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Hollywood Bowl Group PLC on Tuesday said its half-year profit fell but cited ‘record’ revenue growth. The Hertfordshire, England-based ten-pin bowling operator said pretax profit for the first half of the year ending September 30 was £26.7 million, down 20% from £33.4 million a year prior. Administrative expenses were up 23% to £60.0 million from £48.9 million. Excluding a value added tax rebate from a year prior, however, pretax profit was up 7.7% from £24.8 million. Revenue, however, was up by 10% to £110.2 million from £100.2 million a year prior. Excluding the VAT benefit, revenue was 21% higher from £91.3 million. Hollywood Bowl said the recent acquisition of Teaquinn Holdings Inc contributed to around £11.3 million in revenue. Hollywood Bowl declared an interim dividend of 3.27p, up 9.0% from 3.00p a year before. Looking ahead, Hollywood Bowl said its trading is on track with its current expectations and is set to open between 15 and 20 new centres by the end of financial 2025. Hollywood Bowl currently owns 64 centres in the UK and Canada. Chief Executive Officer Stephen Burns said: ‘We are fully committed to our ongoing investment programme across all areas. This, combined with our sustainable profitable growth strategy, gives the board a strong sense of confidence in our future prospects.’ ‘We are proud that families and friends are continuing to choose our inclusive and affordable offerings for their leisure spending, and we are committed to maintaining this trend through the second half of the year.’ Shares in Hollywood Bowl were up 0.8% at 262.08p each in London on Tuesday morning. Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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