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Hollywood Bowl Group PLC on Tuesday reported a drop in annual profit but said it remains positive about its future prospects. Pretax profit fell 5.2% to £42.8 million in the financial year that ended September 30 from £45.1 million the year prior. This includes a £5.3 million impairment of the value of Hollywood Bowl’s mini-golf centres, up from £2.2 million a year prior. Hollywood Bowl launched a mini-golf concept called Puttstars in financial 2020, testing it in five centres. ‘Whilst we have seen some good performance, it has become clear that bowling centres offer higher returns potential and will remain the group’s first choice when entering new locations,’ it explained. Earnings per share declined 13% to 17.42 pence from 19.92p. In response, shares fell 8.0% to 307.00 pence each in London on Tuesday morning. Revenue rose 7.1% to £230.4 million from £215.1 million. Like-for-like sales rose 0.2% with UK LFL sales flat, including UK bowling centres LFL growth of 0.3%. Canada total LFL growth was 6.3%, with bowling centres LFL up 5.9%, on a constant currency basis. Hollywood Bowl said the increase in employer national insurance will cost the business around £1.2 million on an annualised basis from April 2025, but it is ‘well-placed’ to mitigate the increased costs and keep bowling affordable. Trading has started well in the new financial year, and Hollywood Bowl said it remains ‘positive’ about future prospects. It expects to open at least four additional centres in the UK and two in Canada by the end of financial 2025 and is on track to meet the target of 130 centres by 2035. The dividend was increased by 2.1% to 12.06p from 11.81p. Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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