cost  
for any acquisition completed after 1 january 2004 less 
accumulated impairment losses gains and losses on the 
disposal of an entity include the carrying amount of goodwill 
relating to the entity sold except where goodwill has been 
previously written off directly to reserves under previous gaap 98 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
financial statements
1 general information and accounting 
policies continued
goodwill is allocated to the relevant cashgenerating unit or 
group of cashgenerating units for the purpose of impairment 
testing a cashgenerating unit is the smallest identiﬁable 
group of assets that generates cash inﬂows that are largely 
independent of the cash inﬂows from other assets or groups  
of assets 
b casino and other gaming licences and concessions
the group capitalises acquired casino and other gaming 
licences and concessions management believes that licences 
with the exception of the two casino concessions in belgium 
have indeﬁnite lives as there is no foreseeable limit to the 
period over which the licences are expected to generate  
net cash inﬂows and each licence holds a value outside  
the property in which it resides each licence is reviewed 
annually for impairment 
in respect of the two casino concessions in belgium their 
carrying value is amortised over the expected useful life  
of the concessions
any costs in renewing licences or concessions are expensed  
as incurred
c other
acquired computer software licences are capitalised on the 
basis of the costs incurred to acquire and bring to use the 
speciﬁc software these costs are amortised on a straight line 
basis over their estimated useful lives three to ﬁve years
costs associated with maintaining computer software 
programmes are recognised as an expense as incurred  
costs that are directly associated with the production and 
development of identiﬁable and unique software products 
controlled by the group and that will probably generate 
economic beneﬁts exceeding costs beyond one year are 
recognised as intangible assets for both externally purchased 
and internally developed software direct costs include  
speciﬁc employee costs for software development
computer software development costs recognised as assets are 
amortised over their estimated useful lives three to ﬁve years 
113 impairment of intangible assets and property plant  
and equipment 
assets that have an indeﬁnite useful life are not subject to 
amortisation and are tested annually for impairment assets 
that are subject to amortisation are reviewed for impairment 
whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that  
the carrying amount may not be recoverable
an impairment loss is recognised as the amount by which  
an asset’s carrying amount exceeds its recoverable amount  
the recoverable amount is the higher of an asset’s fair value 
less costs to sell and value in use for the purposes of assessing 
impairment assets are grouped at the lowest levels for which 
there are separately identiﬁable cash inﬂows cashgenerating 
units the expected cash ﬂows generated by the assets are 
discounted using appropriate discount rates that reﬂect the 
time value of money and risks associated with the groups  
of assets
if an impairment loss is recognised the carrying amount  
of the asset cashgenerating unit is reduced to its recoverable 
amount an impairment loss is recognised as an exceptional 
expense in the income statement immediately
any impairment is allocated equally across all assets in a 
cashgenerating unit unless there is an indication that a  
class of assets should be impaired in the ﬁrst instance or a  
fair market value exists for one or more assets once an asset 
has been written down to its fair value less costs to sell then 
any remaining impairment is allocated equally amongst all 
other assets 
where an impairment loss subsequently reverses the carrying 
amount of the asset cashgenerating unit is increased to the 
revised estimate of its recoverable amount but only to the 
extent that the increased carrying amount does not exceed  
the carrying amount that would have been determined had no 
impairment loss been recognised for the asset cashgenerating 
unit in prior years 
a reversal of an impairment loss is recognised within 
exceptional items in the income statement immediately
114 employee beneﬁt costs 
a pension obligations
the group operates a deﬁned contribution plan under  
which the group pays ﬁxed contributions to a separate  
entity the group has no further payment obligations once  
the contributions have been paid the contributions are 
recognised as employee beneﬁt expense when they are due
the group also has an unfunded pension commitment  
relating to three former executives of the group the amount 
recognised in the balance sheet in respect of the commitment 
is the present value of the obligation at the balance sheet  
date together with adjustment for actuarial gains or losses  
the group recognises actuarial gains and losses immediately  
in the statement of comprehensive income the net cost 
arising on the commitment is recognised in net ﬁnance costs
notes to the financial statements continued the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 99
b sharebased compensation
the cost of equitysettled transactions with employees for 
awards granted after 7 november 2002 is measured by 
reference to the fair value at the date on which they are 
granted the fair value is determined by using an appropriate 
pricing model further details of which are given in note 28
the cost of equitysettled transactions is recognised together 
with a corresponding increase in equity over the period in 
which the performance andor service conditions are fulﬁlled 
the cumulative expense recognised for equitysettled 
transactions at each reporting date until the vesting date 
reﬂects the extent to which the vesting period has expired and 
the group’s best estimate of the number of equity instruments 
that will ultimately vest the income statement charge or 
credit for a period represents the movement in cumulative 
charge recognised as at the beginning and end of that period
no expense is recognised for awards that do not ultimately 
vest except for equitysettled transactions where vesting is 
conditional upon a market or nonvesting condition which 
are treated as vesting irrespective of whether or not the market 
or nonvesting condition is satisﬁed provided that all other 
performance andor service conditions are satisﬁed
where the terms of an equitysettled transaction award are 
modiﬁed the minimum expense recognised is the expense  
as if the terms had not been modiﬁed if the original terms  
of the award are met an additional expense is recognised  
for any modiﬁcation that increases the total fair value of the 
sharebased payment transaction or is otherwise beneﬁcial  
to the employee as measured at the date of modiﬁcation
where an equitysettled award is cancelled it is treated as  
if it vested on the date of cancellation and any expense  
not yet recognised for the award is recognised immediately 
this includes any award where nonvesting conditions within 
the control of either the entity or the employee are not met 
however if a new award is substituted for the cancelled award 
and designated as a replacement award on the date that it is 
granted the cancelled and new awards are treated as if they 
were a modiﬁcation of the original award as described in the 
previous paragraph all cancellations of equitysettled 
transaction awards are treated equally
the dilutive effect of outstanding options is reﬂected as 
additional share dilution in the computation of diluted 
earnings per share
the proceeds received net of any directly attributable 
transaction costs are credited to share capital nominal value 
and share premium when the options are exercised
the cost of cashsettled transactions is measured at fair value 
with the recognition of a corresponding liability the liability 
is remeasured to fair value at each reporting date up to and 
including the settlement date 
when an award is modiﬁed from an equitysettled to a 
cashsettled basis the total expense recognised comprises  
the total of the grant date fair value that would have been 
recognised under the original equitysettled basis any 
incremental fair value arising from the modiﬁcation of the 
award and any remeasurement of the liability between its fair 
value at the modiﬁcation date and the amount ﬁnally settled 
if the amount of the liability recognised on modiﬁcation is 
higher than the amount previously recognised as an increase 
in equity then the increase in the liability is recognised as a 
debit to equity
c sharebased compensation – company
the company operates sharebased payment schemes for 
employees of the company and its subsidiaries the fair value 
of shares awarded to employees of the company are recognised 
as an employee expense with a corresponding increase in 
equity the company also makes awards of its own shares to 
employees of its subsidiaries and as such recognises an increase 
in the cost of investment in its subsidiaries equivalent to the 
equitysettled sharebased payment charge recognised in its 
subsidiaries’ ﬁnancial statements with the corresponding 
credit being recognised directly in equity
when an award is modiﬁed from an equitysettled to a 
cashsettled basis the company retains the obligation to settle 
such awards consequently on the recognition of a liability by 
the parent the corresponding debit is recognised directly in 
equity in the event that subsidiaries of the company settle the 
obligation on the parent company’s behalf such a payment is 
treated as a distribution to the parent
d bonus plans
the group recognises a liability in respect of the best estimate 
of bonuses payable where contractually obliged to do so or 
where a past practice has created a constructive obligation 100 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
financial statements
1 general information and accounting 
policies continued
115 inventories 
inventories are valued at the lower of cost and net  
realisable value cost of inventory is determined on  
a ‘ﬁrstin ﬁrstout’ basis
the cost of ﬁnished goods comprises goods purchased  
for resale
net realisable value is the estimated selling price in the 
ordinary course of business when necessary provision  
is made for obsolete and slowmoving inventories
116 taxation
a current tax
current tax assets and liabilities for the current and prior 
periods are measured as the amount expected to be paid or  
to be recovered from the taxation authorities the tax rates  
and tax laws used to compute the amount are those that are 
enacted or substantively enacted by the reporting date
current tax relating to items recognised directly in equity  
is recognised in equity and not the income statement
management evaluates positions taken in the tax returns with 
respect to situations in which applicable tax regulations are 
subject to interpretation at each reporting date and establishes 
provisions where appropriate
b deferred tax
deferred tax is provided using the liability method on 
temporary differences arising between the tax bases of assets 
and liabilities and their carrying amounts in the ﬁnancial 
statements however if deferred tax arises from the initial 
recognition of an asset or liability in a transaction other  
than a business combination that at the time of the 
transaction affects neither accounting nor taxable proﬁt or 
loss it is not accounted for deferred tax is determined using 
tax rates and laws that have been enacted or substantively 
enacted by the balance sheet date and are expected to apply 
when the related deferred tax asset is realised or the deferred 
tax liability is settled
deferred tax assets are recognised to the extent that it is 
probable that future taxable proﬁt will be available against 
which the temporary differences can be utilised
deferred tax assets and liabilities are offset when there is  
a legally enforceable right to set off current taxation assets 
against current taxation liabilities and it is the intention  
to settle these on a net basis
deferred tax is provided on temporary differences arising on 
investments in subsidiaries and associates except where the 
timing of the reversal of the temporary difference is controlled 
by the group and it is probable that the temporary difference 
will not reverse in the foreseeable future
c sales tax
revenues expenses and assets are recognised net of the 
amount of sales tax except
• where the sales tax incurred on a purchase of assets or 
services is not recoverable from the taxation authority in 
which case the sales tax is recognised as part of the cost of 
acquisition of the asset or as part of the expense item as 
applicable and
• receivables and payables that are stated with the amount  
of sales tax included
the net amount of sales tax recoverable from or payable  
to the taxation authority is included as part of receivables  
or payables in the balance sheet
117 share capital
ordinary shares are classiﬁed as equity 
118 discontinued operations and held for sale assets
operations of the group are recognised as discontinued 
operations if the operations have been disposed of or meet the 
criteria to be classiﬁed as held for sale and represent a separate 
major line of business or geographic area of operations 
operations held for sale are held at the lower of their carrying 
amount on the dates they are classiﬁed as held for sale and fair 
value less costs to sell
noncurrent assets and disposal groups are classiﬁed as held for 
sale if their carrying amount will be recovered through a sale 
transaction rather than through continuing use this condition 
is regarded as met only when the sale is highly probable and 
the asset or disposal group is available for immediate sale in 
its present condition management must be committed to the 
sale which should be expected to qualify for recognition as a 
completed sale within one year from the date of classiﬁcation
119 dividends
dividends proposed by the board of directors and unpaid at 
the period end are not recognised in the ﬁnancial statements 
until they have been approved by shareholders at the annual 
general meeting interim dividends are recognised when paid
120 exceptional items
the group deﬁnes exceptional items as those items which  
by their size or nature in relation to either the group or 
individual segments are separately disclosed in order to give  
a full understanding of the group’s ﬁnancial performance  
and aid comparability of the group’s result between periods 
notes to the financial statements continued the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 101
2 segmental reporting
a segment information – operating segments
year ended 30 june 2014
grosvenor casinos mecca enracha
central  
costs  
£m total £m
venues  
£m
digital  
£m
venues  
£m
digital  
£m
venues  
£m
digital  
£m
continuing operations
group revenue reported  
in internal information 3777 135 2293 589 283 – – 7077
free bets promotions  
and customer bonuses 37 31 125 99 – – – 292
segment revenue 3740 104 2168 490 283 – – 6785
operating proﬁt loss  
before exceptional items 577 09 211 159 12 04 222 724
exceptional loss 125 – 253 – 87 – – 465
segment result 452 09 42 159 75 04 222 259
finance costs 144
finance income 19
other ﬁnancial gains 10
proﬁt before taxation 144
taxation 30
proﬁt for the year from  
continuing operations 174
other segment items  
– continuing operations
capital expenditure 341 14 63 19 13 – 16 466
depreciation and amortisation 221 20 138 24 21 – 12 436
impairment charges 53 – 11 – 75 – – 139
impairment reversals 08 – 07 –––– 15
net charge to provision  
for property leases 36 – 21 – 09 – – 66
net charge to provision  
for indirect taxation 37 – 224 – – – – 261 102 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
financial statements
2 segmental reporting continued
year ended 30 june 2013
grosvenor casinos mecca enracha
central  
costs  
£m total £m
venues  
£m
digital  
£m
venues  
£m
digital  
£m
venues  
£m
digital  
£m
continuing operations
group revenue reported  
in internal information 2905 98 2349 613 285 – – 6250
free bets promotions  
and customer bonuses 37 22 142 87 – – – 288
segment revenue 2868 76 2207 526 285 – – 5962
operating proﬁt loss  
before exceptional items 495 21 230 211 16 09 223 699
exceptional loss proﬁt 150 – 20 – 03 – 10 177
segment result 345 21 210 211 19 09 233 522
finance costs 94
finance income 02
other ﬁnancial losses 03
proﬁt before taxation 427
taxation 138
proﬁt for the year from  
continuing operations 289
other segment items  
– continuing operations
capital expenditure 211 04 91 08 14 – 62 390
depreciation and amortisation 177 15 146 15 24 – 12 389
impairment charges 37 – 16 – 41 – – 94
impairment reversals 36 – 07 – 44 – – 87
net charge to provision  
for property leases 01 – 11––– 03 15
net charge to provision  
for indirect taxation 64–––––– 64
the group reports segmental information on a brandled basis which is consistent with the means by which the chief  
operating decision maker utilises internal reporting within the business this brandled structure better enables management  
