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Hollywood Bowl Group PLC on Monday announced a share buyback, on the back of higher full-year revenue. The Hemel Hempstead, England-based ten-pin bowling operator said revenue in the financial year that ended September 30 rose 11% year-on-year to £215.1 million from £193.7 million. However, pretax profit fell to £45.1 million from £46.7 million. Administrative expenses in the year rose 13% to £123.5 million from £108.9 million. Hollywood Bowl announced a final dividend of 8.54 pence, up from 8.53p a year ago. This brings the total dividend per share to 14.54p from 14.53p. The company also announced a share buyback of up to GB10 million, which will begin shortly after its annual general meeting. Looking ahead, Hollywood Bowl plans to open ‘at least’ three further new centres to open in the UK in financial 2024. It also said it has a ‘strong pipeline’ for financial 2025. It added that it has a ‘growing’ pipeline in Canada, with its new Ontario centre due to open in financial 2024 and three new centres at legal stages. Chief Executive Stephen Burns commented: ‘This is another excellent performance for the group, achieved against an exceptionally strong prior year. It reflects significant customer demand, as well as the success of our customer focused strategy. ‘We have had an encouraging start to the year with people looking for ways to enjoy activities with families, friends and colleagues demonstrating the continued strong demand for high quality, great value leisure experiences.’ Shares in Hollywood Bowl were up 2.1% to 288.50 pence each in London on Monday morning. Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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