MARKET REPORT: Hollywood Bowl pops as dividend returns
Investors in Hollywood Bowl hit a strike after it unveiled a £4.7million special dividend.
The ten-pin bowling group said it will be paying investors 3.33p per share and would raise its ordinary dividend from 0.19p to 3.95p – bringing the total number of funds returned to shareholders to £13.6million.
It came as the firm revealed soaring full-year sales and profits, after reaping the benefits of its strategy to place bowling centres near cinema chains.
Profits jumped a hefty 88 per cent to £21.1million while sales across cinema chains open for more than a year increased 3.5 per cent.
Part of Hollywood Bowl’s success is down to its family-oriented business model.
Hollywood Bowl said it will be paying investors a special dividend of 3.33p per share and would raise its ordinary dividend from 0.19p to 3.95p
Around 75 per cent of its bowling sites are based near cinemas in order to attract families trying to kill time before their film starts or parents sneaking in a quick drink while the children are playing.
The firm has also invested heavily in its arcade machines and has introduced virtual reality games in some of its branches. In keeping with its family friendly theme, it has also got rid of violent games.
The changes, combined with site openings and refurbishments, boosted sales by 8.8 per cent to £114million in its first full-year since listing on the stock exchange and sent shares up 6.8 per cent, or 13p, to 203p.
Also up was Hurricane Energy, which soared 14.8 per cent, or 4p, to 31p after an independent report revealed a 231 per cent increase in the group’s oil resources.
The report, by energy consultants RPS, estimates that there are around 2.6bn barrels of oil in Hurricane’s assets across the west of the Shetland Islands on the UK Atlantic Margin.
STOCK WATCH - ACCROL It has been an eventful year for Accrol. The loo-roll maker lost its chief executive, took a profit hit and was forced to suspend trading in September after warning its earnings would be significantly lower than forecast. It re-entered AIM last month on the condition it would raise £18m to solve its short-term funding problems. Yesterday it said it had successfully raised the funding it needed. But the cash injection had little impact on shares, which fell 2.3 per cent, or 1p, to 42p.
The jewel in the crown was its Halifax site, which it discovered earlier this year. The site was found to hold an estimated 1.2bn barrels of oil – making it the largest oil discovery in the UK for decades.
Prudential and Aviva were also lifted higher after Barclays named them as its top insurance picks for 2018. Pru rose 0.2 per cent, or 4p, to 1839p after Barclays said its stock wasn’t fully appreciated by the market and gave it an overweight rating with a price target of 2161p.
Aviva nudged up 0.1 per cent, or 0.5p, to 510.5p after the bank gave it an ‘overweight’ rating, citing the extra £3billionn the firm has to repay debt.
The FTSE 100 finished up 0.81 per cent, or 59.52 points, to 7453.48 while the FTSE 250 finished up 0.36 per cent, or 72.08 points, to 20,064.62.
Investment company Blenheim Natural Resources is jumping on the crypto-currency bandwagon.
The firm has signed an agreement with Israeli tech company Brandshield to develop blockchain platforms – the technology behind crypto-currency transactions – to help facilitate commodity trading.
The deal, which focuses on the natural resources sector, could mean the existence of more crypto-currencies like bitcoin. But investors appeared unconvinced, sending shares down 1.1 per cent.
Telecoms provider TalkTalk sank after analysts at Jefferies said it would be forced to cut its dividend pay-out next year.
Jefferies cut TalkTalk’s price target from 125p to 95p and reiterated its ‘underperform’ rating, saying the firm’s new tariffs are not delivering as hoped. It expects TalkTalk to miss its earnings guidance for the full year.
Its comments sent shares spiralling 9.8 per cent, or 15.2p, to 139.3p.
AIM-listed Quadrise Fuels continued to reap the benefits of its tie-up with Japanese engineering contractor JGC.
Shares have risen more than 50 per cent since it announced its agreement with JGC last month and continued their surge yesterday – rising 37 per cent, or 2.25p, to 8.32p after a successful shareholder AGM.