Hollywood Bwl Regulatory News (BOWL)

6 October 2017

Hollywood Bowl Group plc

Year End Trading Update

Successful execution of growth strategy delivers

 good performance marginally ahead of Board expectations

Hollywood Bowl Group, ("Hollywood Bowl" or the "Group"), the UK's largest ten-pin bowling operator, is pleased to announce a pre-close trading update for the year ended 30 September 2017.

At its IPO in September 2016, Hollywood Bowl set out a growth strategy focused on expanding its number of centres, investing in refurbishments and the rebranding of its Bowlplex sites into Hollywood Bowl centres, and continuing to innovate and improve the customer experience. 

The successful execution of this strategy has delivered a strong financial and operational performance for the Group which is expected to result in earnings for the year to 30 September 2017 being marginally ahead of Board expectations.

Hollywood Bowl has continued its positive trading performance from the first half of the year with second half Group revenue growth of 10.0% against the comparable period last year. Overall, Group revenue for the full year grew 8.9%, with LFL revenue growth of 3.5%. 

Capital return

The Group is in a strong financial position, driven by its cash generation and the returns generated from its ongoing investment programme. Hollywood Bowl's business model means that it is able to sustain its investment programme going forward through its ongoing cash generation. Therefore, as initially noted in April at the Group's half year trading update, the Board is considering returning capital to the Group's shareholders. A further update will be given on the potential return in the Group's FY17 results announcement, which is expected to be published on 11 December 2017.

Stephen Burns, Chief Executive Officer of Hollywood Bowl Group, said:

"We are very pleased with our full year performance, delivering good results marginally ahead of expectations, through the effective execution of our customer led strategy which is underpinned by our capital expenditure programme. Our centre teams continue to work very hard to ensure our customers have a fun-filled, great value for money leisure experience, whilst managing cost and improving our margins."

Enquiries:

Notes to Editors:

Hollywood Bowl Group is the UK's largest ten-pin bowling operator, with a portfolio of 58 centres operating across the UK under the Hollywood Bowl, AMF and Bowlplex brands. The Group specialises in operating large, high quality bowling centres, predominantly located in out of town multi-use leisure parks (typically co-located with cinema and casual dining sites) and large retail parks. The centres are designed to offer a complete family entertainment experience with each centre offering at least 12 bowling lanes, on-site dining, licensed bars, and state-of-the-art family games arcades.