Berenberg ups target price on 'top pick' Hollywood Bowl

Analysts at Berenberg raised their target price on ten-pin bowling centres operator Hollywood Bowl from 370.0p to 400.0p on Thursday, citing the group's "record results".

Berenberg said Hollywood Bowl was one of its "top picks" in the leisure space, with the company delivering a record full-year performance thanks to "strong growth" in the UK and "continued momentum" in Canada.

Revenue of £215.0m was 8% ahead of Berenberg's expectations and was driven by both strong demand and favourable weather conditions. The company also expects to report pre-IFRS16 underlying earnings growth ahead of market expectations and, as a result, the analysts increase their estimates for FY23 by 9% to £62.7m.

"With its market-leading position in the UK and the growth opportunities in Canada, as well as the continued cash flow generation of the business, we remain confident in the outlook for Hollywood Bowl," said Berenberg, which reiterated its 'buy' rating on the stock.

"Despite this and the consistent outperformance compared to market expectations, shares have fallen 5% year-to-date, which we think is unjustified."

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com