The Gym Group sees FY profit in line with views

The Gym Group said on Wednesday that full-year profit is expected to be in line with consensus market views after trading in the first five months of the year met the board's expectations.

In a trading update ahead of its Capital Markets Day, the operator of low-cost gyms said total members at the end of May were up 19.6% from the first half of last year to 507,000, while average membership for the five months was 18.6% higher at 498,000.

The group said six new gyms will have opened by the end of the first half, bumping the total estate up to 95 sites. Two of the sites at Holborn Circus and Bloomsbury were acquired from Fitness First UK in August 2016 and were subject to a full strip out and refurbishment to the Gym Group specification. The other sites opened are at Edinburgh Murrayfield, High Wycombe, Altrincham and Rotherham. All sites opened in 2017 are trading as expected.

The Gym Group said the pipeline continues to be strong for the rest of this year and is building well for 2018. It reiterated guidance that it expects to open towards the top end of its forecast range of 15 to 20 openings for the full year.

Chief executive officer John Treharne said: "There remains a substantial opportunity with strong fundamentals underpinning our growth and we are confident in delivering continued profitable progress."

At 0930 BST, the shares were up 2.6% to 199p.