Goals in top league as sales grow by 3%

Goals Soccer Centres, the five-a-side football operator, has kicked off 2015 in fine form as it looks to bulk up the business after a “year of transition”.

Goals will roll-out further centres in California following the success of the Los Angeles facility

The East Kilbride-based group, which runs 44 centres in the UK and one in the US, said it was on track to open sites in Manchester next month and Doncaster in April – both areas where it has had no presence to date.

In a trading update today it also confirmed that it was looking to roll-out further centres in California following the success of its Los Angeles facility.

Trading for the year has been in line with market hopes, Goals added, with sales increasing by 3 per cent to £34.5 million. Operating profit margin has been maintained.

Finance director Bill Gow said the business had gone from a period of paying down debt “back into growth”. He also highlighted the early success of its new app, which has attracted 10,000 downloads so far.

The City gave a generally positive response to the trading update. Analysts at brokerage Canaccord Genuity retained their “buy” recommendation on the stock, noting the attraction of the new app.

“For Goals, it should reduce cancelled matches, reduce the hassle of collecting fees and tighten Goals’ relationships with its customers through the building of a database,” they said.

Sahill Shan, an analyst at N+1 Singer, which also has a “buy” rating on the firm, added: “There is good evidence of some of the key growth initiatives gaining early traction and we anticipate further good progress in 2015. We also see the improving consumer backdrop as a tailwind.”

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