Brighton Pier Group delivers positive results

Brighton Pier Group PLC, the entertainment business which owns and operates Eclectic Bars Limited, has announced a positive trading update for the 26-week period ended 26 December 2021.

While there was some impact in December due to Covid-19 restrictions, over New Year the bars recovered momentum, trading 9% up on 2019.

The group expects total sales of £22.7m across its estate, which includes Brighton Marine Palace and Pier Company, Paradise Island Adventure Golf and Lightwater Valley Attractions. This is up 177% on the same period in 2020 and up 31% against the same (pre-Covid) period in 2019. 

Like-for-like sales across its bars (for 23 weeks, since the division re-opened from end of July) are up 27% on 2019.

Brighton Palace Pier's like-for-like sales are up 15% on 2019; the golf division's up 33% on 2019; while Lightwater Valley theme park, acquired in June 2021, continues to trade ahead of expectations.

The strong cash flow generation within the Brighton Pier Group is expected to enable it to pay down £7.7m of debt, reducing borrowings by 38% by the end of June 2022.

"Our businesses target growth within the UK entertainment sector; all are popular, cash generative, asset-backed businesses with further organic growth opportunities - particularly so in the golf division and the recently acquired Lightwater Valley," says Anne Ackord, chief executive officer. 

"We expect that 2022 will be a good year. Alongside the announcement of our H1 results in March, we intend to give longer term-guidance showing what we believe our businesses can deliver as we emerge from the pandemic."

Eclectic Bars Limited owns and operates eight bars which trade under a variety of concepts, including Embargo Republica, Lola Lo, Le Fez, Lowlander and Coalition.

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