UK high street enduringLow ticket leisure a winnerValue retail showing resilienceMany have sounded the death knell for the UK high street, notably during the Covid crisis as retail trends shifted towards online shopping. Yet, the high street has endured amid the consumer's persistent demand for physical retail.And despite many high street stocks successfully adapting to this evolving retail...

What a mixed year this has turned out to be for Shares' best ideas for 2024.That our one star turn stock was an annuities and lifetime mortgage specialist, even if it was 'screamingly cheap at its current price', as we originally noted, and the supposedly exciting tech growth picks have been dull-to-dismal, might make you hark back to school days studies of Christopher Hill's The World Turned...

Record revenue and profitNew year started positivelyLong runway of growthThe UK and Canada's largest tenpin bowling operator Hollywood Bowl (BOWL) reported record revenue and profit for the year to 30 September despite tough prior year comparatives and said the new financial year had started positively.Despite the positive progress investors were not bowled over and took the opportunity to...

Retail and hospitality companies have slammed the UK government's Budget as a raid on corporate coffers that will heap extra costs on already hard-pressed sectors, with Labour's 6.7% increase in the National Living Wage and uplift in employers' national insurance contributions (NICs) forecast to lead to job cuts and price hikes.Chancellor Rachel Reeves' lowering of the employers' NIC threshold...

Hollywood Bowl directors sell 300,000 sharesBarclays director sells shares after new highMidwich director buys 150,000 sharesMelanie Dickinson, chief people officer at tenpin bowling and mini-golf centre operator, Hollywood Bowl (BOWL) has sold 150,000 shares at 331p for a total value of £497,505 on 24 October.Dickinson now has 290,276 shares after the sale. Matthew Hart, chief marketing and...

Revenue rises to record £230 millionProfit to be ahead of consensusStrong pipeline of new centresLeading tenpin bowling operator Hollywood Bowl (BOWL) delivered another record year of revenue alongside tight cost control, resulting in profits coming in ahead of consensus expectations.The positive update was well received by investors with the shares gaining nearly 3% to 334p, taking the...

Next CEO sells £29 million sharesDunelm founder's son sells 10 million sharesHollywood Bowl director sells 275,000 sharesSimon Wolfson, CEO of clothing retailer Next (NXT) has sold three tranches of shares during the period 20 to 24 September.Wolfson sold 204,349 shares at £100.65 for a total value of £20,568,376; 57,962 shares at £101.57 at a total value of £5,887.051 and 27,689 at...

Now that the dust has settled after the UK elections and attention has turned back to markets, we have updated the performance stats on our tips for 2024. Overall, our picks have gained 8.7% year-to-date compared with an 8.3% rise in the FTSE All-Share. That's not to say it has been plain sailing ? our returns range from a gain of almost 60% to a loss of more than 40%, the latter is in a US...

First half revenue up 8%Strong pipeline of new centresGood progress in CanadaThe UK and Canada?s largest tenpin bowling group Hollywood Bowl (BOWL) said first half revenue increased 8% to a record £119.2 million as UK revenue tipped over £100 million for the first time.The shares dipped 1.3% to 331p in a tough session with the mid-cap FTSE 250 index in the red to the tune of 1.5% after a...

Our portfolio of picks for 2024 is off to a solid start in what proved an uneven first quarter for the stock market as a whole.Our return of 9% is comfortably ahead of our FTSE All-Share benchmark at 3.9%. It?s a tale of feast and famine, however, with half of our selections achieving double-digit gains while 40% are in the red.!function(){"use...

Ten-pin bowling operator Hollywood Bowl (BOWL) is a super-resilient, cash-generative company whose growth potential in the UK and Canada looks underappreciated by the market based on its current valuation.Bowling is an affordable, family-friendly leisure activity with a defensive bent and Hollywood Bowl has scope to beat consensus estimates as robust customer demand, site refurbishments and...

AdobeIt may look like odd timing to back Adobe (ADBE:NASDAQ) just after lukewarm guidance, but we think this is a great opportunity.The creative digital software firm called for fiscal 2024 earnings per share of $17.60 to $18 on $21.3 billion to $21.5 billion revenue, a little light compared with the consensus of $18 and $21.7 billion revenue respectively.The shares plunged 7%, which seemed...

Record annual revenues amid 4.5% like-for-like growthSpecial dividend and buyback announcedLong-term potential for 130 centresThe UK?s largest tenpin bowling operator Hollywood Bowl (BOWL) delivered another strong year of sales and profit growth and revealed an enhanced shareholder return policy including a special dividend and share buyback.Shares in Hollywood Bowl gained 2% to 288p, a new...

The UK hospitality sector has been one of the biggest casualties of the pandemic and the slowest to rebound.Enforced closures during lockdowns, surging energy, labour and commodity prices post pandemic and ongoing train strikes mean hospitality has faced more than its fair share of obstacles over the last three years.The extra challenges mean hospitality has been slower than other sectors to...

All-cash recommended offer at 412.5p per shareOffer price represents 33% premium to prior closeBidco has secured 39.51% shareholder supportIt feels increasingly like UK mid-caps are sitting ducks just waiting to be snapped up by opportunistic private equity groups so news that ten-pin bowling and entertainment group Ten Entertainment (TEG) has agreed a cash offer from Trive Capital is not a...

First-half sales increase 16.2%Full-year profit expected to top market expectationsSignificant long-term growth opportunityTenpin bowling and mini-golf centre operator Hollywood Bowl (BOWL) continued its strong growth trend after revealing annual revenues to 30 September grew 16.2% to £215 million, around 7% above market expectations.Growth was driven by a combination of 'strong' demand from...

Ten Entertainment continues to deliver sales growthUp 46% on pre-Covid levels on a like-for-like basisShares up 3.6%, with peer Hollywood Bowl up 2.4%A robust update from bowling alley operator Ten Entertainment (TEG) drew a positive response from the market and also helped lift shares in its rival Hollywood Bowl (BOWL).In a trading statement covering the six-month period to 2 July Ten, which...

- Hollywood Bowl director sells 125,000 shares- LSEG director Brand sells £2.6 million shares- Endeavour Mining CEO sells 175,000 sharesMelanie Dickinson chief people officer (CPO) at ten-pin bowling and mini-golf centre operator Hollywood Bowl (BOWL) has sold 125,000 shares at 248p at a cash value of £309,588 on 12 April.Dickinson's sale comes as no surprise after the company delivered...

Given profit can be subject to alterations and adjustments and presented in a flattering light, trying to find value purely based on the ratio between a company's share price and earnings per share can trip you up.A solution is to look at firm's cash flow instead. It is best practice to look at free cash flow which is the cash a company generates through its operations minus any capital...

- Record first half sales up 11% to £111 million- Like-for-like sales grew 3.5% despite tough comps- Brokers upgrade full year 2023 and 2024 sales and earnings Ten-pin bowling and mini-golf centre operator Hollywood Bowl (BOWL) delivered record first half revenues which increased 11% to £111.1 million representing 3.5% like-for-like growth despite tough prior year comparisons.Investors...