Hollywood Bowl (BOWL) managed to expand its portfolio of leisure assets and increase punters’ spend on each visit in the 12 months to September 30. At a time when retailers and companies offering a leisure experience are worried about customers cutting spending, Hollywood Bowl says all of its 60 centres are profitable. The company also beat its return on investment (ROI) goal of 33 per cent easily at refurbished and rebranded sites, hitting an ROI of 46 per cent.
Investors will again get a share of this positive performance through a special dividend of 4.5p, up from the 4.33p handed out a year ago. Adjusted operating cash flow was flat year-on-year and the doubled expansion spending (climbing to £8.1m) saw free cash flow fall 20 per cent. Shore Capital analyst Greg Johnson said Hollywood Bowl’s cash flow and net debt figures could support either faster expansion or more investor payouts.
Chief executive Stephen Burns said 2020 would see the company on the same growth track, with the addition of mini-golf centres, one new bowling centre and 7-10 refurbishments.
Investec forecasts a 4.2 per cent year-on-year increase in cash profits to £39.8m, down from 5.5 per cent growth in FY2019.
| HOLLYWOOD BOWL (BOWL) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 256p | MARKET VALUE: | £384m | |
| TOUCH: | 251-255p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 258p | LOW: 199p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.9%** | PE RATIO: | 17 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 68p* | NET DEBT: | 2% | |
| Year to 30 Sept | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2015 | 84.6 | 4.8 | 3.6 | nil |
| 2016 | 105 | 2.6 | 1.1 | 0.19 |
| 2017 | 114 | 21.1 | 12.2 | 5.75 |
| 2018 | 121 | 23.9 | 12.5 | 6.26 |
| 2019 | 130 | 27.6 | 14.9 | 7.43 |
| % change | +8 | +15 | +19 | +19 |
| Ex-div: | 30 Jan | |||
| Payment: | 19 Feb | |||
| *Includes intangible assets of £78m, or 52p per share **Does not include special dividend of 4.5p | ||||
