Hollywood Bowl hikes dividend as Canadian expansion drive pays off
Hollywood Bowl, the owner and operator of bowling alleys across the UK and Canada, has hiked its dividend after a double-digit jump in profit.
In its results for the six months to 31 March 2024, the company said revenue had risen 8.1 per cent for the period, with profit before tax rising 10.5 per cent.
Adjusted earnings per share for the period totalled 13.6p, up 6.2 per cent compared to the same period in 2023.
Off the back of these results Hollywood Bowl said it would hike its interim dividend per share by 21.7 per cent to 3.98p, up from 3.27p.
The bulk of the group’s growth came from Canada where the business has been rapidly building out its footprint. The company reported revenue growth of 46.9 per cent in the region (the Canadian arm contributed eight per cent of overall growth for the period).
At the end of March, Hollywood Bowl said it had 11 centres operating in the Canadian market, having acquired two during the six-month period. The construction of a new-build centre was completed after the end of the interim period, with two further acquisitions also sealed.
Hollywood Bowl said its “cash generative business model” helped provide the capital for investment in the portfolio and left it with a “robust net cash position” of £41.4m at the end of March (£44.1m as of 31 March 2023).
Stephen Burns, chief executive officer, said: “We are pleased to have welcomed so many families, friends and colleagues to our centres in the first half, demonstrating the continued demand for high-quality, family-friendly leisure experiences at affordable prices, particularly against the backdrop of higher living expenses.
“I am extremely grateful to our excellent team members whose hard work has resulted in even longer customer dwell times and higher satisfaction score. We are proud to invest in our team and to once again be recognised as a top company to work for,” Burns added.
Hollywood Bowl’s boss continued: “We continue to expect further, modest like-for-like growth, even with the very strong prior year comparative, as a result of our customer-led innovation and investment in our profitable growth strategy. We are confident in the outlook for Hollywood Bowl and in our ability to capture the longer-term opportunity to grow our estate to over 130 centres in the next ten years.”