Hollywood Bowl (BOWL) has revealed another special dividend – this time worth 4.33p a share – to bring its annual payment up to 10.59p. This is the second year the bowling lane operator has announced a bumper return: last year it handed back 9.08p per share to investors. So far, this hasn't come at the expense of the company's expansion. It still plans to open two new centres a year, having made commitments on new locations until 2022. The refurbishment process is also under way, with a further 10 sites due for a refresh this financial year.
Chief executive Steve Burns says he looks for new locations that are in close proximity to a cinema or other leisure activities. The idea is that, together, these brands create a "leisure hub". And although such businesses are usually highly competitive, the strategy appears to be working. Average spend per game was up 5.5 per cent to £9.22 over the course of the last financial year, while food spend per game increased by 5.4 per cent and drink sales by 7 per cent.
Analysts at broker Investec expect pre-tax profit of £25.6m during the year to September 2019, giving EPS of 13.5p, compared with £23.9m and 12.5p in FY2018.
| HOLLYWOOD BOWL (BOWL) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 195p | MARKET VALUE: | £ 293m | |
| TOUCH: | 195-200p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 241p | LOW: 175p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 3.2%† | PE RATIO: | 16 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 63p* | NET DEBT: | 3% | |
| Year to 30 Sep | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2014** | 76.7 | -1.8 | na | na |
| 2015 | 84.6 | 4.8 | 3.6 | na |
| 2016 | 105 | 2.6 | 1.1 | 0.19 |
| 2017 | 114 | 21.1 | 12.2 | 5.75 |
| 2018 | 121 | 23.9 | 12.5 | 6.26 |
| % change | +6 | +13 | +3 | +9 |
| Ex-div: | 31 Jan | |||
| Payment: | 27 Feb | |||
| *Includes intangible assets of £78.6m or 52p per share **Pre-IPO figures †Does not include special dividend of 3.33 in 2017 and 4.33p in 2018 | ||||