to reﬂect the needs of our customers throughout the various activities of the business these activities are both venuesbased and 
digitalbased casino operations in grosvenor casinos plus venuesbased and digitalbased bingo operations both in mecca and 
in its spanish bingo brand enracha further information about each brand is disclosed on pages 31 grosvenor casinos  
33 mecca and 34 enracha
assets and liabilities have not been segmented as this information is not provided to the chief operating decision maker  
on a regular basis
capital expenditure comprises expenditure on property plant and equipment and other intangible assets including those 
acquired under ﬁnance leases 
notes to the financial statements continued the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 103
b geographical information
the group operates in two main geographical areas uk and continental europe
i revenue from external customers by geographical area based on location of customer
year ended 
30 june 
2014 
£m
year ended 
30 june 
2013 
£m
uk 6361 5529
continental europe 424 433
total revenue 6785 5962
ii noncurrent assets by geographical area based on location of assets
as at 
30 june 
2014 
£m
as at 
30 june 
2013 
restated 
£m
uk 5778 5801
continental europe 303 409
segment noncurrent assets 6081 6210
unallocated assets
deferred tax assets 25 26
financial assets 27 22
total noncurrent assets 6133 6258
with the exception of the uk no individual country contributed more than 10 of consolidated sales or assets
c total revenue and proﬁt from continuing and discontinued operations
revenue proﬁt loss
note
year ended 
30 june 
2014 
£m
year ended 
30 june 
2013 
£m
year ended 
30 june 
2014 
£m
year ended 
30 june 
2013 
£m
from continuing operations 6785 5962 174 289
from discontinued operations 5 – 95 28 19
6785 6057 202 270
d total cost analysis by segment
to increase transparency the group has decided to include an additional disclosure analysing total costs by type and segment  
a reconciliation of total costs before exceptional items by type and segment is as follows
year ended 30 june 2014
grosvenor casinos mecca enracha
central 
costs 
£m
total 
£m
venues 
£m
digital 
£m
venues 
£m
digital 
£m
venues 
£m
digital 
£m
employment and related costs 1377 20 552 65 134 02 152 2302
taxes and duties 781 – 481 04 21 – 20 1307
direct costs 156 39 210 145 25 01 – 576
property costs 299 02 276 07 25 – 09 618
marketing 132 26 104 70 09 – – 341
depreciation and amortisation 221 20 138 24 21 – 12 436
other 197 06 196 16 36 01 29 481
total costs on continuing operations 
before exceptional items 3163 113 1957 331 271 04 222 6061
cost of sales 3800
operating costs 2261
total costs on continuing operations 
before exceptional items 6061 104 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
financial statements
2 segmental reporting continued
year ended 30 june 2013
grosvenor casinos mecca enracha
central 
costs 
£m
total 
£m
venues 
£m
digital 
£m
venues 
£m
digital 
£m
venues 
£m
digital 
£m
employment and related costs 1039 21 593 34 138 02 156 1983
taxes and duties 638 03 430 15 19 – 16 1121
direct costs 106 33 226 140 28 06 – 539
property costs 198 03 270 06 20 – 09 506
marketing 89 20 110 100 08 – 03 330
depreciation and amortisation 177 15 146 15 24 – 12 389
other 126 02 202 05 32 01 27 395
total costs on continuing operations 
before exceptional items 2373 97 1977 315 269 09 223 5263
cost of sales 3296
operating costs 1967
total costs on continuing operations 
before exceptional items 5263
3 profit for the year – analysis by nature
the following items have been charged credited in arriving at the proﬁt for the year before ﬁnancing and taxation from 
continuing operations
year ended 
30 june 
2014 
£m
year ended 
30 june 
2013 
£m
employee beneﬁt expense 2082 1819
cost of inventories recognised as expense 331 243
amortisation of intangibles including £09m year ended 30 june 2013 £14m within cost of sales 64 45
depreciation of property plant and equipment 
– owned assets including £324m year ended 30 june 2013 £297m within cost of sales 341 313
– under ﬁnance leases included within cost of sales 31 31
operating lease rentals payable
– minimum lease payments 503 435
– sublease income 52 40
loss on sale of property plant and equipment 03 07
exceptional operating costs see note 4 465 177
auditors’ remuneration for audit services 04 04
in the year the group’s auditors ernst  young llp including its network ﬁrms earned the following fees
year ended 
30 june 
2014 
£m
year ended 
30 june 
2013 
£m
audit services
– fees payable to the company’s auditor for the parent company and consolidated ﬁnancial statements 02 02
other services
fees payable to the company’s auditor and its associates for other services
– the audit of the company’s subsidiaries pursuant to legislation 02 02
– tax services 02 02
– transaction support services 01 01
07 07
£25000 year ended 30 june 2013 £23000 of the audit fees related to the parent company
it is the group’s policy to balance the need to maintain auditor independence with the beneﬁt of taking advice from the leading 
ﬁrm in the area concerned and the desirability of being efﬁcient
notes to the financial statements continued the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 105
4 exceptional items
note
year ended 
30 june 
2014 
£m
year ended 
30 june 
2013 
£m
exceptional items relating to continuing operations
impairment charges 111213 129 94
impairment reversals 111213 15 87
net charge to provisions for property leases 22 66 15
acquisition and integration costs 17 85
restructuring costs 07 –
net charge to provision for indirect taxation 22 261 64
charge to accruals for indirect taxation – 06
exceptional operating costs 465 177
finance costs 6 43 42
finance income 6 18 –
taxation 7 136 27
exceptional items relating to continuing operations 354 192
exceptional items relating to discontinued operations
charge to provision for indirect taxation – 58
disposal of blue square bet and related costs – 20
finance costs 6 03 06
finance income 6 03 12
taxation 7 28 109
exceptional items relating to discontinued operations 28 37
total exceptional items 326 155
year ended 30 june 2014 exceptional items
continuing operations
impairment charges
the group recognised an impairment charge of £54m in the uk of which £43m relates to grosvenor casinos venues and £11m 
to mecca venues the only individually signiﬁcant charges are £41m in respect of a single club in grosvenor casinos venues and 
£07m in respect of a single club in mecca venues performance at these clubs has not been in line with expectations 
a further impairment charge of £75m has been recognised in respect of three clubs in the enracha venues business which have 
not performed in line with expectations this has followed a prolonged period of difﬁcult economic conditions in spain
a further impairment charge of £10m is included within integration costs relating to essential postacquisition capital 
expenditure including signage at a small number of casinos that were fully impaired as part of the acquisition accounting
impairment reversals
the group has reversed previous impairment charges of £07m in the uk all of which relates to mecca venues the reversal is in 
respect of two clubs where changes in the competitive and commercial environment have led to improvements in performance 
a further reversal of £08m has been made in respect of a casino in belgium which has shown continuing improved 
performance above expectations 106 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
financial statements
4 exceptional items continued
net charge to provisions for property leases
the group has recognised a net charge of £66m in relation to provisions for property leases in the year this includes a charge 
of £68m in two grosvenor casinos venues and three mecca venues for unavoidable dilapidation costs and where expected 
income no longer exceeds the unavoidable costs associated with these sites a further charge of £16m has been made in respect 
of property lease costs directly attributable to the restructuring activities outlined below
a release to the income statement of £18m has been recognised in respect of two mecca venues where anticipated performance 
following the reduction in bingo duty means that expected income will exceed the unavoidable costs associated with these sites
acquisition and integration costs
in the prior year the group acquired 19 casinos and 3 nonoperating licences from gala coral group limited see note 25  
the group has expensed the resulting costs of integration during the year of £17m 
the integration was successfully completed during the year and no further integration costs are expected
restructuring costs
during the year the group recognised an exceptional cost of £07m relating to the closure of one mecca venue and one enracha 
venue and the provision for the further cost associated with the closure of two further mecca venues and exit of one enracha 
venue in early 201415 included within the charge to provisions for property leases is a further charge of £16m connected  
with remaining property lease obligations at these venues
net charge to provision for indirect taxation
in the prior year the group disclosed a contingent liability in respect of a claim for repayment of output vat on amusement 
machines in may 2010 the group received £307m vat of £264m plus interest of £43m in respect of the claim which has 
been the subject of ongoing litigation during the year the court of appeal found in favour of hmrc and consequently  
an amount of £264m was provided to cover the expected outﬂow together with associated interest of £43m in may 2014  
a payment was made to hmrc in respect of these claims with the remaining balance being the directors’ best estimate of the 
outﬂow likely to arise the group has been granted leave to appeal to the supreme court and it therefore remains possible that 
the group will not ultimately be liable for these amounts this appeal will be held in april 2015
the group also released £03m following the settlement in the year of the indirect taxation balances provided for in the prior year
year ended 30 june 2013 exceptional items
continuing operations
impairment charges
the group recognised an impairment charge of £34m in the uk of which £18m related to grosvenor casinos venues and 
£16m to mecca venues the only individually signiﬁcant charges in grosvenor casinos venues were £11m in respect of  
a nonoperating licence to reﬂect local market conditions and £05m in respect of an ecasino which had not performed  
in line with expectations the only individually signiﬁcant charge in mecca venues was £06m in respect of a club which  
had not performed in line with expectations 
a further impairment charge of £19m was recognised in respect of a casino in belgium and £41m in respect of two clubs  
in the enracha venues business which had not performed in line with expectations 
impairment reversals
the group reversed previous impairment charges of £19m in the uk of which £12m related to grosvenor casinos venues  
and £07m related to mecca venues the reversal in grosvenor casinos was in respect of two casinos where changes in the 
competitive environment led to improvements in performance the reversal in mecca venues was in respect of three clubs  
which saw a sustained improvement in performance and an uplift in the freehold value of a further property
a further reversal of £24m was made in respect of a casino in belgium which had shown improved performance following 
agreement of a third party digital licence agreement the enracha venues business had an impairment reversal of £44m 
following better than expected recovery from the effects of the smoking ban at two venues
notes to the financial statements continued the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 107
property leases
the group recognised a charge of £15m in relation to provisions for property leases a charge of £11m was made in respect of one 
mecca lease where the unavoidable costs exceeded the expected income the remaining charge of £04m was in respect of leases 
where there had been a change in expected sublet income as a consequence of the ﬁnancial position of associated tenants
acquisition and integration costs
during the prior year the group acquired 19 casinos and 3 nonoperating licences from gala coral group limited see note 25 
the group expensed the costs of the acquisition and resulting integration incurred during the prior year of £85m further 
details are provided in the table below
year ended 
30 june 
2013 
£m
acquisition costs 74
loss on disposal of edinburgh nonoperating casino licence 04
integration costs 07
total 85
the disposal of the edinburgh nonoperating licence was required in order to obtain competition commission clearance  
for the acquisition
acquisition costs represented professional fees incurred including the costs of dealing with the ofﬁce of fair trading and  
the competition commission
indirect taxation
the group recognised a provision of £64m and an accrual of £06m in relation to a historic indirect taxation issue 
discontinued exceptional items
indirect taxation
the group recognised a provision of £58m in relation to a historic indirect taxation issue in the blue square bet business 
disposal of blue square bet and related costs
on 2 april 2013 the group agreed terms to sell the assets and trademarks of its lossmaking blue square bet business for 
consideration of £50m the blue square bet business operated solely in the digital channel of the highly competitive sports 
betting market
the table below provides further details of the net exceptional loss of £20m recognised in respect of the disposal and  
related costs
year ended 
30 june 
2013 
£m
proceeds received 50
impairment of assets 36
redundancy and restructuring costs 25
onerous contracts 09
exceptional loss 20 108 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
financial statements
5 discontinued operations
in the prior year the group disposed of its lossmaking blue square bet business in accordance with ifrs5 ‘noncurrent assets 
held for sale and discontinued operations’ the results of the blue square bet business were classiﬁed as discontinued no results 
were attributable to blue square bet in the current year although the group continued to discharge legacy liabilities relating to 
the business
discontinued operations other than those disclosed within exceptional items see note 4 related to the disposal of the loss 
making blue square bet business a breakdown of results of this operation is shown below
year ended 
30 june 
2014 
£m
year ended 
30 june 
2013 
£m
revenue – 95
operating loss – 74
taxation – 18
loss after taxation – 56
other information
depreciation and amortisation – 14
capital expenditure – 11
cash ﬂows relating to discontinued operations are as follows
year ended 
30 june 
2014 
£m
year ended 
30 june 
2013 
£m
operating loss – 74
depreciation and amortisation – 14
interest paid 02 –
cash payments in respect of exceptional items 64 20
cash ﬂows from operating activities 66 80
cash ﬂows from investing activities – 11
cash ﬂows from ﬁnancing activities – –
66 91
the disposal of the blue square bet business has given rise to the following cash ﬂow reported in investing activities 
year ended 
30 june 
2014 
£m
year ended 
30 june 
2013 
£m
gross cash consideration received – 50
payment to purchaser for customer account balances disposed – 26
disposal of business – 24
notes to the financial statements continued the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 109
6 financing
year ended 
30 june 
2014 
£m
year ended 
30 june 
2013 
£m
continuing operations
finance costs
interest on debt and borrowings
1
64 19
amortisation of issue costs on borrowings
1
15 11
interest payable on ﬁnance leases 10 09
unwinding of discount in property lease provisions 11 11
unwinding of discount in disposal provisions 01 02
total ﬁnance costs 101 52
finance income
interest income on shortterm bank deposits
1
01 02
total ﬁnance income 01 02
other ﬁnancial gains losses 10 03
total net ﬁnancing charge for continuing operations before exceptional items 90 53
exceptional ﬁnance costs 43 42
exceptional ﬁnance income 18 –
total net ﬁnancing charge for continuing operations 115 95
discontinued operations
exceptional ﬁnance costs 03 06
exceptional ﬁnance income 03 12
total net ﬁnance income for discontinued operations – 06
total net ﬁnancing charge 115 89
1 calculated using the effective interest method
exceptional ﬁnance costs recognised in continuing operations in the year of £43m year ended 30 june 2013 £42m are in 
respect of indirect taxation balances provided for in the current year and direct and indirect taxation balances provided for in 
the prior year 
exceptional ﬁnance income recognised in continuing operations in the year of £18m year ended 30 june 2013 £nil is in 
respect of the release of interest overaccrued on direct and indirect taxation balances provided for
exceptional discontinued ﬁnance costs recognised in discontinued operations in the year of £03m relate to a decrease in interest 
receivable in respect of direct taxation receivables that are attributable to disposed entities exceptional discontinued ﬁnance 
costs recognised in discontinued operations in the prior year of £06m were in respect of indirect taxation balances provided for
