Revenue for the owner of Brighton Pier soared by 178% as Covid restrictions ended.
Brighton Pier Group said revenue for the six months to December was £22.8m, which was also a third higher than the same period before the pandemic in 2019.
It said the uplift was due to strong trading across the company, but also due to the successful integration of the Lightwater Valley theme park, which it bought for £5m in June last year, and is trading “above expectations”. It alone pulled in nearly £4m over the six months.
The group said the outlook for 2022 was “robust”, adding that full-year profit would be ahead of market expectations.
Pretax profit for the six months was £6.6m, up from £2.7m for the same period in 2020. It added that it had reduced net debt by 34% to £8.2m.
Chief executive Anne Ackord said: “These excellent results show the popularity and cash generative nature of our diversified portfolio of entertainment businesses. The underlying trend for the first half is well above 2019 levels – a more meaningful comparison due to the pandemic.
“Looking forward, we expect the sales trends to continue, benefiting also from the opportunistic Lightwater Valley acquisition. We believe our asset-backed group is well placed to record an excellent result for the full-year and beyond.”
As well as Brighton Palace Pier itself, the Brighton Pier Group owns eight indoor mini-golf sites under the Paradise Island Adventure Golf brand, a string of bars and the Lightwater Valley theme park in North Yorkshire.
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