12 September 2018 – interim results

The soccer centre group has announced its interim results covering the six months to 30 June and these have proved disappointing with the group suffering from the poor weather in the UK at the start of the year and the rescheduling of many 11-a-side games from the weekend to midweek when these players would normally have played 5-a-side at one of the group’s soccer centres.  Revenue for the period therefore declined to £16.2m (2017: £17.4m) and this resulted in a pre-tax loss of £1.1m compared with a profit of £2.6m in 2017.  No interim dividend is proposed.  Net debt at the end of the period was £30.2m (2017: £28.6m) but the group has net assets of £97.2m (2017: £93.0m) and so this is not a concern.  The second half of the year has started well and the upgrade of the group’s facilities continues. Recent share price weakness has in our view presented a good buying opportunity  – BUY.