(Alliance News) - Escape Hunt PLC on Tuesday said it had "bounced back" from lockdown in the first half, despite its UK sites only being open for six weeks of the period.
The Crawley, England-based escape room company posted a narrowed pretax loss of GBP2.3 million for the first six months of 2021 from GBP3.1 million in the same period a year earlier, where its sites were open for 11 weeks.
Revenue took a slight decline to GBP1.2 million from GBP1.3 million in the six months to June 30. Downloadable and play at home games contributed GBP151,000 of income, more than doubling from GBP53,000 year-on-year.
Escape Hunt noted that it is picking up pace in corporate sales, where it made around GBP180,000 through over 400 deals in the year to August 31 as the country returns to office working. "We expect activity to pick up ahead of the Christmas booking season," it added.
"It has been extremely pleasing to see such a strong bounce back of consumer demand in the UK over the summer," said Chief Executive Richard Harpham.
"It is clear that escape rooms have now entered the mainstream consumer psyche underpinning confidence in our strategy and the significant strategic progress made in the last 18 months."
The company declared no interim dividend, in line with last year.
In February, Escape Hunt exchanged contracts to acquire its French master franchise partner BGP Escape, through which it now owns one site in Paris and one in Brussels. It said these sites have seen "very little trading" due to restrictions., but its Dubai site acquired in October last year traded ahead of expectations.
"Trading since the period end has been significantly stronger than we had expected as Covid restrictions have been relaxed," Harpham added.
"The newly acquired businesses in Dubai, France and Belgium are likewise performing satisfactorily. Since the period end, cumulative earnings from Dubai have fully paid back the initial investment and deal costs, The business in France and Belgium had a slower start than planned, as lockdown in the region was extended. However, since re-opening, the region is showing a promising return of business."
Escape Hunt shares were up 2.2% at 37.80 pence each in London on Tuesday.
By Josie O'Brien; josieobrien@alliancenews.com
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