Hollywood Bowl Group (LSE:BOWL), operator of the UK's and Canada's largest ten-pin bowling brands, said on Wednesday that it expects full-year adjusted profit before tax for the year ended 30 September to grow in line with expectations, even as an unusually hot UK summer weighed on second-half trading.
Group revenue rose 4.3% to a record £261.6m for the full year, with like-for-like revenue down 1.0%.
The swing between halves was stark: first-half group revenue climbed 9.5% with like-for-like growth of 2.3%, before second-half revenue fell 1.1% and like-for-like revenue dropped 4.5%, a reversal the company attributed to "the hottest UK spring and summer on record".
UK revenue for the full year rose 3.5% to £219.9m, with UK like-for-like revenue down 1.4%, as second-half UK like-for-like sales fell 5.6% against prolonged hot, dry weather.
Canada fared better, with full-year revenue up 9.0% to £41.7m on the back of new centre openings, and Canadian like-for-like growth accelerating to 2.7% in the second half, supported by what management called its operational and investment strategy there.
Hollywood Bowl closed the year with net cash of £13.5m and completed a £2.9m share buyback programme in the second half, while citing disciplined cost controls and dynamic pricing as having helped mitigate the weather-driven slowdown.
Chief executive Stephen Burns said: "Demand remained resilient during the extended period of record hot weather in the UK, supported by our disciplined cost and pricing model, and our operational initiatives to drive footfall."
The company said consensus analyst estimates for group adjusted pre-tax profit, compiled by the company at the time of the announcement, range from £48m to £53.2m, with a mean of £51m across eight analysts.
The group opened four new centres in the year, taking its estate to 95, and said a pipeline of eight further centres across the UK and Canada will expand the estate to 103 during the 2027 financial year, keeping it on track for a target of 130 group centres by 2033.
Hollywood Bowl will announce its full-year results in December, with the date to be confirmed in due course.