As the nation hits the treadmill, low-cost fitness operator Gym Group (GYM) is reaping the benefits. The company finished last year with 448,000 members, which was up by nearly a fifth compared with the year before. This helped push group revenues up by 23 per cent and cash profits by more than a third to £22.7m. This, along with the absence of IPO-related expenses from 2015, helped move the company back into the black at the pre-tax profit level.
Last year the group added 15 new gyms to its estate, bringing the total number to 89. Due to the late stage timing of these openings, net debt doubled between the half-year and full-year stage. Timing issues also had a slight impact on new site margins, with £3.8m of cash profits earned from new sites opened in 2015 and 2016, compared with £4.5m last year. However, adjusted cash profits derived from what the group calls its "mature" estate (sites that have been open for at least two years) grew 0.8 per cent to £476,000 per site.
Analysts at Peel Hunt expect pre-tax profits of £12.6m for the year ending December 2017, giving EPS of 7.5p, compared with £8.7m and 5.6p in 2016.
| GYM GROUP (GYM) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 184p | MARKET VALUE: | £236m | |
| TOUCH: | 182-185p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 280p | LOW: 155p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 0.5% | PE RATIO: | 41 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 89p* | NET DEBT: | 5% | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012** | 22.3 | -1.1 | -2.2 | nil |
| 2013** | 35.7 | -9.0 | -16.6 | nil |
| 2014 | 45.5 | -9.4 | -18.0 | nil |
| 2015 | 60.0 | -12.4 | -19.0 | nil |
| 2016 | 73.5 | 6.9 | 4.5 | 1.0 |
| % change | +23 | - | - | - |
Ex-div: 25 May Payment: 16 Jun *Includes intangible assets of £48.7m, or 38p a share **Pre-IPO figures | ||||