exceptional ﬁnance income recognised in discontinued operations in the year of £03m relates to a reduction in interest accrued 
on indirect taxation provisions now settled exceptional ﬁnance income in discontinued operations in the prior year of £12m 
was in respect of an expected taxation refund attributable to discontinued activities 110 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
financial statements
6 financing continued
a reconciliation of the total net ﬁnancing charge for continuing operations before exceptional items to adjusted net interest 
included in adjusted proﬁt is disclosed below
year ended 
30 june 
2014 
£m
year ended 
30 june 
2013 
£m
total net ﬁnancing charge for continuing operations before exceptional items 90 53
adjust for
unwinding of discount in disposal provisions 01 02
other ﬁnancial gains losses – including foreign exchange 10 03
adjusted net interest payable 99 48
7 taxation
year ended 30 june 2014 year ended 30 june 2013
continuing 
operations 
£m
discontinued 
operations 
£m
total 
£m
continuing 
operations 
£m
discontinued 
operations 
£m
total 
£m
current income tax
current income tax – uk 124 – 124 127 18 109
current income tax – overseas 04 – 04 06 – 06
current income tax charge credit 128 – 128 133 18 115
current income tax on exceptional items 78 – 78 31 04 35
amounts over provided in previous period 50 28 78 13 – 13
amounts over under provided in previous period  
on exceptional items 23 – 23 03 107 104
total current income tax credit charge 23 28 51 92 129 37
deferred tax
deferred tax – uk 13 – 13 30 – 30
deferred tax – overseas 03 – 03 02 – 02
restatement of deferred tax from 230 to 200 26 – 26 –––
deferred tax on exceptional items 35 – 35 01 – 01
amounts under provided in previous period 38 – 38 13 – 13
amounts under provided in previous period  
on exceptional items ––– – 02 02
total deferred tax credit charge note 21 07 – 07 46 02 48
tax credit charge in the income statement 30 28 58 138 127 11
the tax on the group’s proﬁt before taxation on continuing operations differs from the standard rate of uk corporation tax in the 
period of 225 year ended 30 june 2013 2375 the differences are explained below
year ended 
30 june 
2014 
£m 
year ended 
30 june 
2013 
£m
proﬁt before taxation on continuing operations 144 427
tax charge calculated at 225 on proﬁt before taxation on continuing operations  
year ended 30 june 2013 2375 32 101
effects of
expenses not deductible for tax purposes 01 31
difference in overseas tax rates 06 –
restatement of deferred tax from 230 to 200 26 –
adjustments relating to prior periods 35 03
deferred tax not recognised in period 04 03
tax credit charge in the income statement on continuing operations 30 138
notes to the financial statements continued the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 111
tax on exceptional items – continuing operations
the taxation impacts of continuing exceptional items are disclosed below 
year ended 30 june 2014 year ended 30 june 2013
current 
income tax 
£m
deferred tax 
£m
total 
£m
current 
income tax 
£m
deferred tax 
£m
total 
£m
impairment charges – 31 31 – 07 07
impairment reversals ––– – 08 08
net charge to provisions for property leases 09 04 13 04 – 04
acquisition and integration costs 01 – 01 05 – 05
restructuring costs 01 – 01 –––
net charge to provision for indirect taxation 59 – 59 17 – 17
exceptional ﬁnance costs 10 – 10 06 – 06
exceptional ﬁnance income 02 – 02 –––
amounts over under provided in respect of previous years 23 – 23 04 – 04
tax credit charge on exceptional items  
– continuing operations 101 35 136 28 01 27
tax on exceptional items – discontinued operations
the taxation impacts of discontinued exceptional items are disclosed below 
year ended 30 june 2014 year ended 30 june 2013
current 
income tax 
£m
deferred tax 
£m
total 
£m
current 
income tax 
£m
deferred tax 
£m
total 
£m
tax refunds arising on previously disposed  
subsidiary undertakings – 28 28 66 02 64
provision for indirect taxation ––– 16 – 16
disposal of blue square bet and related costs ––– 11 – 11
release of provisions relating to overseas tax audits ––– 21 – 21
exceptional ﬁnance income ––– 03 – 03
tax credit charge on exceptional items  
– discontinued operations – 28 28 111 02 109
tax effect of items within other comprehensive income
year ended 
30 june 
2014 
£m
year ended 
30 june 
2013 
£m
current income tax charge credit on exchange movements offset in reserves 02 02
deferred tax credit on actuarial movement on retirement beneﬁts 01 –
total tax charge credit on items within other comprehensive income 01 02
the debit in respect of employee share schemes included within the statement of changes in equity includes a deferred tax 
charge of £03m year ended 30 june 2013 credit of £03m and a current tax credit of £nil year ended 30 june 2013 £02m
factors affecting future taxation
uk corporation tax is calculated at 225 year ended 30 june 2013 2375 of the estimated assessable proﬁt for the period 
taxation for overseas operations is calculated at the local prevailing rates
on 20 march 2013 the chancellor of the exchequer announced the reduction in the main rate of uk corporation tax to 21 with 
effect from 1 april 2014 and a further 1 reduction to 20 from 1 april 2015 these changes were substantively enacted in july 2013
8 results attributable to the parent company
the company has elected to take the exemption under section 408 of the companies act 2006 not to present the parent 
company income statement the loss for the year ended 30 june 2014 for the company was £160m year ended 30 june 2013 
loss of £272m 112 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
financial statements
9 dividends paid to equity holders
year ended 
30 june 
2014 
£m
year ended 
30 june 
2013 
£m
dividends paid to equity holders
final dividend for 201112 paid on 31 october 2012 – 250p per share – 98
interim dividend for 201213 paid on 22 march 2013 – 125p per share – 49
final dividend for 201213 paid on 23 october 2013 – 285p per share 111 –
interim dividend for 201314 paid on 21 march 2014 – 135p per share 53 –
refund of unclaimed dividends – 01
164 146
a ﬁnal dividend in respect of the year ended 30 june 2014 of 315p per share amounting to a total dividend of £123m is to be 
recommended at the annual general meeting on 16 october 2014 these ﬁnancial statements do not reﬂect this dividend payable
10 earnings per share
a basic earnings per share
basic earnings per share is calculated by dividing the proﬁt attributable to equity shareholders by the weighted average number  
of ordinary shares in issue during the year
year ended 30 june 2014 year ended 30 june 2013
before 
exceptional 
items
exceptional 
items total
before 
exceptional 
items
exceptional 
items total
proﬁt attributable to equity shareholders
continuing operations £528m £354m £174m £481m £192m £289m
discontinued operations – £28m £28m £56m £37m £19m
total £528m £326m £202m £425m £155m £270m
weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue 3907m 3907m 3907m 3906m 3906m 3906m
basic earnings per share
continuing operations 135p 90p 45p 123p 49p 74p
discontinued operations – 07p 07p 14p 09p 05p
total 135p 83p 52p 109p 40p 69p
b diluted earnings per share
diluted earnings per share is calculated by adjusting the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue to assume 
conversion of all dilutive potential ordinary shares the only category of dilutive potential ordinary shares is share options  
for share options a calculation is made to determine the number of shares that could have been acquired at fair value 
determined as the average annual market share price of the company’s shares based on the monetary value of the subscription 
rights attached to outstanding share options the number of shares calculated is compared with the number of shares that would 
have been issued assuming exercise of the share options
there is no difference in the proﬁt used to determine diluted earnings per share from that used to determine basic earnings  
per share there is no dilutive impact of share options on the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue or on  
earnings per share
c adjusted earnings per share
adjusted earnings is calculated by adjusting proﬁt attributable to equity shareholders to exclude discontinued operations 
exceptional items other ﬁnancial gains or losses unwinding of the discount in disposal provisions and the related tax effects 
adjusted earnings is one of the business performance measures used internally by management to manage the operations of the 
business management believes that the adjusted earnings measure assists in providing a view of the underlying performance of 
the business 
notes to the financial statements continued the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 113
adjusted net earnings attributable to equity shareholders is derived as follows
year ended 
30 june 
2014 
£m
year ended 
30 june 
2013 
£m
proﬁt attributable to equity shareholders 202 270
adjust for
discontinued operations net of taxation 28 19
exceptional items after tax on continuing operations 354 192
other ﬁnancial gains losses 10 03
unwinding of discount in disposal provisions 01 02
taxation on adjusted items and impact of reduction in tax rate 33 01
adjusted net earnings attributable to equity shareholders £m 486 485
adjusted earnings per share p – basic 124p 124p
adjusted earnings per share p – diluted 124p 124p
11 intangible assets
group
goodwill 
£m
casino 
and other 
gaming 
licences and 
concessions 
£m
property 
contracts 
£m
other 
£m
total 
£m
cost
at 1 july 2012 534 1200 – 498 2232
exchange adjustments – 27 – – 27
acquisition of subsidiary see note 25 809 1501 37 – 2347
disposals – – – 234 234
additions – 05 – 67 72
at 30 june 2013 restated 1343 2733 37 331 4444
exchange adjustments – 28 – – 28
disposals – – – 01 01
additions – 58 – 77 135
at 30 june 2014 1343 2763 37 407 4550
aggregate amortisation and impairment 
at 1 july 2012 – 317 – 378 695
exchange adjustments – 18 – – 18
charge for the year – 08 01 48 57
disposals – – – 234 234
impairment charges – 49 – 35 84
impairment reversals – 68 – – 68
at 30 june 2013 – 324 01 227 552
exchange adjustments – 21 – – 21
charge for the year – 08 03 53 64
impairment charges – 61 – – 61
impairment reversals – 08 – – 08
at 30 june 2014 – 364 04 280 648
net book value at 30 june 2012 534 883 – 120 1537
net book value at 30 june 2013 restated 1343 2409 36 104 3892
net book value at 30 june 2014 1343 2399 33 127 3902 114 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
financial statements
11 intangible assets continued
other intangible assets comprise other licences computer software and development technology and customer lists  
these include internallygenerated computer software and development technology with a net book value of £50m  
30 june 2013 £47m
property contracts arise as a fair value adjustment in respect of favourable property contracts on the acquisition of the  
19 casinos in the prior year
indeﬁnite life intangible assets have been reviewed for impairment as set out in note 13 impairment charges for the year  
of £61m year ended 30 june 2013 £84m include £61m year ended 30 june 2013 £48m in respect of exceptional  
items relating to continuing operations and £nil year ended 30 june 2013 £36m in respect of exceptional items relating  
to discontinued operations the exceptional impairment charge relating to discontinued operations in the prior year arose  
on the disposal of the blue square bet business
12 property plant and equipment 
group
land and 
buildings 
£m
fixtures 
ﬁttings 
plant and 
machinery 
£m
total 
£m
cost
at 1 july 2012 1312 4400 5712
exchange adjustments 07 32 39
acquisition of subsidiary see note 25 71 108 179
additions 21 308 329
disposals 05 111 116
transfer to assets held for sale 22 – 22
at 30 june 2013 restated 1384 4737 6121
exchange adjustments 07 39 46
additions 38 295 333
disposals 35 36 71
transfer from assets held for sale 22 – 22
at 30 june 2014 1402 4957 6359
accumulated depreciation and impairment
at 1 july 2012 722 2812 3534
exchange adjustments 01 24 25
charge for the year 34 313 347
impairment charges 04 42 46
impairment reversals 13 06 19
disposals – 104 104
transfer to assets held for sale 19 – 19
at 30 june 2013 729 3081 3810
exchange adjustments 01 25 26
charge for the year 39 333 372
impairment charges 12 66 78
impairment reversals 04 03 07
disposals 30 32 62
transfer from assets held for sale 19 – 19
at 30 june 2014 764 3420 4184
net book value at 30 june 2012 590 1588 2178
net book value at 30 june 2013 restated 655 1656 2311
net book value at 30 june 2014 638 1537 2175
notes to the financial statements continued the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 115
impairment charges for the year of £78m year ended 30 june 2013 £46m are in respect of exceptional items relating to 
continuing operations £10m of this amount year ended 30 june 2013 £nil has been included in integration costs within 
exceptional items 
finance leases 
the net book value of property plant and equipment held under ﬁnance leases was 
as at 
30 june 
2014 
£m
as at 
30 june 
2013 
£m
land and buildings 68 55
fixtures ﬁttings plant and machinery 37 58
net book value at end of period 105 113
there were £23m year ended 30 june 2013 £08m of additions under ﬁnance leases during the year 
assets under construction 
included in property plant and equipment are assets in the course of construction of £19m year ended 30 june 2013 £19m 
assets held for sale 
as at 
30 june 
2014 
£m
as at 
30 june 
2013 
£m
land and buildings – 03
the sale of one freehold property in mecca venues has not completed in the year as expected due to unforeseen planning issues 
these issues still remain to be resolved and accordingly the property has been reclassiﬁed to property plant and equipment 
13 impairment review
the pretax discount rate applied to all cash ﬂow projections is 100 30 june 2013 100 the discount rate calculation is 
based on the speciﬁc circumstances of the group and its cash generating units cgu and is derived from its weighted average 
cost of capital management believes that the discount rate is appropriate for each cgu as they operate in gaming markets 
with similar risks as set out below as the group operates in great britain including the channel islands spain and belgium 
country risk has been recognised in the cash ﬂow forecasts rather than adjusting the discount rate
a impairment review of goodwill and intangible assets with indeﬁnite lives
assets that have an indeﬁnite useful life are not subject to amortisation and are tested annually for impairment in accordance 
with ias36 goodwill is reviewed annually for impairment in addition the group classiﬁes casino licences with the exception 
of its concessions in belgium and spanish bingo licences as intangible assets with an indeﬁnite life
i goodwill
at 30 june 2014 the group has goodwill with a carrying value of £1343m 30 june 2013 £1343m £809m of this goodwill 
arose on the acquisition of 19 casinos during the prior year further details of which are provided in note 25 
the remaining £534m of goodwill arose on the acquisition of rank digital limited all of this goodwill is allocated to the  
mecca digital cgu for the purposes of impairment testing 
in respect of the mecca digital cgu the recoverable amount has been determined based on a value in use calculation using  
cash ﬂow projections based on the group’s budget for 201415 the group’s strategic plan for the following two years and a 
growth rate of 20 30 june 2013 20 thereafter both the group’s budget and strategic plan have been approved by the 
board of directors
the key assumptions in the calculation of value in use are settled stakes gaming win margins gaming duty and the discount 
rate settled stakes represent monies placed by customers for interactive games and are estimated taking into account the  
product mix and industry developments gaming win margins are based on values achieved in the past and amended for any 
anticipated changes in the budget period gaming duty is based upon statutory rates enacted at the balance sheet date the 
calculation includes the impact of the introduction of remote gaming duty at a rate of 15 on a place of consumption basis 
from december 2014  116 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
financial statements
13 impairment review continued
as a result of the impairment testing the directors do not believe that the carrying value of the goodwill was impaired  
as the value in use exceeded the carrying value of goodwill the key factors which impact the calculation of the carrying  
value include
key factors key assumption impacted
increased or improved competition settled stakes gaming win margin
poor or decreased marketing settled stakes
failure to respond to technological advances settled stakes
deterioration in economic environment settled stakes
changes in regulation settled stakes gaming win margin
changes in taxation remote gaming duty
based on these key assumptions and resulting projections the recoverable amount of the cgu exceeds its carrying amount by in 
excess of £300m a decrease of approximately 8 in either settled stakes or win margin would be required for the recoverable 
