9th Sep 2015 07:48
LONDON (Alliance News) - Goals Soccer Centres PLC on Wednesday reported growth in profit in the first half of 2015, but revised its guidance for the full year as it faced tough trading conditions in the UK which it said have continued into the second half of the year.
Shares in Goals fell 21% to 154.80 pence following the announcement Wednesday morning.
The company, which operates five-a-side football centres in the UK and the US, reported a rise in pretax profit in the six months ended June 30 to GBP4.5 million from GBP605,000 in the first half of 2014, as it didn't repeat the exceptional costs that it had to pay the year before, although revenue stayed flat at GBP17.1 million.
UK sales declined 1% due to adverse weather conditions, while US sales demonstrated strong growth of 22%, Goals said.
Goals added that sales for the first nine weeks of the second half remained challenging in the UK, with like-for-like sales over the summer holiday period declining by 10% as it faced a tough comparable period last year which included the football World Cup and due to a significant increase in both league and casual teams cancelling over the holiday period.
It said that in response to this, it has enhanced its annual September Uplift marketing campaign in order to drive an increase in sales over the "seasonally important" next few months, but has decided to take a more cautious view on the full-year outcome resulting in it revising its pretax profit forecast to between GBP9.3 million and GBP9.8 million.
Goals did say, however, that the strong trading momentum in its Los Angeles centre has continued into the second half of the year.
Goals maintained its interim dividend at 0.675 pence.
"Trading in the UK has been challenging resulting from a combination of external factors and tough comparatives. However, we remain confident in the UK's long term favourable market dynamics, which Goals, with its leading and well invested national estate, recognised brand and use of technology is best placed to realise," Managing Director Keith Rogers said in a statement.
"The US opportunity remains compelling as evidenced by the ongoing strength in trading from our centre in Los Angeles, which is now the most successful in our estate. We have accelerated progress in terms of the site pipeline and put in place the infrastructure and resource to exploit our first mover advantage," he added.
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
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