Goals Soccer Centres' shares dive after extreme weather tackles sales

The AIM-traded company said full year results were now expected to be “materially below market expectations” after the "Beast from the East" snowstorm caused 11-a-side matches to be rescheduled from Q1 to Q2, when more players would usually be using five-a-side facilities such as those at Goals Soccer Centres.

As such, underlying sales and underlying like-for-like sales were down 3% at £16.1m for the period.

The company expects to benefit from a £3m investment programme in the second half of the year, money which has been put towards modernising 78 arenas which are expected to reach completion in autumn, bringing the total proportion of modernised arenas to 73% of the firm’s estate.

Meanwhile, Goals reported that its three operational US centres were performing well with a fourth, at Covina, Los Angeles, expected to reach completion before the end of the year.

"The investment strategy that is being executed is improving the underlying performance of the clubs. However, frustratingly, the first half was impacted by the snow and its significant after-effects, which masks the performance of the business where positive trends are clear. With the improving underlying performance, we expect a better second half," said chief executive Andy Anson.

Goals Soccer Centres’ shares were down 27.75% at 62.50p at 0920 BST.