amount to equal the carrying value of the cgu a rise in remote gaming duty from 15 to approximately 19 would be 
required for the recoverable amount to equal the carrying value of the cgu these calculations assume all other assumptions 
remain constant and therefore do not reﬂect any cost saving measures that may be identiﬁed should a key assumption be 
impacted to this magnitude
in respect of the goodwill which arose on the acquisition of 19 casinos in the prior year the combined casinos acquired are 
treated as a single cgu the recoverable amount has been determined based on a value in use calculation using cash ﬂow 
projections of the combined casinos from the group’s budget for 201415 the group’s strategic plan for the following two years 
and a growth rate of 20 thereafter both the group’s budget and strategic plan have been approved by the board of directors
the key assumptions in the calculation of value in use are customer visits spend per visit casino duty machine games duty  
and the discount rate customer visits are the number of discrete visits by members to casinos and have been based on historic 
trends spend per visit comprises the average amount of money net of winnings spent per visit on gaming tables machines  
and food and beverages this has also been determined by historic trends casino duty is levied in bands of between 15 and 
50 depending upon the level of gaming win at each casino the bands and rates have been assumed to remain at current levels 
without indexation machine games duty is levied at rates of 5 or 20 depending upon certain criteria
the table below outlines the possible changes in key assumptions that would cause the carrying value of the individual licences 
to exceed their recoverable amount these are
key factors key assumption impacted
increased or improved competition customer visits
poor or decreased promotional activity customer visits
failure to respond to technological advances customer visits spend per visit
deterioration in economic conditions customer visits spend per visit
changes in regulation customer visits spend per visit
changes in taxation casino duty machine games duty
based on these key assumptions and resulting projections the recoverable amount of the cgu exceeds its carrying amount  
by in excess of £890m a decrease of approximately 8 in either customer visits or spend per visit would be required for the 
recoverable amount to equal the carrying value of the cgu a rise in gaming related taxes from the current blended rate of 
180 to 245 across the combined casinos would be required for the recoverable amount to equal the carrying value of the 
cgu these calculations assume all other assumptions remain constant and therefore do not reﬂect any cost saving measures 
that may be identiﬁed should a key assumption be impacted to this magnitude
ii casino licences
the carrying value of indeﬁnite life casino licences as at 30 june 2014 was £2313m 30 june 2013 £2254m £1501m  
of this value arose on the acquisition of 19 casinos during the prior year further details of which are provided in note 25  
the remaining £812m of this balance 30 june 2013 £753m relates to existing grosvenor casinos
notes to the financial statements continued the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 117
the inherent value of a casino licence is deemed to be an intrinsic part of the value of the operation of a casino as a whole  
and are therefore not split out from each casino in an impairment review each grosvenor casino including the casinos  
acquired during the prior year has been treated as a separate cgu and tested for impairment on that basis the recoverable 
amount of each grosvenor casino including the licence has been determined based on the higher of fair value less costs to  
sell and value in use the value in use has been determined using cash ﬂow projections over the length of the associated lease  
or 50 years for freehold properties based on the group’s budget for 201415 the group’s strategic plan for the following two 
years and a growth rate of 20 30 june 2013 20 thereafter both the group’s budget and strategic plan have been approved 
by the board of directors estimates of the fair value less costs to sell are performed internally by experienced senior management 
supported by knowledge of similar transactions or where applicable offers received
the key assumptions in the calculation of value in use are customer visits spend per visit casino duty machine games duty  
and the discount rate customer visits are the number of discrete visits by members to the casino and have been based on 
historic trends spend per visit comprises the average amount of money net of winnings spent per visit on gaming tables 
machines and food and beverages this has also been determined by historic trends casino duty is levied in bands of between 
15 and 50 depending upon the level of gaming win at each casino the bands and rates have been assumed to remain at 
current levels without indexation machine games duty is levied at rates of 5 or 20 depending upon certain criteria 
the table below outlines the possible changes in key assumptions that could cause the carrying value of individual licences  
to exceed their recoverable amount these are
key factors key assumption impacted
increased or improved competition customer visits
poor or decreased promotional activity customer visits
failure to respond to technological advances customer visits spend per visit
deterioration in economic conditions customer visits spend per visit
changes in regulation customer visits spend per visit
changes in taxation casino duty machine games duty
the group operates 56 venues in the uk each of which is treated as a single cgu for the purposes of impairment testing  
the level by which the recoverable amount of each cgu exceeds its carrying amount therefore varies at each venue and the 
impact of changes in key assumptions that would be required for the recoverable amount to equal its carrying amount also  
varies at each casino for uk casino licences at venues excluding the 19 casinos acquired in the prior year the directors do  
not believe that with the exception of a prolonged nonoperation of a uk casino licence there are any reasonably foreseeable 
changes to the key assumptions that would result in a material impairment the initial carrying value of each of the 19 casinos 
acquired in the prior year was established based on its fair value at the date of the acquisition accordingly should performance 
of any individual casino acquired in the prior year fall below expectations future impairment charges may arise a fall in 
expected cash ﬂow projections of at least 18 would be required for the recoverable amount to equal the carrying value of  
any individual cgu
no impairment charges were made during the year against indeﬁnite life casino licences year ended 30 june 2013 £11m
the two casino concessions in belgium are being amortised over their expected useful life at 30 june 2014 these concessions 
had a carrying value of £48m 30 june 2013 £53m each of the casino concessions has also been treated as a separate cgu  
for impairment testing purposes as a result of this review an impairment reversal of £08m has been recognised in respect  
of one concession
iii spanish bingo licences
the carrying value of spanish bingo licences as at 30 june 2014 was £38m 30 june 2013 £102m
the inherent value of each spanish bingo licence is deemed to be an intrinsic part of the value of a club as a whole and is  
not therefore split out from the assets of each individual bingo club in an impairment review each individual bingo club has 
been treated as a separate cgu and tested for impairment on that basis the recoverable amount of each spanish bingo club 
including the licence has been determined based on the higher of fair value less costs to sell and value in use the value in  
use calculation has been determined using cash ﬂow projections over the length of the associated lease or 50 years in the case  
of freehold properties based on a zero growth assumption from 201314 results 30 june 2013 20 growth reﬂecting the 
prolonged period of difﬁcult economic conditions in spain 118 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
financial statements
13 impairment review continued
the key assumptions in the calculation of value in use are customer visits spend per visit bingo duty and the discount  
rate customer visits are the number of discrete visits to the bingo club and have been based on recent trends spend per  
visit comprises the average amount of money net of winnings spent by a member on bingo games machines and food and 
beverages this has been determined by recent trends bingo duty is based upon statutory rates enacted at the balance sheet date 
as a result of the impairment review impairment charges of £61m have been recognised against the value in use of three bingo 
licences however there are possible changes in the key assumptions that could cause further impairments these are
key factors key assumption impacted
increased or improved competition customer visits
poor or decreased promotional activity customer visits
failure to respond to technological advances customer visits spend per visit
deterioration in economic conditions customer visits spend per visit
changes in regulation customer visits spend per visit
changes in taxation bingo duty
as outlined above each spanish bingo licence has been tested for impairment as part of the club as a whole accordingly the 
sensitivity of each licence to future impairments arising from changes in the key assumptions varies at each club for the clubs 
previously impaired each one percentage point reduction in expected future cash ﬂow projections would generate an 
incremental impairment of £02m 
b impairment review of property plant and equipment and intangible assets
property plant and equipment and intangible assets are grouped into cgus which are deﬁned as individual venues for mecca 
enracha and grosvenor casinos and as the grosvenor casino digital and mecca digital businesses
the key assumptions and sensitivities in the impairment reviews are the same as outlined above for intangible assets
the recoverable amount of each cgu including the licence if applicable has been determined based on the higher of fair value 
less costs to sell and value in use other than in spain the value in use has been determined using cash ﬂow projections from 
the group’s budget for 201415 the group’s strategic plan for the following two years and a growth rate of 20 30 june 2013 
20 thereafter both the group’s budget and strategic plan have been approved by the board of directors in spain the value in 
use has been determined using a zero growth assumption from the 201314 actual results due to the prolonged period of difﬁcult 
economic conditions in spain estimates of the fair value less costs to sell are performed internally by an experienced surveyor 
supported by external estate agent advice or where applicable offers received 
c impairment recognised during the period
details of impairment charges and reversals recognised during the current and prior periods are disclosed in note 4 
14 investments in subsidiaries
company
as at 
30 june 
2014 
£m
as at 
30 june 
2013 
£m
cost
at start of year 15172 15178
movements 03 06
at end of year 15169 15172
provision for impairment
at start of year and at end of year 3318 3318
net book value at end of year 11851 11854
the movements relate to the fair value of services recognised by subsidiary undertakings arising from equitysettled share 
options granted by the company
a list of the signiﬁcant investments in subsidiaries including the name country of incorporation and proportion of ownership 
interest is given in note 33
notes to the financial statements continued the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 119
15 inventories
group
as at 
30 june 
2014 
£m
as at 
30 june 
2013 
£m
raw materials 03 03
finished goods 28 30
31 33
there were no write downs of inventory in either year
16 other receivables
group company
as at 
30 june 
2014 
£m
as at 
30 june 
2013 
restated 
£m
as at 
30 june 
2014 
£m
as at 
30 june 
2013 
£m
current
other receivables 39 66 – –
less provisions for impairment of other receivables 01 – – –
other receivables – net 38 66 – –
prepayments 273 255 – –
amounts owed by subsidiary undertakings repayable on demand – – 442 429
311 321 442 429
noncurrent
other receivables 31 29 – –
31 29 – –
group
the carrying values of other receivables are assumed to approximate to their fair values due to their shortterm nature
as at 30 june 2014 other receivables of £01m 30 june 2013 £06m were past due but not impaired 
the creation and release of provision for impaired receivables have been included in other operating costs in the income 
statement amounts charged to the provision for impairment are generally written off when there is no expectation of 
recovering additional cash
the other classes within receivables do not contain impaired assets
the maximum exposure to credit risk at the reporting date is the fair value of each class of receivable mentioned above  
the group does not hold any collateral as security
company
the carrying values of amounts due from subsidiary undertakings are assumed to equate to their fair value as all amounts  
are repayable on demand the amounts are denominated in uk sterling and relate to subsidiary undertakings for which there  
is no history of default 120 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
financial statements
17 trade and other payables
group company
as at 
30 june 
2014 
£m
as at 
30 june 
2013 
restated 
£m
as at 
30 june 
2014 
£m
as at 
30 june 
2013 
£m
current
trade payables 258 254 – –
social security and other taxation 250 340 – –
other payables 624 654 14 16
trade and other payables – current 1132 1248 14 16
noncurrent
other payables 405 438 – –
trade and other payables – noncurrent 405 438 – –
other payables includes £29m current payables 30 june 2013 £26m and £405m noncurrent payables 30 june 2013 £438m 
in respect of above market rent property contracts acquired through business combinations
18 income tax
group
as at 
30 june 
2014 
£m
as at 
30 june 
2013 
restated 
£m
income tax receivable 66 63
income tax payable – continuing operations 224 460
income tax payable – discontinued operations 179 179
income tax payable 403 639
net income tax payable 337 576
income tax payable has been analysed between current and noncurrent as follows
current 403 422
noncurrent – 217
total 403 639
income tax payable on discontinued operations relates to potential tax liabilities that are attributable to disposed entities  
with historic tax audits the liability represents management’s current estimate of the payments that will be required to settle 
the various issues
income tax payable on continuing operations includes an ongoing tax issue that may be challenged by the relevant authority
notes to the financial statements continued the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 121
19 financial assets and liabilities
a interest bearing loans and borrowings
group
maturity
as at 
30 june 
2014 
£m
as at 
30 june 
2013 
£m
current interestbearing loans and borrowings
bank overdrafts
on 
demand 08 34
obligations under ﬁnance leases various 32 33
other current loans
accrued interest july 2014 11 13
unamortised facility fees various 07 06
total current interestbearing loans and borrowings 44 74
noncurrent interestbearing loans and borrowings
7125 yankee bonds 2018 84 94
term loans 2016 1400 1400
revolving credit facilities 2017 200 –
obligations under ﬁnance leases various 117 130
other noncurrent loans
unamortised facility fees various 06 13
total noncurrent interestbearing loans and borrowings 1795 1611
total interestbearing loans and borrowings 1839 1685
sterling 1755 1591
us dollars 84 94
total interestbearing loans and borrowings 1839 1685
bank overdrafts
bank overdrafts are for shortterm funding and are repayable on demand
yankee bonds
interest on the yankee bonds is payable half yearly in january and july at a rate of 7125
term loan facilities
new threeyear facilities were signed on 25 april 2013 and consist of two bilateral £700m term loans totalling £1400m  
these loans were put in place to fund the acquisition of gala casino 1 limited from gala coral group limited in the prior  
year interest is payable on a periodic basis depending on the loan drawn the facilities carry ﬂoating rates of interest which  
are libor dependent
revolving credit facilities
fiveyear facilities were signed in january 2012 and consist of four £200m multicurrency revolving credit bilateral facilities 
totalling £800m interest is payable on a periodic basis depending on the loan drawn the facilities carry ﬂoating rates of 
interest which are libor dependent
during the year the group has drawn down in full on one of these facilities
covenants
the group complied with all its covenants during the year
company
the company did not hold any external interestbearing loans or borrowings at 30 june 2014 30 june 2013 £nil the 
company holds interestbearing loans with other group companies at 30 june 2014 of £8298m 30 june 2013 £7950m 122 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
financial statements
