Rank wins court feud with HMRC

Rank shares jumped almost 10 per cent yesterday after the gaming company won a UK tax dispute in the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

The court ruled in Rank's favour on its long-running dispute with Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs over the company's claim that it had paid too much VAT on its bingo games and some amusement machines.

After Rank won various cases in Britain, HMRC appealed to the ECJ. The European court backed Rank's argument on bingo, although it has reservations about the company's claims concerning games machines.

Rank's bingo claims add up to £253m and it is now mulling its next move on an amusement machine claim for £30.8m.

The shares rose 13p, or 9.5 per cent, to 150p.