Walkabout operator Intertain sees earnings rise
The 35-strong group saw a widening of its pre-tax loss from £2.4m in 2012 to £4.9m after incurring exceptional costs totalling £5.4m that included £3.4m in asset impairment charges and a £1.9m onerous lease provision as it surrendered three loss making sites in Portsmouth, Edinburgh and West Hampstead.
Turnover in the year subsequently fell from £71m to £59.9m. The most recent accounts relate to a 53-week period against 52 weeks in the previous year.
Intertain said that “significant savings have been made on costs as a result of removing unprofitable entertainment sessions adversely impacting sales and improving operating profit”.
Lost sales
It said sales grew £1m from Euro 2012 but the previous year benefited from the Rugby World Cup in September and October, although 2012 saw a return of international rugby fixtures that didn’t take place in 2011.
“Broadly these two events produced similar incremental sales in both years”.
Temporary closures of venues for refurbishment resulted in lost sales of £520,000 (2012: £320,000). There were major refurbishments at five Walkabouts during the year, and also the conversion of Bar Risa in Leeds to a Tiki bar concept called Maluko.
The total investment in the six outlets was £2.3m, of which £250,000 was funded by contributions from landlords in the form of rent concessions.
At the end of the year 11 sites had been refurbished under the programme that started in September 2010, including nine Walkabouts. Overall returns on investment are 81% net of landlords’ contributions. All but three of the 11 are currently delivering returns that will see the investment paid back in under two and a half year, Intertain said.
Fallow year
Sales in the six months since the period end are 9.7% below last year, of which c7% has been put down to differences in the sporting calendar.
The company called it a “fallow year” in the four year cycle of major international sporting events, with neither a major football tournament or a Rugby World Cup.
This year refurbished venues are achieving sales 12% higher than at non-refurbished sites.
Intertain hopes to re-start trading at Walkabout in Blackpool towards the end of October after the site, a freehold, suffered a “serious fire”.
Intertain plans to actively seek acquisitions since it was acquired by Barclays Ventures and a consortium owned by TPG Opportunities Partners and Goldman Sachs earlier this year.
