Blizzards hit profits as Goals Soccer Centres miss target

SNOW chaos has sent Goals Soccer Centres skidding for the second time in under a year, with the latest blizzards slashing annual profits by £700,000.

That takes the total weather-related hit this year for the group to 1.5 million. As Scotland braced itself for another round of storms, the East Kilbride-based company said yesterday it had traded profitably ahead of the "extraordinary snowfalls across the UK".

Goals said in a trading update: "The effect of the most recent snowfalls has led to a reduction in previously anticipated profit before tax of approximately 700,000 for the year ended 31 December 2010." It said this was still within the range of the most recent market expectations.

The company, which runs 38 centres in the UK and an American pilot centre in Los Angeles, said the snow meant the opening of a centre at Liverpool South had been delayed until next month.

In September Goals revealed that 800,000 was knocked off interim profits due to "the worst snow in 47 years" closing roads to the firm's centres between last January and March.

Analysts were downgrading annual profit expectations yesterday in the face of the even worse - and earlier - snowstorms north and south of the Border this winter.

The previous average City expectation for Goals' yearly profits was 9.2m. Keith Rogers, group chief executive, said: "Trading across the country has been resilient up until the recent snowfall. Our site pipeline remains strong and we are confident that we will deliver on our strategy to continue Goals' expansion in 2011 and beyond."

He said ancillary spend on the likes of food and drink had improved.

Philip Burk has been made a non-executive director of Goals. He co-founded Big Yellow Group in 1998, and served as property director until 2007. Before that he was joint chief executive of Edge Properties.