Goals scores interim profits rise

Published on Monday 7 September 2009 23:11

GOALS Soccer Centres, the East Kilbride-based five-a-side football operator, slotted home a 5 per cent rise in interim profits yesterday despite play being seriously held up by February's heavy snow.

The group, which runs 33 centres across the UK from Aberdeen to Portsmouth, revealed that first-half pre-tax profits rose to 3.9 million in the first six months of 2008.

Shareholders are rewarded with an 8 per cent rise in the dividend to 0.675p for the six months to the end of June.

Goals, which has a pipeline of another 40 sites it wishes to open UK-wide, revealed that like-for-like sales rose 1 per cent – but that this would have been 3 per cent without the impact of February's heavy snow.

Managing director Keith Rogers had already told the market earlier this summer that the February weather had seen games cancelled for up to four days. "In all my years in the business I've never seen anything like it," Rogers said back in July.

But the group confirmed yesterday that its main income from football had been resilient. Its forward bookings have also returned to normal levels after a brief lull over the summer.

Goals, which plans to open at least six centres next year, said: "Small-sided football continues to grow in stature and popularity."

Rogers added: "Goals has had another successful half, demonstrating the broad appeal of five-a-side football and the underlying strength of our model. The first half of 2009 showed good progress against a backdrop of difficult economic conditions."

Total sales rose 12 per cent to 12.9m, while earnings per share were up 3 per cent to 6.2p.

Two centres were added in the current year, at Reading and Coventry. Rogers said the funding was in place to bankroll this expansion via a placing of 11m of new shares with institutional investors last June.

The firm is also ready to branch into the US after its joint venture in Los Angeles secured its first site earlier this year.

Goals said that despite the "unpredictable economic environment" it was confident of making further progress this year and beyond. It said spending in its bars had stabilised in the first half, but that other ancillary income, such as corporate events and children's birthday parties, had continued to be hit by the economic downturn.

It noted that its new centres were growing more slowly initially than in previous years "resulting in maturity in both sales and profitability taking a few months longer to achieve".

Operating profit increased 5 per cent to 4.8m. Capital spending totalled 6.7m, including 6.1m on new centres, about 300,000 on existing centres and 300,000 on IT systems.

Goals said two continuing positives were that five-a-side football in the UK was relatively undeveloped and the barriers to new businesses were high.