19 financial assets and liabilities continued
b fair values
the table below is a comparison by class of the carrying amounts and fair value of the group and company’s ﬁnancial 
instruments at 30 june 2014 and 30 june 2013
carrying amount fair value
group
as at 
30 june 
2014 
£m
as at 
30 june 
2013 
restated 
£m
as at 
30 june 
2014 
£m
as at 
30 june 
2013 
restated 
£m
financial assets
loans and receivables
other receivables 40 43 40 43
cash and shortterm deposits 471 650 471 650
total 511 693 511 693
financial liabilities
other ﬁnancial liabilities
interestbearing loans and borrowings
obligations under ﬁnance leases 149 163 149 163
floating rate borrowings 1600 1400 1600 1400
fixed rate borrowings 84 94 94 91
bank overdrafts 08 34 08 34
other 02 06 02 06
trade and other payables 729 773 729 773
property leases 528 495 528 495
lease disposal settlements 01 08 01 08
total 3097 2961 3107 2958
carrying amount fair value
company
as at 
30 june 
2014 
£m
as at 
30 june 
2013 
£m
as at 
30 june 
2014 
£m
as at 
30 june 
2013 
£m
financial assets
loans and receivables
other receivables 442 429 442 429
cash and shortterm deposits 02 02 02 02
total 444 431 444 431
financial liabilities
other ﬁnancial liabilities
trade and other payables 14 16 14 16
financial guarantee contracts 27 34 27 34
amounts owed to subsidiary undertakings 8298 7950 8298 7950
total 8339 8000 8339 8000
the fair value of the ﬁnancial assets and liabilities are included at the price that would be received to sell the asset or paid to 
transfer the liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date the following methods  
and assumptions were used to estimate the fair values
• cash and shortterm deposits other receivables bank overdrafts and other ﬁnancial liabilities approximate their carrying 
amounts largely due to the shortterm maturities of these instruments
• the fair value of ﬁxed rate borrowings is based on price quotations at the reporting date
• the fair value of ﬂoating rate borrowings and obligations under ﬁnance leases approximates to their carrying amounts and
• the fair value of property leases and lease disposal settlements approximates to their carrying amount as they are discounted  
at current rates
notes to the financial statements continued the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 123
20 financial risk management objectives and policies
financial risk factors
the group’s principal ﬁnancial liabilities comprise loans and borrowings and trade and other payables the main purpose of 
these ﬁnancial liabilities is to ﬁnance the group’s operations the group has other receivables and cash and shortterm deposits 
that derive directly from its operations  
the group is exposed to market risk credit risk and liquidity risk
the group’s overall ﬁnancial risk management programme focuses on the unpredictability of ﬁnancial markets and seeks to 
minimise potential adverse effects on the group’s ﬁnancial performance
the group’s senior management oversees the management of these risks the ﬁnance committee is supported by the group’s 
senior management which advises on ﬁnancial risks and the appropriate ﬁnancial risk governance framework for the group  
the ﬁnance committee provides assurance that the group’s ﬁnancial risktaking activities are governed by appropriate policies 
and procedures and the ﬁnancial risks are identiﬁed measured and managed in accordance with group policies and group  
risk appetite
the board of directors reviews and agrees policies for managing each of these risks which are summarised below
a market risk
market risk is the risk that the fair value of future cash ﬂows of a ﬁnancial instrument will ﬂuctuate because of changes in market 
prices financial instruments affected by market risk include loans and borrowings and deposits
the sensitivity analyses in the following sections relate to the positions at 30 june 2014 and 30 june 2013
the sensitivity analyses have been prepared on the basis that the amount of net debt the ratio of ﬁxed to ﬂoating rates of the 
debt and the proportion of ﬁnancial instruments in foreign currencies are all constant
i foreign currency risk
foreign currency risk is the risk that the fair value of future cash ﬂows of a ﬁnancial instrument will ﬂuctuate because of changes 
in foreign exchange rates the group’s exposure to the risk of changes in foreign exchange rates relates primarily to the group’s 
operating activities when revenue or expense is denominated in a different currency from the group’s functional currency and 
the group’s net investments in foreign subsidiaries
group policy is not to hedge foreign currency risk
foreign currency sensitivity
the following table demonstrates the sensitivity of a possible change in the us dollar and euro with all other variables held 
constant to the group’s proﬁt before tax and the group’s equity the effect on equity includes the impact of translation of 
overseas subsidiaries the group’s exposure to foreign currency changes for all other currencies is not material
effect on proﬁt before tax effect on equity
as at 
30 june 
2014 
£m
as at 
30 june 
2013 
£m
as at 
30 june 
2014 
£m
as at 
30 june 
2013 
£m
change in us rate
100 07 09 – –
100 09 10 – –
change in euro rate
100 01 01 38 75
100 01 01 38 75
ii cash ﬂow and fair value interest rate risk
interest rate risk is the risk that the fair value or future cash ﬂows of a ﬁnancial instrument will ﬂuctuate because of changes  
in market interest rates the group’s exposure to the risk of changes in market interest rates relates primarily to the group’s 
longterm debt obligations with ﬂoating interest rates
historically the group had managed its interest rate risk by having a balanced portfolio of ﬁxed and variable rate loans and 
borrowings due to the current economic climate the group has exercised its right to operate outside the group policy of 
maintaining between 40 and 60 of its borrowings at ﬁxed rates of interest at 30 june 2014 13 of the group’s borrowings 
were at a ﬁxed rate of interest 30 june 2013 15 124 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
financial statements
20 financial risk management objectives and policies continued
iii interest rate sensitivity
the table below demonstrates the sensitivity to a possible change in interest rates on income and equity for the year when this 
movement is applied to the carrying value of loans borrowings cash and shortterm deposits
effect on proﬁt before tax
as at 
30 june 
2014 
£m
as at 
30 june 
2013 
£m
sterling
100 basis point increase 16 13
200 basis point increase 32 25
there was no impact on equity in either year as a consequence of loan arrangements
due to current low interest rates any further decline would not have a material impact on income and equity for the year  
as such sensitivity to a decrease in interest rates has not been presented
the group did not enter into any ﬁxedtoﬂoating or ﬂoatingtoﬁxed interest rate swaps in either year
b credit risk
credit risk is the risk that a counterparty will not meet its obligations under a ﬁnancial instrument or customer contract leading 
to a ﬁnancial loss the group is exposed to credit risk from its operating activities primarily for other receivables and from its 
ﬁnancing activities including deposits with banks and ﬁnancial institutions foreign exchange transactions and other  
ﬁnancial instruments
financial instruments and cash deposits
credit risk from balances with banks and ﬁnancial institutions is managed by the group’s treasury department in accordance 
with the group’s policy investments of surplus funds are made only with approved counterparties and within credit limits 
assigned to each counterparty counterparty credit limits are reviewed by the ﬁnance director and may be updated throughout 
the year subject to the approval of the group’s ﬁnance committee the limits are set to minimise the concentration of risks and 
therefore mitigate ﬁnancial loss through potential counterparty failure
the credit worthiness of each counterparty is checked against independent credit ratings on at least a weekly basis with a 
minimum rating of ‘bb’ required the group predominantly invests with its lending banks when appropriate
sales to retail customers are settled in cash or using major credit cards and therefore the exposure to credit risk is not  
considered signiﬁcant
no credit limits were exceeded during the reporting period and management does not expect any material losses from non
performance of its counterparties
c liquidity risk
liquidity risk is the risk that the group will not have sufﬁcient funds to meet its liabilities longterm cash forecasts identifying 
the liquidity requirements of the group are produced triannually the cash forecasts are sensitivity tested for different scenarios 
and are reviewed regularly forecast ﬁnancial headroom and debt covenant compliance are reviewed monthly during the 
monthend process to ensure sufﬁcient ﬁnancial headroom exists for at least a 12month period
due to the dynamic nature of the underlying business group treasury aims to maintain ﬂexibility in funding by keeping 
committed credit lines available a threeyear strategic forecast is prepared annually to facilitate planning for future ﬁnancing 
needs management actively manages the group’s ﬁnancing requirements and the range of maturities on its debt
the group’s core debt facilities are the £800m 30 june 2013 £800m bank facility comprising four £200m bilateral bank 
facilities that expire in january 2017 and the £1400m 30 june 2013 £1400m bank facility comprising two £700m bilateral 
bank facilities that expire in may 2016 the group proactively manages its relationships with its lending group
the funding policy of the group is to maintain as far as practicable a broad portfolio of debt diversiﬁed by source and maturity 
and to maintain committed facilities sufﬁcient to cover seasonal peak anticipated borrowing requirements
notes to the financial statements continued the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 125
the table below summarises the maturity proﬁle of the group’s ﬁnancial liabilities based on contractual undiscounted payments
on demand 
£m
less than 12 
months 
£m
1 to 2 years 
£m
2 to 5 years 
£m
greater than 
5 years 
£m
total 
£m
at 30 june 2014
interestbearing loans and borrowings
1
08 96 1485 341 78 2008
trade and other payables – 729––– 729
property leases – 82 43 116 450 691
lease disposal settlements – 01––– 01
08 908 1528 457 528 3429
at 30 june 2013 restated
interestbearing loans and borrowings
2
34 91 92 1605 66 1888
trade and other payables – 773––– 773
property leases – 42 38 108 479 667
lease disposal settlements – 07 01 – – 08
34 913 131 1713 545 3336
interest payments on the interestbearing loans and borrowings have been projected until the instruments mature
1 the bank facility interest payments were based on current libor rates as at 30 june 2014
2 the bank facility interest payments were based on current libor rates as at 30 june 2013
capital management
as a result of the difﬁcult conditions that developed in the global capital markets in recent years the group’s objectives when 
managing capital have been to ensure continuing access to existing debt facilities and to manage the borrowing cost of those 
facilities in order to minimise the group’s interest charge
consistent with others in the gaming industry the group monitors capital on the basis of leverage ratio the ratio is calculated 
as net debt divided by ebitda net debt is calculated as total loans and borrowings as shown in the consolidated balance sheet 
less cash and shortterm deposits accrued interest and unamortised facility fees ebitda is calculated as operating proﬁt before 
exceptional items depreciation and amortisation from continuing operations
the leverage ratios at 30 june 2014 and 30 june 2013 were as follows
as at 
30 june 
2014 
£m
as at 
30 june 
2013 
restated 
£m
total loans and borrowings note 19 1839 1685
less cash and shortterm deposits 471 650
less accrued interest 11 13
less unamortised facility fees 13 19
net debt 1370 1041
continuing operations
operating proﬁt before exceptionals 724 699
add depreciation and amortisation 436 389
ebitda 1160 1088
leverage ratio 12 10
taking into consideration both the group’s capital investment requirements and the stability of the wider economic 
environment the group considers its progressive dividend policy to be appropriate  126 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
financial statements
20 financial risk management objectives and policies continued
collateral
the group did not pledge or hold any collateral at 30 june 2014 30 june 2013 £nil
company
the company is exposed to credit risk on amounts owed by related undertakings the performance of all subsidiary 
undertakings of the group is monitored at group level including frequent projections of future performance to ensure funding 
to related undertakings provides a suitable return and remains recoverable where losses are forecast actions are taken to 
mitigate the loss and maximise the recoverability of receivables
the maximum exposure to credit risk at the reporting date is the fair value of its receivables of £442m 30 june 2013 £429m
the company does not have any other signiﬁcant exposure to ﬁnancial risks
21 deferred tax
the analysis of deferred tax included in the ﬁnancial statements at the end of the year is as follows
group company
 
as at 
30 june 
2014 
£m
as at 
30 june 
2013 
restated 
£m
 
as at 
30 june 
2014 
£m
as at 
30 june 
2013 
£m
deferred tax assets
accelerated capital allowances 156 184 – –
tax losses carried forward 25 26 – –
above market rent property contracts 70 86 – –
other uk temporary differences 08 43 – 02
deferred tax assets 259 339 – 02
deferred tax liabilities
other overseas temporary differences 08 30 – –
business combinations – nonqualifying properties 08 10 – –
temporary differences on uk casino licences 399 458 – –
deferred tax liabilities 415 498 – –
net deferred tax liability asset 156 159 – 02
deferred tax assets and liabilities are offset when there is a legally enforceable right to offset current tax assets and current tax 
liabilities and it is the intention to settle the balances on a net basis deferred tax assets and liabilities of £234m 30 june 2013 
£313m have been offset and disclosed on the balance sheet as follows
group
as at 
30 june 
2014 
£m
as at 
30 june 
2013 
restated 
£m
deferred tax assets 25 26
deferred tax liabilities 181 185
net deferred tax liability 156 159
the deferred tax assets recognised are recoverable against future taxable proﬁts that the directors consider more likely than not 
to occur on the basis of management forecasts
notes to the financial statements continued the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 127
the group has overseas tax losses of £229m 30 june 2013 £229m that are carried forward for offset against suitable future 
taxable proﬁts no deferred tax asset has been recognised in respect of these losses as their utilisation is not currently anticipated 
the expiry of these losses was as follows
group
as at 
30 june 
2014 
£m
as at 
30 june 
2013 
£m
expiring in 2017 203 215
no expiry date 26 14
229 229
the group has uk capital losses carried forward of £7920m 30 june 2013 £7870m these losses are available for offset against 
future uk chargeable gains no deferred tax asset 30 june 2013 £nil has been recognised in respect of these capital losses  
as no further utilisation is currently anticipated
temporary differences associated with group investments
there was no deferred tax liability recognised 30 june 2013 £nil for taxes that would be payable on the unremitted earnings  
of certain subsidiaries the group has determined that any unremitted earnings that do not fall within the dividend exemption 
introduced in the finance act 2009 will not be distributed in the foreseeable future and the parent company does not foresee 
giving such consent at the balance sheet date
the deferred tax included in the group income statement is as follows
group
year 
ended 
30 june 
2014 
£m
year 
ended 
30 june 
2013 
£m
deferred tax in the income statement
accelerated capital allowances 28 34
deferred tax movement on fair valued assets 02 –
tax losses 01 09
other temporary differences 34 05
total deferred tax credit charge 07 48
continuing operations 07 46
discontinued operations – 02
total deferred tax credit charge 07 48
the deferred tax movement on the balance sheet is as follows
group company
30 june 
2014 
£m
30 june 
2013 
restated 
£m
30 june 
2014 
£m
30 june 
2013 
£m
as at start of year 159 24 02 02
exchange adjustments 02 01 – –
acquisition of subsidiary see note 25 – 137 – –
deferred tax credit charge in the income statement 07 48 – –
deferred tax charge credit to other comprehensive income and equity 02 03 02 –
as at end of year 156 159 – 02 128 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
financial statements
22 provisions
group
property lease 
provisions 
£m
disposal 
provisions 
£m
restructuring 
provisions 
£m
indirect tax 
provisions 
£m
total 
£m
at 1 july 2013 495 59 07 122 683
exchange adjustments – 03 01 – 04
unwinding of discount 11 01 – – 12
charge to the income statement – exceptional 84 – 06 264 354
release to the income statement – exceptional 18 – – 03 21
