Arena Leisure boosted by racegoers’ support
RACECOURSE operator Arena Leisure – which owns the courses at Wolverhampton and Worcester – said attendances were up, but income continues to be affected by the economic downturn.
The operator said in an interim management statement that since January it had seen a 17% growth in attendances, and had emerged largely unscathed from the bad weather earlier in the year, with only one meeting cancelled.
However, the reduced levy income continued to bite, as well as the impact of fewer horses running in each race, which was denting revenues.
Trading in the period had been in line with expectations, with a 17% growth in average attendance and good contributions from Arena’s non-racing income streams: notably from meetings and events on non-racedays, catering operations and the Lingfield Park Marriott Hotel.
Arena’s seven racecourses staged 140 fixtures in the period. Only one fixture was abandoned due to poor weather, compared to 11 the previous year.
Total attendance in the period increased by 25,000 to 159,000. At Doncaster Racecourse on the bank holiday on 29 April 2011, 20,000 people attended the free admission “Royal Wedding Raceday” which was an increase of 10,500 on the equivalent meeting in 2010. Overall average attendance during the period has increased by 17% to 1,134 (2010: 969) with underlying growth, before the additional crowd at the Doncaster free raceday, of 10%. Hospitality numbers have increased by 14% compared to the same period in 2010, and forward bookings for the important summer season and St Leger festival reflect the same growth trend.
Income in the period from international media rights, received from At The Races (‘ATR’), was 11% higher as ATR continued to grow its overseas distribution business. The financial impact of reduced levy funding and recent economic conditions and lower funding levels reduced the number of horses racing, resulting in smaller field sizes. This had a “moderate” impact on LBO media rights income during the period.
Non-racing related income streams saw good growth in the period from improved utilisation of our assets outside of race meetings.
The board statement said: “Trading in the period has been in line with expectations. We have continued to experience an improving trend across both our corporate custom and total attendance, despite the prevailing economic pressures. Our view remains that 2011 profitability is unlikely to see a material uplift from 2010 and that Arena is well positioned for growth in 2012.”
