Crispr Therapeutics shares tumble after significant earnings miss
Investing.com -- Shares of Hollywood Bowl (LSE:BOWL) climbed 3.2% as the company released its first half (H1) trading update, indicating a revenue increase of 8.4% to £129.2m.
The UK-based bowling center operator reported like-for-like (LFL) sales growth of 2.1% across its group, with its UK bowling centers up by 1.5% and Canadian centers by 3.7%. This performance, however, marks a deceleration from the figures announced at the end of January, where group revenue was up by 11.3%, with UK center LFL growth at 4.5% and Canadian Splitsville center LFL at 7%.
Despite the slowdown in the second quarter, which was attributed to weather conditions, the company remains on track with its expansion plans, having opened three new UK centers in the first half and two more scheduled for the second half. In Canada, two new centers were launched with another set to open in the first half of the next fiscal year. As of March 31, Hollywood Bowl reported holding net cash of £22.7m.
The outlook for the company remains positive as it continues to guide in line with expectations for the fiscal year 2025, with projected revenue of £249.5m and adjusted EBITDA pre-IFRS 16 of £68.4m.
RBC analysts commented on the recent performance, stating, "The slowdown in trading in Q2 will likely impact the shares today, albeit we understand this is very much weather driven rather than a softening in underlying demand, with a very dry March in the UK and snow in Canada affecting performance. The group is on track for its FY expectations, requiring a pick-up / more favourable weather in H2 - the warm Easter bank holiday weekend in the UK is an unhelpful start."
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