Newbury Racecourse Plc AGM Statement
06 June 2016 - 8:00PM
UK Regulatory
TIDMNYR
6th June 2016
NEWBURY RACECOURSE PLC
("the Racecourse" or "the Company")
AGM Statement
At the Annual General Meeting to be held at Newbury Racecourse today, the
Chairman, Dominic Burke, will make the following statement:
As stated in the latest Annual Financial Statements, 2015 was a year of
positive growth and improved financial performance for Newbury Racecourse. We
were pleased to see significant improvements in the trading performance across
a number of areas of the business, with revenues from our racing activities
growing by fifteen per cent and our conference & events revenues growing by
thirty one per cent.
Overall raceday attendances increased by seven per cent year on year to 210,000
and we played host to some top class racing during the year with horses
including Coneygree, Muhaarar and Smad Place providing our racegoers with some
outstanding performances on the track.
The David Wilson Homes residential development continued to make very good
progress, with the Western Area construction completed. The next phase of the
residential development is now well underway in the Central Area.
Current trading
Trading in the first five months of 2016 has demonstrated the challenges of
operating in the outdoor leisure market, with three meetings regretfully
abandoned due to poor weather, including the two day Dubai Duty Free Spring
Trials meeting in mid-April. Our policy of insuring our bigger race meetings
has to some extent mitigated the financial impact of these abandonments.
Excluding these abandonments, raceday attendance is one per cent ahead of
prior year. Most recently, we hosted the GBP750,000 Al Shaqab Lockinge Day, the
richest race meeting in our calendar, which was once again attended by over
13,000 racegoers and financial returns from this event exceeded both prior year
and our expectations.
Following on from the success of our music events in 2015, we are delighted
with the line-up for our summer 2016 Party in the Paddock music events. In July
we will be hosting Simply Red, who return to Newbury following their last visit
in 2010 We are pleased to be partnering once again with the charity Breast
Cancer Care at one of the highlights of our summer racing calendar, Betfred
Ladies Day in August, which features Will Young performing live after racing.
We expect to announce, in the next few days, our third and final Party in the
Paddock act for 2016, to take place at the Dubai Duty Free International
weekend in September.
The conference and events business has seen like for like revenue growth of
thirty per cent during the period to date and we continue to be the venue of
choice for a number of high profile companies. Confirmed business for the
second half of the year is also encouraging.
The Rocking Horse Nursery has shown significant improvement in trading in the
first few months of 2016, with like for like average occupancy having increased
by 16 per cent, resulting in revenue growth of 34 per cent and a 63 per cent
improvement in gross operating profit year to date. We were pleased with the
outcome of our recent Ofsted inspection, having been awarded "Good" status and
we continue to experience a very encouraging level of interest and enquiries
from new parents.
Our new thirty six bedroom hotel, The Lodge, which provides first class
accommodation to travelling stable staff at race meetings, opened to the
general public at the beginning of this month, allowing us to make the best use
of this valuable asset, with a sensible cost base. We expect high demand, from
both our own conference guests and business travellers, for this superb
facility outside of its raceday use.
Development
The residential development continues to make very good progress, with
virtually all homes now sold in the Western Area. The next phase of residential
development, the Central Area, which will see the construction of three hundred
and sixty apartments, is now well underway and early interest has been
encouraging.
The new access bridge from the north of the site is also now fully open
providing a much improved arrival and departure experience for our customers.
In July 2015, the Board announced that it had submitted detailed planning
proposals for the racecourse's own redevelopment. These plans, which were
approved in October, include new entrances, remodelling of the parade ring area
and a new owners and trainers facility. These improvements are focused on
enhancing the experience for all of our racegoers, whilst generating improved
financial returns for the wider business in the longer term. The tender process
is now in its final stages and we expect these works to commence within the
next few weeks.
We made significant strides towards our long term plans for Newbury Racecourse
during 2015 and the Board is confident that this progress will continue during
2016. We remain wholly focused on driving forward our strategy to ensure that
the racecourse continues to offer both world class racing and facilities to
support the long term growth of the business.
For further information please contact:
Newbury Racecourse plc Tel: 01635 40015
Julian Thick, Chief Executive
Andy Clifton, Head of Communications
Hudson Sandler Tel: 020 7796 4133
Charlie Jack / Katie Matthews
END
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 06, 2016 06:00 ET (10:00 GMT)