Hollywood Bowl has reported higher like for like sales growth
(Picture: Hollywood Bowl press image)Staycationers and pent-up demand following lockdowns has helped Hollywood Bowl to achieve sales well ahead of pre-Covid levels.
The UK’s biggest tenpin bowling operator was allowed to start reopening sites from the latest lockdown in May, and social distancing rules relaxed in July after ‘freedom day’.
The firm, which has 61 bowling sites and three ‘Puttstars’ mini golf venues, said comparable sales between May 17 and September 30 were 29% higher than the same period in 2019.
That helped boost full-year revenues to September to £74.6 million. Analysts had been expecting closer to £54 million.
Hollywood Bowl Group’s chief executive Stephen Burns told the Evening Standard: “There was a lot more people around [amid travel restrictions]. Some people had been paying down debts during lockdown, and were spending their summer holiday budgets in the UK.”
The company said it remains on track to deliver its target of 14-18 new centres by 2024.
It expects full year underlying profit margins to be in line with the prior 12 months, and for them to return to pre-pandemic levels going forward.