utilised in year 44 11 03 371 429
at 30 june 2014 528 46 09 12 595
current 73 11 09 12 105
noncurrent 455 35 – – 490
total 528 46 09 12 595
provisions have been based on management’s best estimate of the future cash ﬂows taking into account the risks associated  
with each obligation
property lease provisions
the group is party to a number of leasehold property contracts provision has been made against those leases where the property 
or part of the property is now vacant and the unavoidable costs under the lease exceed the economic beneﬁt expected to be 
derived from potential subletting arrangements provision has also been made against leases where impairment testing has 
indicated that after recognising an impairment charge the estimated discounted cash ﬂows derived from the property and its 
associated operations are insufﬁcient to cover the unavoidable lease costs and the lease is therefore deemed onerous the group 
also provided for the unavoidable costs to restore a property to its original condition under contractual obligations these leases 
have a weighted average unexpired life of 24 years 30 june 2013 25 years of the provision totalling £528m £261m will be 
utilised over periods ranging from one to 14 years and the remaining £267m will be utilised over periods from one to in excess 
of 25 years 
disposal provisions
provision has been made for legacy industrial disease and personal injury claims deferred payments arising from the settlement 
of property lease obligations and other directly attributable costs arising as a consequence of the sale or closure of the businesses 
the timing of any personal injury claims is uncertain and therefore these claims have been included in the maturity analysis 
based on management’s best estimates the disposal provisions held comprise the following
as at 
30 june 
2014 
£m
as at 
30 june 
2013 
£m
deferred payments arising on lease settlement and related costs 01 08
legacy industrial disease and personal injury claims 40 44
other 05 07
total disposal provisions 46 59
restructuring provisions
the restructuring provisions relate to the costs associated with the closure of two mecca venues and exit of one enracha venue 
early in 201415
indirect tax provisions
the group has recognised provisions for a number of historic indirect taxation issues including the group’s output vat claim on 
amusement machines see note 31 payments of £371m were made against these provisions during the year and the remaining 
balance of £12m represents the directors’ best estimate of the outﬂow likely to arise
notes to the financial statements continued the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 129
23 share capital
as at 
30 june 2014  
authorised
as at 
30 june 2013  
authorised
number 
m
nominal 
value 
£m
number 
m
nominal 
value 
£m
ordinary shares of 13 89p each 12960 1800 12960 1800
 
as at 
30 june 2014 
issued and fully paid
as at 
30 june 2013 
issued and fully paid
number 
m
nominal 
value 
£m
number 
m
nominal 
value 
£m
at start of year 3907 542 3906 542
shares issued in year –– 01 –
at end of year 3907 542 3907 542
during the year no ordinary shares were issued under the save as you earn share option scheme year ended 30 june 2013 
70095 for total consideration of £97432
24 cash generated from operations
reconciliation of operating proﬁt to cash generated from continuing operations
group company
year ended 
30 june 
2014 
£m
year ended 
30 june 
2013 
£m
year ended 
30 june 
2014 
£m
year ended 
30 june 
2013 
£m
continuing operations
operating proﬁt loss 259 522 09 31
exceptional items 465 177 – –
operating proﬁt loss before exceptional items 724 699 09 31
depreciation and amortisation 436 389 – –
share based payments and other 05 10 09 28
decrease in inventories 02 01 – –
increase decrease in other receivables 11 19 – –
decrease increase in trade and other payables 74 79 02 01
1072 1177 02 02
cash utilisation of provisions 365 56 – –
cash payments in respect of exceptional items 91 84 – –
cash generated from used in continuing operations 616 1037 02 02 130 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
financial statements
25 acquisition of subsidiary
on 12 may 2013 the group acquired a 100 interest in gala casino 1 limited now grosvenor casinos gc limited for a base 
cash consideration subject to completion adjustments of £1790m the acquisition included 19 operating casinos and three 
nonoperating casino licences
fair values
in accordance with ifrs3 ‘business combinations’ the prior year comparatives for the group balance sheet and group cash ﬂow 
statement have been restated for the adjustments to the provisional amounts recognised on the acquisition of gala casino 1 
limited now grosvenor casinos gc limited there is no impact on the income statement reported in the prior year the 
amounts disclosed in the prior year were provisional due to the proximity of the acquisition to the group’s yearend and the 
completion account process outlined by the sale and purchase agreement extending beyond the ﬁnalisation of the prior year 
ﬁnancial statements
the ﬁnal fair values of the assets and liabilities acquired in respect of the acquisition along with the provisional fair values 
disclosed in the prior year are outlined in the following table 
provisional 
£m
adjustments 
£m
final 
£m
intangible assets 1595 57 1538
property plant and equipment 188 09 179
inventories 02 – 02
other receivables 18 01 17
income tax receivable 27 27 –
cash and shortterm deposits 45 03 42
trade and other payables 584 02 586
deferred tax liability 198 61 137
provisions 49 – 49
net assets acquired 1044 38 1006
goodwill 785 24 809
consideration 1829 14 1815
other receivables included an immaterial amount of ﬁnancial assets 
reconciliation to cash inﬂow outﬂow from acquisition of subsidiary including deferred consideration
year ended 
30 june 
2014 
£m
year ended 
30 june 
2013 
restated 
£m
consideration – 1815
cash and shortterm deposits acquired – 42
refund of consideration arising on ﬁnalisation of completion accounts 12 12
deferred consideration paid in respect of prior year acquisitions 01 01
acquisition of subsidiary including deferred consideration 11 1786
goodwill
goodwill comprised deferred tax liabilities recognised on certain fair value adjustments arising on acquisition and the synergy 
beneﬁts arising from the exclusion of all central management functions previously associated with the operation of the casinos 
from the acquisition the group operates the acquired casinos with only a small incremental cost increase in its existing casino 
central management functions none of the goodwill recognised is deductible for tax purposes
notes to the financial statements continued the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 131
acquisition related costs
in the prior year the group recognised an exceptional operating expense of £78m in the income statement in respect of 
acquisition related costs this included additional costs incurred by the group due to the referral of the acquisition to the 
competition commission and a £04m loss associated with the disposal of the group’s nonoperating licence in edinburgh 
required by the competition commission the amount was in addition to the £50m exceptional operating expense recognised 
in the income statement in the 18 month period ending 30 june 2012 in respect of acquisition related costs
the group also recognised in the prior year the £1400m term loans raised to part ﬁnance the acquisition at their fair value less 
£18m of costs directly attributable to the issue of the debt 
income statement
the following amounts representing the results from the date of acquisition to 30 june 2013 have been included in the group’s 
income statement in the prior year
£m
revenue before adjustment for free bets promotions and customer bonuses 155
free bets promotions and customer bonuses 04
revenue 151
operating proﬁt before exceptional items 29
proﬁt after tax 21
the following table reconciles the amounts reported in the group income statement in prior year to the amounts that would 
have been included had the acquisition completed at the beginning of the group’s reporting period
reported 
£m
adjustment 
£m
proforma 
£m
revenue before adjustment for free bets promotions and customer bonuses 6250 973 7223
free bets promotions and customer bonuses 288 28 316
revenue 5962 945 6907
operating proﬁt before exceptional items 699 145 844
proﬁt after tax 270 108 378
in preparing the proforma results certain assumptions and estimates have been made and are therefore not necessarily 
indicative of the results of the group that would have occurred had the acquisition actually occurred at the beginning  
of the reporting period the information is also not indicative of the future results of the group
26 cash and shortterm deposits
group
as at 
30 june 
2014 
£m
as at 
30 june 
2013 
restated 
£m
cash at bank and on hand 440 491
shortterm deposits 31 159
total 471 650
the analysis of cash and shortterm deposits by currency is as follows
group
as at 
30 june 
2014 
£m
as at 
30 june 
2013 
restated 
£m
sterling 423 589
euro 46 58
other currencies 02 03
total 471 650 132 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
financial statements
26 cash and shortterm deposits continued
cash at bank earns interest at ﬂoating rates based on daily bank deposit rates shortterm deposits are made for varying periods 
depending on the immediate cash requirements of the group and earn interest at their respective shortterm deposit rates
for the purpose of the statements of cash ﬂow cash and cash equivalents comprise the following
group
as at 
30 june 
2014 
£m
as at 
30 june 
2013 
restated 
£m
cash at bank and on hand 440 491
shortterm deposits 31 159
471 650
bank overdrafts 08 34
total 463 616
company
at 30 june 2014 the company had cash and shortterm deposits of £02m 30 june 2013 £02m
27 employees and directors
a employee beneﬁt expense for the group during the year
year ended 
30 june 
2014 
£m
year ended 
30 june 
2013 
£m
wages and salaries 1847 1651
social security costs 185 170
pension costs 55 36
sharebased payments 05 02
2082 1859
employee beneﬁt expense for the group includes £nil year ended 30 june 2013 £40m in respect of discontinued operations
the company has no employees the directors of the group are paid by a subsidiary undertaking
b average monthly number of employees
year ended 
30 june 
2014
year ended 
30 june 
2013
grosvenor casinos venues 6288 4698
mecca venues 3627 3846
digital 103 186
enracha 559 563
central 332 349
10909 9642
c key management compensation
year ended 
30 june 
2014 
£m
year ended 
30 june 
2013 
£m
salaries and shortterm employee beneﬁts including social security costs 32 40
termination beneﬁts – 02
postemployment beneﬁts 04 04
sharebased payments 04 02
32 48
included in key management compensation are bonuses of £nil in the respect of the current year that will be paid in 201415 
201314 £nil
key management is deﬁned as the directors of the group and the management team details of which are set out on page 50 
further details of emoluments received by directors are included in the remuneration report
notes to the financial statements continued the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 133
d directors’ interests
the directors’ interests in shares of the company including conditional awards under the long term incentive plans  
are detailed in the remuneration report 
e total emoluments of the directors of the rank group plc 
year ended 
30 june 
2014 
£m
year ended 
30 june 
2013 
£m
salaries fees and beneﬁts 11 12
postemployment beneﬁts 02 02
13 14
no director accrued beneﬁts under deﬁned beneﬁt pension schemes in either year no director year ended 30 june 2013 one  
is a member of the group’s deﬁned contribution pension plan at the year end further details of emoluments received by 
directors including the aggregate amount of gains made by directors upon the vesting of conditional share awards are  
disclosed in the remuneration report on page 72
28 sharebased payments 
during the year ended 30 june 2014 the company operated an equity settled long term incentive plan ‘ltip’ further details 
of the ltip are included in the remuneration report on pages 66 and 67 in the prior year the saveasyouearn ‘saye’ share 
option scheme previously offered to all uk employees and the executive share option scheme ‘esos’ both lapsed all of these 
schemes were equitysettled other than the 2010 grant under the ltip which was cash settled in the prior year 
the number and weighted average exercise prices ‘waep’ of and movements in each of the share option arrangements  
during the year are shown below
outstanding 
1 july 
2013
granted 
during 
201314
exercised 
during 
201314
expired 
during 
201314
forfeited 
during 
201314
outstanding 
30 june 
2014
exercisable 
30 june 
2014
ltip
number of shares 8548832 946473 106247 1465608 2529681 5393769 –
waep nil nil nil nil nil nil –
outstanding 
1 july 
2012
granted 
during 
201213
exercised 
during 
201213
expired 
during 
201213
forfeited 
during 
201213
outstanding 
30 june 
2013
exercisable 
30 june 
2013
esos
number of shares 11666 – – 11666 – – –
waep 27000p – – 27000p – – –
saye
number of shares 158559 – 70095 76378 12086 – –
waep 13900p – 13900p 13900p 13900p – –
ltip
number of shares 3128265 6874638 1099786 42849 311436 8548832 –
waep nil nil nil nil nil nil –
the ltip awards granted during the year vest in three tranches 40 in september 2015 40 in september 2016 and 20  
in september 2017
ltip awards that vested during the prior year were cashsettled following a modiﬁcation of the settlement basis at 30 june 2013 
110386 of the outstanding awards were to be cashsettled during the year ended 30 june 2014 106247 of these awards vested 
and the remaining 4139 lapsed no incremental fair value was granted on the date of modiﬁcation all awards outstanding at  
30 june 2014 are to be equitysettled
the share awards outstanding at the period ends have the following range of exercise prices and expiry dates as follows
outstanding at 30 june 2014 outstanding at 30 june 2013
exercise 
prices
weighted 
average 
remaining 
contractual 
life
number 
of shares 
under 
option
exercise 
prices
weighted 
average 
remaining 
contractual 
life
number 
of shares 
under 
option
ltip nil 21 years 5393769 nil 31 years 8548832  134 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
financial statements
28 sharebased payments continued
the fair value of ltip awards granted is calculated using a monte carlo simulation which allows for the incorporation of market 
performance conditions for grants made subject to nonmarket based performance conditions the expense recognised is based 
on expectations of these conditions being met which are reassessed at each balance sheet date
the following table lists the inputs used for the ltip grants during the years ended
30 june 
2014
30 june 
2013
risk free interest rate  034140 075142
dividend yield  320 510
expected volatility  310 330
vesting period years 13 24
weighted average share price p 14050 16050
the expected volatility reﬂects the assumption that the historical volatility over a period similar to the life of the award is 
indicative of future trends which may not necessarily be the actual outcome
the number of ltip awards and the fair value per share of the ltip awards granted during the year were as follows 
30 june 
2014
30 june 
2013
number 946473 6874638
weighted average fair value per share 713p 1034p
the group recognised a £05m credit year ended 30 june 2013 £02m charge in operating proﬁt from accounting for share
based payments and related national insurance in accordance with ifrs2
national insurance contributions are payable in respect of some sharebased payments these contributions are payable  
on the date of exercise based on the intrinsic value of the sharebased payments and as such are treated as cashsettled awards 
the group has recorded liabilities at 30 june 2014 of £nil 30 june 2013 £01m the group has a further liability of £nil  
30 june 2013 £01m in respect of outstanding cashsettled share options
29 retirement benefits
deﬁned contribution schemes
the group operates the rank group stakeholder pension plan and the rank group workplace pension scheme ‘the plans’ 
which are externally funded and the plans’ assets are held separately from group assets during the year ended 30 june 2014  
the group contributed a total of £51m year ended 30 june 2013 £36m to the plans there were no signiﬁcant contributions 
outstanding at the balance sheet date in either year
other pension commitment
the group has an unfunded pension commitment relating to three former executives of the group at 30 june 2014 the 
group’s commitment was £34m 30 june 2013 £31m the group paid £01m year ended 30 june 2013 £01m in pension 
payments during the year the net cost arising on the commitment of £nil year ended 30 june 2013 £nil has been recognised 
in other ﬁnancial losses in the income statement the actuarial loss arising on the commitment resulting from the changes in 
assumptions outlined below in the year was £04m year ended 30 june 2013 gain of £02m before taxation and £03m after 
taxation year ended 30 june 2013 £02m 
assumptions used to determine the obligations at
30 june 
2014 
 pa
30 june 
2013 
