Soccer centre owner's sales miskick
Goals Soccer Centres has bemoaned a "disappointing" year after seeing like-for-like sales fall by 6.3% during 2015.
The chain, which has one of its five-a-side football centres at Willenhall, also said it had no fresh plans to open new centres, after a year in which overall sales were 4.9% lower at £33 million.
Group EBITDA also fell, from £14.8 million to £11.8 million, during the year.
Nick Basing, who today became executive chairman of the business, said: "2015 was undoubtedly a disappointing year, however Goals still has a very sound operating model.
"I will be continuing to spearhead the ongoing review into every aspect of the business to develop a new strategy to improve performance and returns, partly based around a re-investment program to rejuvenate and grow the business."
He added that like-for-like sales had returned to growth in the early part of the new year.
Keith Edelman, whose role Mr Basing has taken over, said "grant-aided full size 3G pitches" were offering pitches cheaper because they did not have to invest in their own facilities, but said Goals was a "fundamentally sound business model".
In 2014, the World Cup helped the company grow sales, but in the UK last year overall sales were down 5.1% at £31.9 million, and like-for-like sales declined by 6.7%. It was particularly hit in the second half of the year, when like-for-like sales dropped 11.5%.
Like-for-like football sales declined by 7.6% and like-for-like bar and vending sales declined by 2.5%.
