Hollywood Bowl flags solid post-Covid recovery

Leisure operator Hollywood Bowl reported strong full-year trading and further growth on Monday, with total revenue rising 42.3% over the 2019 pre-Covid period to £184.9m.

The London-listed firm said UK revenues came in at £178.7m, compared to £71.9m in 2021 and £129.9m in 2019.

Like-for-like revenue growth was 28.3% compared to the 2019 financial year.

The group said it expected to report EBITDA growth of more than 40% compared to 2019’s £38.2m in its results, ahead of market expectations.

Hollywood Bowl reported “strong momentum” in Canada as well, following the acquisition of Teaquinn Holdings in May, with trading there in line with expectations.

It completed its first new centre acquisition in Kingston, Ontario, while the Splitsville brand acquisition pipeline continued to build.

The first refurbishment in the market was expected to be completed in the first half of 2023.

Hollywood Bowl said it saw an opportunity to add up to 10 centres over the next five years, with the potential of at least a further 20 sites over the next 10 years.

On the financial front, the company reported continued balance sheet strength and flexibility, with net cash at year end of £56m, and an undrawn £25m revolving credit facility in place.

The board said it expected to pay a final ordinary dividend of at least 7.5p per share, with further details expected with its results announcement for the year ended 30 September on a date to be confirmed.

“I'm delighted to report another period of strong financial and operational performance, demonstrating the success of our customer-led strategy and our excellent growth above pre-pandemic levels,” said chief executive officer Stephen Burns.

“Key to achieving this is our people and I am pleased that we have been able to recognise their outstanding contribution to these results through our incentive programme and being able to support them further with a cost-of-living payment.

“Although our customers are undoubtedly facing a number of challenges, I firmly believe that our great value for money offer will remain very attractive to families looking for high quality, affordable leisure experiences to enjoy together.”

Burns said the company was continuing to invest in its customer experience, and delivering “excellent” value for money.

“Looking ahead, we see a significant opportunity to grow our business to more than 110 centres across our three experiential leisure brands - Hollywood Bowl and Puttstars in the UK and Splitsville in Canada.

“Our strong balance sheet and cash generative business model, combined with our resilience to inflationary pressures will allow us to capitalise on this organic and international growth potential and continue to create value for all our stakeholders.”

At 0904 BST, shares in Hollywood Bowl Group were up 1.22% at 208p.

Reporting by Josh White at Sharecast.com.