Hollywood Bowl shares slide as results fail to strike with investors

Shares in Hollywood Bowl fell sharply on Tuesday as the 10-pin venue operator reported record annual revenues but took a £5m impairment on its mini-golf operations which hit profits.

The bowling centre operator, which operates 85 venues across the UK and Canada, on Tuesday said sales rose 7% to £230m while pre-tax profit fell 5.2% to £42.8m. It also expects a £1.2m hit from extra taxes introduced in the last Budget but was “well placed” to mitigate the extra costs.

Core earnings rose 5.9% to £87.6m while the dividend was lifted 2.1% to 12.06p a share. Shares in the company fell 7% on the London Stock Exchange.

Hollywood Bowl's Puttstars mini-golf centres struggled with weaker-than-expected demand over the year. The company acknowledged that "it has become clear that bowling centres offer higher returns potential and will remain the group's first choice when entering new locations".

"UK families continue to face cost of living challenges, and against that backdrop, delivering high-quality experiences that can be enjoyed for great value is even more important. Our resilience to inflationary pressures means that we have been able to keep our prices affordable, a family of four being able to enjoy a game of bowling with us for under £26," the company said.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com