5th Jul 2016 07:13
LONDON (Alliance News) - The Gym Group PLC on Tuesday said profit in 2016 will be in line with market forecasts after first-half trading met the board's expectations and announced a series of management and board changes.
The low-cost gym operator said it opened six new gyms in the six months ended June 30, increasing the total estate to 80 sites. It has exchanged contracts on a further eight sites with a more advanced pipeline for 2017 than in 2016, Gym Group said, adding that it is on track to achieve its guidance of 15 to 20 openings for 2016 and 2017.
Total members grew by 19% to 424,000 in the first half from 355,000 in the first half of 2015, with average membership rising by 23% to 420,000 from 342,000. Net debt was reduced to GBP2.5 million from GBP7.1 million.
"This is another strong performance underlining the strength of our business model, the power of our low-cost proposition and the success of our roll-out. We are on track at the halfway stage and are now focused on delivering our goals in the rest of the year to come," Chief Executive John Treharne said in a statement.
Gym Group will release its first-half results at the end of August.
Separately, Gym Group said Chief Operating Officer Jim Graham will leave the company by the end of the year in order to return to the private equity arena.
In order to strengthen the executive team, Gym Group has appointed Nick Henwood as operations director and Barney Harrison as marketing director.
Henwood will join in August, having previously worked at retailer for mothers and children Mothercare PLC and vehicle windscreen repairer Autoglass. Harrison will join in October, having been recruited from pay-TV broadcaster Sky PLC.
Gym Group has also appointed David Kelly as an independent non-executive director. Kelly is currently a non-executive director at online beach holiday operator On the Beach Group PLC and newspaper owner Trinity Mirror PLC.
He was also previously UK operations director at e-commerce giant Amazon, COO at online travel and leisure retailer lastminute.com and COO at online auction group eBay.
"I am delighted that David Kelly, with his wealth of e-commerce experience, is joining the board.
Nick and Barney have strong backgrounds in their areas of expertise and I welcome them to their operational roles. I would also like to thank Jim for his enormous contribution to the growth of the company both prior to and following the IPO," Chairwoman Penny Hughes said.
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
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