Brighton Pier Group delivers 'extremely robust performance' in H1

Entertainment business Brighton Pier Group said on Monday that trading in the six months ended 26 December had been "positive", with the group continuing to deliver "an extremely robust performance" throughout the period.

Brighton Pier stated that trading was 9% up on 2019's pre-Covid level in December despite the impact of restrictions over the New Year period due to the Omicron variant, with the company now expecting total half-year sales to have surged 177% year-on-year to £22.7m and 31% against 2019.

Brighton Palace Pier like-for-like sales were up 15% on 2019, while the group's golf division posted a 33% sales increase against the same year and like-for-like sales were 27% firmer than they were 24 months earlier.

The AIM-listed firm added that the Lightwater Valley theme park, acquired in June 2021, was continuing to trade ahead of expectations.

Strong cash flow generation was also expected to enable Brighton Pier to pay down £7.7m of debt, reducing borrowings by 38% before the end of June.

"This represents an excellent performance during challenging times, underlining the attractions of a diversified asset base of experiential venues and bars well-positioned to benefit from growth in the UK entertainment sector. Management believe the group is in a strong position to deliver a good result for the year, comfortably in line with market expectations," said the firm.

As of 0940 GMT, Brighton Pier shares were up 8.84% at 80.0p.