Five-a-side football operator Goals Soccer Centres (GOAL:AIM) has issued another profit warning after its sales were hit by teams cancelling matches and poor weather conditions.
Goals says its full year pre-tax profit will be between £9.3 million and £9.8 million, below consensus forecasts of £10.8 million, sending the shares down 15.4% to 165p this morning.
The group had a difficult start to the year with first quarter like-for-like sales down by 3% due to adverse weather conditions.
The £113 million cap has started the second half on an even weaker footing. Like-for-like sales are down by 10% in the first nine weeks, which the company blames on tough comparisons from last year’s World Cup and a significant increase in teams cancelling matches and choosing to go on holiday to escape the poor British summer.
‘The statement regarding the weak summer sounds like another excuse,’ says Amisha Chohan, equity analyst at Sanlam Securities.
The silver lining in the cloud is underlying cash conversion in the first was healthy at 117% and like-for-like sales in the US are up by 22%. Goals will open its second site in the US in the second half, but its core business remains UK-focused with 46 centres. UK expansion is effectively off the agenda as Goals is only targeting one new opening in 2016 versus three previously.
Goals’ shares have fallen by 34% over the last six months and after today’s disappointing interims we think they’ll slide further.
