Shares in Hollywood Bowl soared over 14% on Monday after the group revealed strong results and hiked its full-year results.
In the year to September 30, pre-tax profits rose 12% to £24.9 million whilst sales rose to £120 million.
“I am very pleased with the Group’s full year performance. Operating our business in line with our customer-led strategy has delivered another strong revenue performance which, combined with our continued focus on cost management, has resulted in a year of record profits and significant operating cash generation,” said Stephen Burns, the group’s Chief Executive.
“The investment into our high-quality portfolio of 58 profitable centres continues to deliver significant, above target, returns. Our new centres are performing very well and we have secured a strong pipeline of new openings that will further enhance the quality of our portfolio.”
“We will continue to invest in the overall quality of our estate, in technology initiatives that enhance our industry-leading proposition and in initiatives to attract and retain only the very best talent, all with a view to continually improving the experience for our customers,” he added.
This year, the group opened two new sites at Dagenham and Yeovil. Hollywood Bowl will open two news sites later this year in Watford and Lakeside, Essex. Sites will open in Liverpool, Southend and Swindon during 2020 and 2021.
Average spend per game by customers, rose 6% to £9.22 and like-for-like sales were up 1.8%.
Analysts at City broker Peel Hunt said that Hollywood Bowl and rival Ten Entertainment Group PLC (LON:TEG), “have substantial scope to grow through self-help, increasing their dominance of the bowling sector… They both have attractive demand-supply dynamics, limited cost pressure (labour costs equate to under 20% of revenue), and great scope to benefit from innovation”.
Shares in the group (LON: BOWL) are currently trading +14.44% (1712GMT).