Goals to raise £16.5m to upgrade football centres

Five-a-side social football operator Goals Soccer Centres announced on Friday that it was raising £16.5m in a bid to refresh its locations, after years of underinvestment.

The AIM-traded firm, which reported a £6.2m full-year loss for last year, said it was placing 16.75m shares at 100p each.

Its board said the proceeds would be used to refurbish buildings and pitches at a number of its centres - which total 47 - as well as upgraded its computer systems, and grow internationally.

Goals already has plans for a second United States centre in Los Angeles, and was said to be looking to Asia next.

“Our initial reaction to the strategic review and the accompanying fund raise of £16.75m is that neither are as radical as they could have been,” said N+1 Singer analyst Sahill Shan, as the broker moved from ‘buy’ to ‘hold’ on Goals..

“Most of the spend will be geared to improving existing facilities in order to recapture lost market share and making the product more premium.”

Shan said that, given its key competitor Powerleague has announced similar plans and the wider competition remained intense, analysts at the broker were questioning whether the actions outlines will be enough to deliver sustainable UK growth, or simply stabilise the business.

“We had expected the raise to be between £20m-£30m in order to fully address the high balance sheet leverage and also accelerate the US opportunity,” Shan added.

The fundraising announcement comes after Goals announced the appointment of Inter Milan chief executive Michael Bolingbroke as a non-executive director earlier this week.

At 1205 BST, shares in Goals Soccer Centres were up 4.15% at 107.8p.