6 May 2011 07:00
ARENA LEISURE PLC
Interim Management Statement
Arena Leisure Plc ('Arena'), the UK's leading operator of horseracing fixtures which owns and operates seven racecourses in the UK comprising Doncaster, Royal Windsor, Lingfield Park, Wolverhampton, Folkestone, Southwell and Worcester, today announces its Interim Management Statement. Financial data in this announcement relates to the four month period from 1 January 2011 to 30 April 2011 (the 'period') unless otherwise stated.
Arena's Annual General Meeting ('AGM') will take place today at Lingfield Park Racecourse commencing at 12:30pm.
Trading Update
Trading in the period has been in line with the Board's expectations, with a 17% growth in average attendance and good contributions from Arena's non-racing income streams: notably from meetings and events on non-racedays, catering operations and the Lingfield Park Marriott Hotel.
Arena's seven racecourses staged 140 fixtures in the period (2010: 138). Only one fixture was abandoned due to poor weather (2010: 11) and one extra fixture was staged (2010: eight).
Total attendance in the period increased by 25,000 to 159,000 (2010: 134,000). At Doncaster Racecourse on the bank holiday on 29 April 2011, 20,000 people attended the free admission "Royal Wedding Raceday" which was an increase of 10,500 on the equivalent meeting in 2010. Overall average attendance during the period has increased by 17% to 1,134 (2010: 969) with underlying growth, before the additional crowd at the Doncaster free raceday, of 10%. Hospitality numbers have increased by 14% compared to the same period in 2010, and forward bookings for the important summer season and St Leger festival reflect the same growth trend.
Income in the period from international media rights, received from At The Races ('ATR'), was 11% higher as ATR continues to grow its overseas distribution business. We have highlighted the financial impact of reduced Levy funding in our previous statements. Recent economic conditions and lower funding levels have reduced the number of horses racing, resulting in smaller field sizes. This has had a moderate impact on LBO media rights income during the period.
Non-racing related income streams have seen good growth in the period from improved utilisation of our assets outside of race meetings. The Marriott Hotel and Country Club at Lingfield Park Racecourse will celebrate its first anniversary on 10 May, and is trading in line with our expectations.
The status of all development projects remain as previously disclosed.
Dividend
As previously announced, subject to approval at the AGM, a final dividend for 2010 of 0.38p per share, totalling £1.4m, will be paid on 12 May 2011 to shareholders on the register on 8 April 2011.
Outlook
Trading in the period has been in line with expectations. We have continued to experience an improving trend across both our corporate custom and total attendance, despite the prevailing economic pressures. Our view remains that 2011 profitability is unlikely to see a material uplift from 2010 and that Arena is well positioned for growth in 2012.
6 May 2011
Enquiries:
Arena Leisure Plc Tel: 020 7632 2080
Mark Elliott, Chief Executive
Tony Harris, Finance Director
College Hill Tel: 020 7457 2020
Justine Warren
Matthew Smallwood
Forward-looking statements
This report may contain certain statements about the future outlook for Arena. Although we believe our expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, any statements about future outlook may be influenced by factors that could cause actual outcomes and results to be materially different.
www.arenaleisureplc.com