- Record first half
- Dry Spring weather impact
- Full year to meet expectations
Hollywood Bowl (BOWL) was the biggest midcap faller on Thursday (29 May), dropping 9% to 270.5p as recent warm and dry weather took the shine off record first-half trading to the end of March.
Chief executive Stephen Burns commented: ‘The prolonged period of unprecedented dry and warm weather from March to May, has had a short-term impact on trading.
‘However, we've responded quickly, managing margins and costs while maintaining strong operational performance, which remains as good as it’s ever been.’
The shares have underperformed the FTSE 250 index by around 19% over the last year, falling by 16% compared with a gain of 3% for the midcap index.
RECORD HALF
Revenue for the six months to March increased by 8% to a record £129.2 million driven by 2.1% growth in like-for-like sales which were up 3.2% after adjusting for the timing of Easter and the leap year.
These effects, alongside dry weather in February and March, resulted in lower first-half game volumes. However, spend per game was up 6.3%, amusement spend increased by 11.6% and food and drink spending increased by 1.1% and 1.2% respectively.
Adjusting for one-off items EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation) increased by 8.8% to £35.8 million.
Looking ahead, the company believes the business is well prepared for the key July and August holiday period and expects to meet analysts’ full-year EBITDA forecasts.
Burns added: ‘The significant investments we have made in the estate over the last 12 months, put us on course to enhance future EBITDA returns.
‘We remain focused on our growth strategy, supported by our strong balance sheet. We have an exciting, growing pipeline in the UK and Canada, and we remain on track to reach 130 centres over the next ten years.’
SUSTAINABLE GROWTH
Analysts at Berenberg tweaked their full-year profit forecasts by 2% to reflect the weather impact but maintained 2026 estimates.
‘Given the elevated level of investment in the business for refurbishments and new openings in recent years, we remain confident in management’s ability to deliver sustained profitable growth, with our FY26 estimates implying high single digit EBITDA growth and double-digit EPS growth,’ explained the analysts.