 pa
discount rate 42 45
pension increases 34 30
the obligation in the current year has been calculated using the s1 mortality tables with a 15 per annum improvement in life 
expectancy in the prior year the obligation was calculated using the pa92 yob mc mortality table with a 15 per annum 
improvement in life expectancy
notes to the financial statements continued the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 135
30 commitments
group
operating lease commitments – group as lessee
the group has entered into commercial leases on certain properties plant and items of machinery these leases have  
durations of from under one year to 51 years
future minimum rentals payable under noncancellable operating leases are as follows 
as at 
30 june 
2014 
£m
as at 
30 june 
2013 
£m
not later than one year 483 465
after one year but not more than ﬁve years 1884 1861
after ﬁve years 2876 3230
5243 5556
as at 
30 june 
2014 
£m
as at 
30 june 
2013 
£m
total future minimum sublease payments expected to be received under noncancellable subleases 229 251
finance lease commitments – group as lessee
the minimum lease payments under ﬁnance leases together with the present value of the net minimum lease payments  
are as follows
minimum 
lease payments
present value  
of minimum 
lease payments
30 june 
2014 
£m
30 june 
2013 
£m
30 june 
2014 
£m
30 june 
2013 
£m
not later than one year 41 42 32 33
after one year but not more than ﬁve years 83 103 60 81
more than ﬁve years 78 66 57 49
202 211 149 163
less future ﬁnance charges 53 48
present value of minimum lease payments 149 163
as at 
30 june 
2014 
£m
as at 
30 june 
2013 
£m
total future minimum sublease payments expected to be received under noncancellable subleases 02 02
capital commitments
at 30 june 2014 the group has contracts placed for future capital expenditure primarily relating to property plant and 
equipment of £37m 30 june 2013 £47m  136 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
financial statements
31 contingent liabilities 
group
fiscal neutrality case
in previous periods the group disclosed a contingent liability in respect of a claim for repayment of output vat on amusement 
machines in may 2010 the group received £307m vat of £264m plus interest of £43m in respect of the claim which has 
been the subject of ongoing litigation during the year the court of appeal found in favour of hmrc and consequently an 
amount of £264m was provided to cover the expected outﬂow together with an accrual for interest of £43m in may 2014  
a payment was made to hmrc in respect of these claims with the remaining balance being the directors best estimate of the  
outﬂow likely to arise the group has been granted leave to appeal to the supreme court and it therefore remains possible  
the group will not ultimately be liable for these amounts the appeal will be held in april 2015
other vat and duty
in previous periods the group has disclosed contingent liabilities in respect of a limited number of vat and duty issues  
at 30 june 2013 the group estimated its total exposure to be approximately £290m plus interest of which £122m plus 
interest was provided during the year the group has paid £119m plus interest of £08m as settlement of these vat and  
duty issues
property leases
concurrent to the £2110m sale and leaseback in 2006 the group transferred the rights and obligations but not the legal titles of 
44 property leases to a third party the group remains potentially liable in the event of default by the third party should default 
occur then the group would have recourse to two guarantors it is understood that of the original 44 leases transferred 16 of 
these have not expired or been surrendered these 16 leases have durations of between one month and 99 years and a current 
annual rental obligation net of sublet income of approximately £15m
during the year the group became aware of certain information in respect of a deterioration in the ﬁnancial position of the 
third party and one of the guarantors however the group has not to date been notiﬁed of any default or intention to default 
in respect of the transferred leases
company
at 30 june 2014 the company has made guarantees to subsidiary undertakings of £1703m 30 june 2013 £1509m
32 related party transactions
group
details of compensation of key management are disclosed in note 27
entities with signiﬁcant inﬂuence over the group
on 7 june 2011 guoco group limited guoco a company incorporated in bermuda and listed on the hong kong stock 
exchange acquired a controlling interest in the rank group plc the ultimate parent undertaking of guoco is hong leong 
company malaysia berhad hong leong which is incorporated in malaysia at 30 june 2014 entities controlled by hong 
leong owned 689 of the company’s shares including 518 through guoco and its wholly owned subsidiary rank assets 
limited the company’s immediate parent undertaking
during the year the gaming group limited a wholly owned subsidiary within the group purchased three nonoperating 
casino licences from clermont leisure uk limited for consideration of £58m and has subsequently begun operating one  
of these licences an agreement is in place subject to the satisfaction of certain legal conditions to purchase a further non
operating casino licence for a maximum total consideration of £02m clermont leisure uk limited is an entity subject to 
common control the total consideration of £60m includes an option to purchase one further licence for a nominal amount 
the valuation of the casino licences was carried out by a third party on an arms length basis
company
the following transactions with subsidiaries occurred in the year
year ended 
30 june 
2014 
£m
year ended 
30 june 
2013 
£m
interest payable to subsidiary undertaking 226 279
during the year rank group finance plc a subsidiary of the company provided additional cash to the company of £166m 
year ended 30 june 2013 £148m 
notes to the financial statements continued the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 137
33 principal subsidiaries 
the company owns directly or indirectly 100 of the ordinary share capital and voting rights of the following companies
1

 
name country of incorporation principal activities
grosvenor casinos limited england and wales london and provincial casinos
grosvenor casinos gc limited england and wales london and provincial casinos
the gaming group limited england and wales london casino
mecca bingo limited england and wales social and bingo clubs
rank leisure limited england and wales adult gaming centres in mecca bingo and 
grosvenor casinos
rank holding españa sa spain owns the group’s investments in spain
rank digital gaming alderney limited alderney interactive gaming
rank digital limited
2
england and wales support services to interactive gaming
rank digital services gibraltar limited gibraltar support services to interactive gaming
rank gaming group limited england and wales intermediary holding company
rank group gaming division limited england and wales intermediary holding company and 
provision of shared services 
rank leisure holdings limited england and wales intermediary holding company and 
corporate activities
rank nemo twentyfive limited
2
england and wales intermediary holding company
rank overseas holdings limited england and wales intermediary holding company
rank holdings netherlands bv il netherlands intermediary holding company
rank group finance plc
2
england and wales funding operations for the group
1 the group comprises a large number of companies and it is not practical to list all companies the table above therefore includes those companies which the directors 
consider principally affect the consolidated results or ﬁnancial position of the group
2 directly held by the company 
the principal activities are carried out in the country of incorporation as indicated above all principal subsidiary undertakings 
have a 30 june yearend 138 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
unaudited appendix to financial statements
five year review
year 
ended 
30 june 
2014 
£m
year 
ended 
30 june 
2013 
restated 
£m
year 
ended 
30 june 
2012 
unaudited 
£m
year 
ended 
30 june 
2011 
unaudited 
£m
year 
ended 
30 june 
2010 
unaudited 
£m
continuing operations
revenue before adjustment for free bets promotions and  
customer bonuses 7077 6250 5843 5807 5551
free bets promotions and customer bonuses 292 288 254 238 212
revenue 6785 5962 5589 5569 5339
operating proﬁt before exceptional items 724 699 697 629 564
exceptional items charged credited against operating proﬁt 465 177 199 439 389
group operating proﬁt 259 522 498 1068 953
total net ﬁnancing charge income 115 95 48 746 29
proﬁt before taxation 144 427 450 1814 924
taxation 30 138 136 453 254
proﬁt after taxation from continuing operations 174 289 314 1361 670
discontinued operations 28 19 33 61 24
proﬁt for the year 202 270 281 1422 694
adjusted earnings per share – basic 124p 124p 124p 102p 90p
basic earnings per ordinary share 52p 69p 72p 365p 179p
basic earnings per ordinary share before exceptional items 135p 109p 113p 98p 89p
total ordinary dividend including proposed per ordinary share 450p 410p 360p 266p 209p
group funds employed
intangible assets and property plant and equipment 6077 6203 3715 3763 3673
provisions 595 683 529 530 412
other net liabilities 1689 2060 1324 1518 1171
total funds employed at yearend 3793 3460 1862 1715 2090
financed by 
ordinary share capital and reserves 2423 2419 2280 2087 756
net debt cash 1370 1041 418 372 1334
3793 3460 1862 1715 2090
average number of employees 000s 109 96 92 91 86
results for the years ended 30 june 2013 and 30 june 2012 exclude operations discontinued during the year ended 30 june 2013 
continuing results for the year ended 30 june 2011 and 30 june 2010 have not been restated to exclude operations during the 
year ended 30 june 2013 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 139
keep it fun
a key aim for the group is to ensure that our business 
understands and limits problem gambling where possible
the following outlines actions carried out during the year  
to help us achieve this aim
understand through research and engagement
problem gambling is a complex and poorly understood 
subject its roots lie within a complex web of psychological 
sociological and economic factors with the problematic 
gambling behaviour often a symptom of deeperlying issues
in the absence of a clearer understanding of the subject it  
is likely that measures designed to tackle problem gambling 
whether prohibitive or restrictive regulations or operator 
policies will prove insufﬁciently effective
during 201314 we engaged in a number of programmes 
designed to further our – and the industry’s – understanding  
of problem gambling
rank–university of salford research project – work on  
the university of salford’s research programme to understand 
better the behaviour of problem gamblers started in earnest 
in 201314 we donated data processing equipment  
and provided data sets from the grosvenor casinos’ ‘play 
points’ rewards card programme while the responsible 
gambling trust ‘rgt’ provided research funding we  
expect to be in a position to review with rgt the  
ﬁrststage ﬁndings during 201415
separately we have agreed to extend the research programme 
to incorporate a study of the effect of january’s changes to 
stakes and prizes on casino slot machines this component  
of the programme also involves the social policy research 
provider the national centre for social research ‘natcen’
rgt–natcen machines research programme – we 
participated in stage 1 of rgt’s study of player behaviours on 
slot machines we have signalled our willingness in principle 
to participate in subsequent stages of this programme
gameplan – in addition to formal research we believe that  
we can enhance our understanding of problem gambling  
via engagement with a wide variety of interested parties 
through our gameplan programme we met with a broad  
roster of government and shadow government departments 
regulatory bodies problem gambling treatment providers 
researchers and academics trade associations pressure groups 
and international peers to discuss the effects of our operations 
and the consequences of our ambitions the list of 
organisations included hm treasury shadow department  
of culture media and sport the gambling commission 
gamcare
1
 rgt the british columbia lottery corporation  
and the campaign for fairer gambling
other information
1 gamcare are the leading provider of information advice support and free counselling for the prevention and treatment of problem gambling
how big a problem is problem gambling
a number of large scale studies of the 
prevalence of problem gambling in great 
britain conducted since 1999
1
 found that 
between 04 and 09 of adults are problem 
gamblers
2
 not only does this represent a low 
proportion of the population but it is also 
relatively low by international standards 
however these statistics tell only part of  
the story
firstly these studies also classify 42 of 
adults as being ‘at risk gamblers’ deﬁned as 
“those who experience some gamblingrelated 
problems but remain below the threshold for 
‘problem’ gambling”
secondly while the proportion of people  
who are problem gamblers is low the absolute 
number it is estimated that in 2012 around 
180000 adults in england and scotland were 
problem gamblers is substantial 
thirdly a study by professor david forest  
of the university of salford based upon  
data from the british gambling prevalence 
survey has shown that people with gambling 
problems experience signiﬁcant distress and 
unhappiness while the gambling problem  
is generally understood to be a symptom  
of distress and a secondary impact rather  
than the primary cause the level of distress 
involved suggests to us that statistical 
prevalence should not be the sole measure  
of the impact of problem gambling 
during 201415 we will be undertaking 
further research to a understand the 
prevalence of problem gambling within our 
brands and b identify methods for measuring 
our performance in tackling the issue
1 british gambling prevalence survey 1999 2007 
and 2010 scottish health survey 2012 english 
health survey 2012
2 gambling commission 140 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
other information
rank research dinners – during the year we held a series of 
rank research dinners designed to develop our understanding 
of problem gambling these dinners which were held under 
‘chatham house rules’ involved participants from the 
gambling commission rgt igt ernst and young the 
university of salford natcen the mail on sunday and 
gamblingcompliancecom 
in february 2014 we hosted an international roundtable 
discussion on problem gambling involving joa groupe 
france loto de quebec canada the hippodrome casino 
great britain the association of gaming equipment 
manufacturers and the university of california los angeles 
we plan to repeat this event in 2015 
rank executive awareness programme – during the year  
we relaunched the rank executive awareness programme  
with gamcare designed to promote greater understanding 
amongst key decisionmakers of the realities of problem 
gambling the programme involves mandatory visits to 
gamcare and completion of the ‘keep it fun’ training  
for all members of rank’s executive committee 
responsible gambling trust – rank was one of the ofﬁcial 
sponsors of rgt’s harm minimisation conference 2013 the 
conference featured an impressive lineup of problem gambling 
research experts from around the world including great 
britain australia the usa and sweden
inﬂuence customer behaviour through communication
during the year we invested approximately £50000 in our 
‘keep it fun’ programme to encourage healthy consumer 
attitudes towards gambling we have been assisted in this 
programme by the british columbia lottery corporation’s 
gamesense team who have generously shared insights  
and ideas
during 201415 we plan to test machinebased advertising  
to promote healthy relationships with slots play
provide safeguards and intervene where problems arise
since 2006 we have worked with gamcare to test the 
effectiveness of our customer protection measures gaining 
accreditation for our venues and digital businesses during 
201314 we invested £10000 in achieving gamcare 
accreditation for grosvenor casinos and mecca and  
we expect to invest a similar amount in the year ahead
through our ‘keep it fun’ training programme we  
help our teams to identify signs of problem gambling  
and – where appropriate – to intervene in order to  
provide support
• during 201314 35 of our team members undertook  
our ‘keep it fun’ course totalling 140 hours of training
• our teams helped 4000 customers to agree selfexclusions 
by which customers elect to be refused access to our brands 
in venue andor online
• the vigilance of our teams helped customers to adhere  
to these selfexclusions with a 11 reduction in reported 
breaches
1
 and our teams continue to refer our customers  
to counselling support via gamcare
during 201415 we will be undertaking trials of machine
based interventions that will allow customers to set limits  
on play
support treatment and counselling
