Hollywood Bowl – keeping within the profit lanes, its shares at 276p offer attractive upside, brokers TP 380p

Mark Watson-Mitchell – 17.12.2025

Yesterday the Hollywood Bowl Group (LON:BOWL), the UK and Canada's largest ten-pin bowling operator, announced its 2025 Final Results showing improving margins.

The £460m-capitalised group reported a strong financial and operational performance for the year to end-September, with revenue increasing by 8.8% to £250.7m.

Group adjusted EBITDA grew by 4.2% to £91.2m, while statutory profit after tax rose by 15.7% to £34.6m.

The company returned £35m to shareholders through dividends and a share buyback programme.

It opened a record seven new sites in the UK and Canada, with plans to reach 130 centres by 2035.

The group stated that its outlook remains positive, with the company well-positioned for continued growth due to its differentiated business model and focus on affordable, family-friendly leisure experiences.

Management Comment

CEO Stephen Burns stated that:

"We delivered a fourth consecutive year of record revenue and adjusted EBITDA, against a backdrop of industry-wide challenges.

We achieved double digit revenue growth in amusements and are the number one bowling operator in Canada.

Our focus on the customer proposition and operational excellence yielded strong results, with uplifts in spend per game across all categories whilst maintaining accessible pricing.

This performance demonstrates the resilience of our model and the enduring appeal of bowling for consumers.

As we look to 2026, we remain focussed on delivering sustainable growth, while generating the compelling shareholder returns we are known for."

Broker Views

Analysts Milo Bussell and Peter Renton, at Cavendish Capital Markets, rate the group’s shares as a Buy, with a Target Price of 380p.

They noted that:

“Overall, it was a resilient year for Hollywood Bowl despite the tougher backdrop and the adverse weather that affected LFLs in the UK.

We are encouraged by this resilience and the exciting opportunity that remains in Canada.

Operational improvements at site level, including amusements, are driving average spend per game in both the UK and Canada.”

Their estimates for the current year to end-September 2026 show revenues higher at £271.7m (£250.7m), with adjusted pre-tax profits of £51.7m (£46.0m), earnings of 23.0p (21.4p) and a dividend of 12.7p (13.3p) per share.

For the 2027 year, they see £291.8m revenues, £55.3m profits, 24.6p earnings and a 13.6p dividend.

The 2028 trading period could see turnover of £309.7m, profits of £60.9m, earnings of 27.1p and paying a dividend of 15.0p per share.

They conclude with the view that:

“We reiterate our 380p target price and Buy rating.

We view BOWL as a premium operator in the UK experiential leisure space and believe the current valuation is undemanding.

On yesterday’s close and our updated forecasts, BOWL is valued on 6.0x EV/EBITDA (adj, pre-IFRS 16) and a 11.1% FCF yield (adj maintenance capex only) for FY26E, changing to 5.6x and 11.3%, respectively.

In our view the FY26E dividend yield of 4.6% remains attractive.“

My View

I actually like this business and its operating model.

Its shares, which have been up to 309p within the last year, are currently just 276p, at which level they have strong attractions.