Arena Leisure hit by levy funding

Sales at racecourse operator Arena Leisure were slightly lower in 2010 as a reduction in funding from the levy on bookmakers affected prize money, the group said.Revenue for the year to 31 December fell 2% to £64m, from £65.2m, after a £3.8m fall in funding which declined from £21.5m in 2009 to £17.7m."The impact on 2011 is more significant, with further reductions to fixture incentive payments of £0.8m and reductions in payments to support operational running costs of £0.7m, both of which will directly impact profit," said chief executive officer Pre-tax profit dropped 12% from £4.1m to £3.6m, due to a one-off funding cost from the Lingfield Park Marriot Hotel development. At The Races (ATR), its horseracing channel, benefited from a joint venture with Racecourse Media Group, which provides a unified broadcast service for UK and Irish racing in markets such as Italy, France, South Africa, Turkey and Australia.ATR generated an operating profit of £2.5m, up from £1.4m in 2009, while revenues at the division grew to £19.2m, from £16.1m."Arena has produced another solid performance this year. The group's increasing diversity of income streams has helped reduce the impact of the on-going difficult trading conditions facing the wider racing industry," said chief executive Mark Elliot.Basic earnings per share fell to 1.02p, from 1.16p, while a final dividend of 0.38p per share was paid. There was no dividend in 2009.