we believe that our role in tackling problem gambling should 
not include the direct provision of counselling services but 
that in tandem with our industry peers we have a responsibility 
for funding such services
during the year we contributed £296000 to rgt which  
in turn allocates 68 of its funds to counselling and  
treatment providers
in addition to funding we also promote gamcare’s helpline 
and netline as well as the gambleaware website which also 
provides helpful guidance for those in need
the cost of ‘keeping it fun’ – 201314
201314 201213
contributions to rgt 296000 314000
payments to gamcare 10000 –
keep it fun communication 50000 –
1 excludes the impact of the 19 acquired casinos
other information continued the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 141
shareholder information
201415 ﬁnancial calendar
12 september 2014 record date for 201314 ﬁnal dividend
16 october 2014 annual general meeting and interim 
management statement
22 october 2014 payment date for 201314 ﬁnal dividend
29 january 2015 interim results announcement
14 may 2015 interim management statement
registrar
all administrative enquiries relating to shares should in the  
ﬁrst instance be directed to the company’s registrar quoting 
reference number 1235 and clearly state the registered 
shareholder’s name and address please write to the rank group 
plc registrar equiniti limited aspect house spencer road 
lancing west sussex bn99 6da tel from the  
uk 0871 384 2098 and from outside the uk 44 121 415 7047
there is a text phone available on 0871 384 2255 for 
shareholders with hearing difﬁculties
calls cost 8p per minute plus network extras
shareview
the shareview portfolio service from the company’s registrar 
gives shareholders more control of their rank shares and other 
investments including
• direct access to data held for them on the share register 
including recent share movements and dividend details
• a recent valuation of their portfolio and
• a range of information and practical help for shareholders 
including how they can elect to receive communications 
electronically
it is easy and free to set up a portfolio – shareholders will just 
need the shareholder reference printed on their proxy form or 
dividend stationery please visit the following website for more 
details wwwshareviewcouk
payment of dividends
the company is no longer operating a dividend reinvestment 
plan shareholders may ﬁnd it more convenient to make 
arrangements to have dividends paid directly to their bank 
account the advantages of this are that the dividend is 
credited to a shareholder’s bank account on the payment date 
there is no need to present cheques for payment and there is 
no risk of cheques being lost in the post
to set up a dividend mandate or to change an existing 
mandate please contact equiniti limited our registrar whose 
contact details are above alternatively shareholders who use 
equiniti’s shareview can log on to wwwshareviewcouk and 
follow the online instructions
shareholder information
a wide range of information for shareholders and investors  
is available in the investors area of the rank group website 
wwwrankcom
frequently asked questions
we have a shareholder ‘frequently asked questions’ section  
on our website which provides answers to many questions that 
shareholders have wwwrankcominvestorsshareholder
faqsjsp
capital gains tax
for the purpose of calculating uk capital gains tax on a 
disposal of ordinary shares in the company held since 31 
march 1982 including shares held in the predecessor 
company the rank organisation plc the price of the 
company’s ordinary shares at that date was 190p per share 
this price should be adjusted for the effects of the rights issue 
in january 1990 the enhanced share alternative in july 1993 
the subdivision and consolidation of shares in march 1994 
the enhanced scrip dividend in march 1998 and the 18 for 25 
subdivision and share consolidation aligned with the 65p 
special dividend payment which took place in march 2007 
more information regarding these adjustments is available on 
the wwwrankcom website
shareholder security
we are aware that some of our shareholders have received 
unsolicited telephone calls concerning their rank shares  
these communications tend to be from overseasbased 
‘brokers’ who offer a premium price for your rank shares but 
ask you to make an upfront payment typically in the form  
of an insurance bond we recommend that before paying  
any money you
• obtain the name of the person and ﬁrm contacting you
• check the fca register at wwwfcaorgukregister to 
ensure they are authorised
• use the details on the fca register to contact the ﬁrm
• call the fca consumer helpline on 0800 111 6768 if there 
are no contact details on the fca register or you are told 
they are out of date and
• search the fca’s list of unauthorised ﬁrms and individuals to 
avoid doing business with wwwfcaorgukconsumers
protectyourselfunauthorisedﬁrmsunauthorisedﬁrms
toavoid
if you use an unauthorised ﬁrm to buy or sell shares or other 
investments you will not have access to the financial 
ombudsman service or financial services compensation 
scheme fscs if things go wrong 142 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
other information
below please ﬁnd the link to the fca’s website which gives 
information on scams and swindles which shareholders may 
ﬁnd helpful wwwfcaorgukconsumersscams
further information on fraud can be found at  
wwwactionfraudorguk 
action fraud’s helpline is 0300 123 2040
we recommend that you report any attempted share frauds to 
the authorities since providing information with regard to how 
the fraudsters have contacted and dealt with you will assist the 
authorities in understanding the fraudsters’ way of operating 
so as to enable them to disrupt and prevent these activities and 
prosecute them
sharegift
shareholders with a very small number of shares the value of 
which may make it uneconomical to sell may wish to consider 
donating them to charity through sharegift a registered 
charity administered by the orr mackintosh foundation 
further information about sharegift is available at  
wwwsharegiftorg or by writing to
sharegift 
17 carlton house terrace 
london sw1y 5ah 
tel 020 7930 3737
for any other information please contact the following at  
our registered ofﬁce
frances bingham company secretary
sarah powell director of treasury and investor relations
registered ofﬁce
the rank group plc statesman house 
stafferton way maidenhead sl6 1ay 
tel 01628 504 000
the rank group plc
registered in england and wales no 03140769
other information continued the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 143
glossary
financial terminology
revenue
income retained by the group after deductions for vat and 
players’ winnings
likeforlike
excludes club openings closures and relocations and changes 
to gaming taxation
ebitda
earnings before interest tax depreciation amortisation and 
exceptional items
operating margin
operating proﬁt expressed as a percentage of revenue
kpi terminology
customers
unique customers visiting a bingo club or casino or operating 
an online account in the 12month period
customer visits
individual customer visits to bingo clubs and casinos
spend per visit
revenue divided by customer visits
online – ofﬂine crossover
percentage of adults participating in both remote and land
based gaming
net promoter score
a measure of a customer’s propensity to recommend
gaming industry terminology
interval games
automated game of bingo played in a licensed club
adult gaming centre
a licensed gaming machines arcade
main stage bingo
traditional game of bingo played in a licensed club
parimutuel gaming
gaming where players compete with each other to win prizes 
the house may take a fee for organising the game but does not 
participate actively also called ‘playertoplayer’ gaming
remote gaming and betting
gambling services offered to customers via the internet and 
mobile telephones and tablets
commission des jeux
the governing body for the gambling industry in belgium
gambling commission
the governing body for all sectors of gambling in great britain 
with the exception of the national lottery and spread betting
gamcare
a charitable organisation that provides counselling and other 
services to those with gamblingrelated problems
responsible gambling trust
a charitable organisation that funds treatment education and 
research related to problem gambling and which was formed 
following the merger of the great foundation and the 
responsible gambling fund the forest stewardship council fsc is an international network which promotes 
responsible management of the world’s forests forest certiﬁcation is combined with 
a system of product labelling that allows consumers readily to identify timberbased 
products from certiﬁed forests
designed and produced by black sun plc
printed by cpi colour  the rank group plc 
statesman house  
stafferton way  
maidenhead  
sl6 1ay 
 
tel 01628 504 000 
web wwwrankcom
company registration number  03140769


Summary:
 10 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
strategic report
chief executive’s qa
meet our new 
chief executive
 what made you want to join rank
rank is a company with a fantastic 
reputation and legacy but i was drawn 
more to the potential of where it can go 
in the future than to its past like most 
people in the uk i had grown up knowing 
the rank brand and its stable of products 
and entertainment history but more 
recently working in the gaming industry 
i knew it as a group with great brands 
and an enviable position in venuebased 
bingo and casino gaming coming from 
william hill where i helped transform a 
company with a retail focus and culture 
into one which straddled the high street 
and the internet i could see some 
parallels with rank and that made me 
feel i could make a difference compared 
with other gaming companies rank has  
a much more entertainmentled offer 
engagement between staff and customers 
is closer and we have a greater awareness 
of who our customers are and what they 
enjoy additionally it was apparent to me 
that rank is very aware of its duty to 
operate responsibly and therefore has 
engaged with government and other 
interested parties on this issue these 
elements are important differentiators for 
rank and ones that i feel that we can 
harness further to grow the group 
what have been your ﬁrst impressions 
after three months with the group
it may sound like a cliché but i have 
been extremely impressed with the 
people throughout the business – they 
truly are our greatest assets there is  
a huge amount of passion and loyalty  
to the brands our employees work for  
– mecca grosvenor casinos and enracha 
– and their knowledge of our business 
and engagement with customers is better 
than i have seen in any other group 
ultimately we are in the business of 
providing entertainment to our customers 
and that begins and ends with the 
service and customer experience our staff 
provide through visiting our venues and 
meeting with team members i have come 
to realise what a strength our people are
i have also been struck by the amount  
of potential and opportunity that rank 
has we have really powerful assets at  
rank is a company 
with a fantastic 
reputation  
and legacy 
q
a

henry birch chief executive the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 11
our disposal nearly 11000 engaged and 
passionate staff more than 160 venues 
over three million customers and market 
leading positions in casino and bingo 
when you join a group as a new chief 
executive you want to be excited about 
where the group can go – about its 
potential – and in this regard i am 
extremely positive
as with any company rank needs to 
change and evolve what has been 
encouraging in my ﬁrst few months here 
– and perhaps unexpected – is that there 
is real appetite and agitation for change 
including from those who have been 
here the longest there is no shortage  
of ideas or energy in the group it is just 
a question of ensuring that we have the 
right focus and the right tools to harness 
them a willingness and desire to change 
from within is a great base from which  
to start
will there be a big focus on digital  
in the future
my background is predominantly digital 
so there has been an assumption that 
this will be my focus at rank in my view 
we are underpowered in digital with just 
10 of our total revenues coming from 
our digital business versus 30 for the 
wider gambling industry and there  
is an opportunity for us to grow here  
but i am also clear that we remain a 
venuesled business and there are many 
parts of our customer offer that can’t be 
 “i have been extremely 
impressed with the 
people throughout the 
business – they truly  
are our greatest assets”
‘digitised’ and nor would our customers 
want us to try our opportunity is to 
create a strong multichannel offer for 
our customers such that we give them  
a fantastic product and experience 
however they choose to engage with  
us – in one of our venues from a home 
computer or with a mobile device having 
a strong digital business is a key part of 
having a multichannel offer so yes 
digital will be a big focus but not at the 
expense of other parts of our business
i do however believe that technology 
generally will play an increasingly 
important part across our business not 
just in the digital arena if you look at 
the offer in our clubs it hasn’t changed 
substantially in many years yes some of 
our slots may be serverbased and some 
of our bingo customers may be using our 
mecca max units but fundamentally not 
a lot has changed in the way in which 
we deliver entertainment in our venues 
however this is not the case in other 
sectors for instance in retail or banking 
where technological innovation is 
increasingly changing the way people 
use products and services i expect our 
venues will also evolve in this way how 
and when technology plays a bigger part 
will be dependent on us and on our 
customers but it will happen it may be 
the implementation of a more cashless 
environment or the use of customer
owned mobile devices in venues to 
participate in gaming or to replace 
membership cards but technology will 
start to positively impact our business 
harnessing technology can not only 
make us more efﬁcient but crucially  
it can be used to provide an improved 
customer experience and give us a 
competitive advantage 
what are your immediate priorities
setting the right strategic focus for the 
group is a key priority this involves 
discipline in ensuring that noncore 
issues get put to one side and it involves 
plenty of communication i am keen that 
everyone in the business knows where 
we are heading and what we are trying  
to achieve there is no point in having 
priorities and a strategy if people aren’t 
aware of them additionally we need to 
have clear milestones associated with our 
strategic focus setting the strategy is the 
easy bit the execution of the strategy  
is what counts 
i am also focused on building the right 
team at rank a team that works well 
together challenges each other and 
complements each other fortunately  
i have inherited a strong management 
team at rank but inevitably there will  
be some change
i am looking forward to spending more 
time in our clubs talking to our staff  
and customers ﬁnding out how we can 
improve our business and run it better 
what is your vision for the group 
ultimately my vision is that rank will  
be the uk’s leading multichannel 
gaming company this means creating  
a compelling multichannel offer so  
that however our customers choose to 
interact with us – in venue at home or 
on the move – we can provide them with 
the best possible product service and 
entertainment experience if we can do 
this we will build a growing robust and 
more valuable business 
henry birch chief executive
13 august 2014
for more information see pages 
16 our strategy
28 operating review 12 the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014
strategic report
12 12 t th th the ra ra ank nk k k k g gro o ou up up plc plc ca  a annu nnual al report and f fin inanci cial a sta tate tement nts 2 2 s s 0 01 01 14 4 4
st str ra ate teg gi ic c g g c r r re re epor por por ort t t t t
oct ‘13
live casino launched
grosvenorcasinoscom’s live casino was successfully launched 
during the year live casino became one of the brand’s fastest 
growing digital revenue streams the rank group plc annual report and financial statements 2014 13 e e ra ra an nk nk nk gro gro g up up plc plc pl l  a a a a annu nnu nu n n u nua al a al l rep r r rep rep port ort ort rt ort ort ort ort r a an an an an nd f d fina ina n nci nci i nci cial al l a sta sta sta a a atem tem t t m ment ent ent en nts 2 s 2 s 2 s2014 014 01 01 014 4 4 1 13 13 13 3 13 1 t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t e the the the he h he he h h h he he the th the he he he e the t the he he he he h he he h h h h he e the h he he h he e h he he he he e e he e e e e e e h h he the the he he t e e he th the he the th h h h h th th h h th h h h
london poker room opens
following capital investment of £116m the london poker 
room was opened which incorporates a 350 capacity poker 
room bar and restaurant
nov ‘13