Hollywood Bowl pulls dividend due to Covid-19

Hollywood Bowl pulled its interim dividend on Thursday and said it was unable to provide any full-year guidance due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The ten-pin bowling operator, which closed its centres on 20 March in line with government guidance, said it does not plan to declare an interim dividend and is unable to give guidance for the year ending 30 September 2020 "as a result of the uncertainty surrounding the impact of Covid-19".

"Management remains focused on taking action to maintain its strong cash and liquidity position, retaining its team members throughout the centre closure period and ensuring the business is ready to welcome customers back to its centres once it is safe for them to re-open," it said.

The company welcomed the one-year exemption granted from business rates and the VAT payments deferral announced by the government, which are expected to result in cash savings of £6m for the current financial year.

It also said that with support from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, it intends to keep its team members at full salary levels "for as long as is practicable".

Hollywood Bowl said that as at 31 March, it had approximately £15.6m of cash and £30.25m of debt, drawn from its £35m facility. This takes into account full rents paid to all landlords for the March quarter and team member salaries paid up to the end of March 2020.

In addition, the company’s lenders have agreed an extension to the revolving credit facility of an additional £10m, amended the leverage covenants and waived the cashflow covenants for the rest of FY2020.