Warm weather knocks Hollywood Bowl sales

The recent spell of warm weather has dented sales at Hollywood Bowl as Britons headed out into the sunshine, the leisure group has said.

The firm said it suffered a “short-term” hit to its UK bowling chain between March and May as Britain basked in the sunniest spring on record.

But the group said it remained “confident” on its outlook for the final six months of the year thanks to action to offset the weather knock and kept its full-year earnings guidance unchanged.

Stephen Burns, chief executive of Hollywood Bowl, said: “The prolonged period of unprecedented dry and warm weather from March to May has had a short-term impact on trading.

“However, we’ve responded quickly, managing margins and costs while maintaining strong operational performance, which remains as good as it’s ever been.

“Looking ahead, we’re well positioned for the key summer holiday period.”

The group said drier weather earlier in the year – between February and late March – played a part in a fall in the number of bowling game bookings during its first half to March 31, down 4.5% in the UK on a like-for-like basis.

The fall was also driven by the timing of Easter and last year’s leap year, which gave an extra day of trading, “as well as the continuing competition from new competitive socialising offerings opening in certain locations”, it said.

But it said spend per game rose, helping increase total UK like-for-like revenues by 1.3% in the half-year, with sales in bowling centres up 1.5%.

Pre-tax profits fell 9.4% to £28 million on an underlying basis in the six months to March 31 as costs also rose in the UK.

It saw its wage bill jump by £2.6 million to £24.9 million after minimum wage increases