Five-a-side football firm Goals Soccer Centres lost more than one fifth of its stock market value as it warned over profits after being hit by the wet summer weather.
The East Kilbride-based firm, which runs around 45 centres in the UK, said after a poor summer it now expects annual pre-tax profit to be in a range of £9.3 million to £9.8m, against previous City expectations of £10.9m. Shares slumped more than 20 per cnet.
It said like-for-like sales were 10 per cent down over the summer holiday period compared with a year earlier, blaming tough comparisons against last year's World Cup and more people going on holiday this year due to the strong pound and rainy weather.
The firm said there was "a significant increase" in league and casual teams cancelling over the period, adding that "players took advantage of the strong pound during a period of poor UK weather to holiday abroad".
The firm posted its interims profits today, which showed sales unchanged at £17.1m in the six months to the end of June, while underlying pre-tax profits edged up by one per cent to £4.5m.
Goals Soccer Centres managing director Keith Rogers said: "Trading in the UK has been challenging resulting from a combination of external factors and tough comparatives."
But Mr Rogers remained "confident in the UK's long term favourable market dynamics".
The firm, which employs 800 staff, said it would boost its annual September marketing campaign in a bid to win back wayward amateur football players.
It said its 'Get Fit - Mind, Body and Goals' autumn campaign, would include social media, adding that its mobile app has been downloaded on more than 34,000 mobile phones.
Analysts at N+1 Singer said today's results were "effectively another profit warning".
The broker added: "Today's interims raise fresh concerns about UK growth prospects and have put further pressure on the investment case and the management."
The firm opened new sites in Manchester and Doncaster during the period. It also has a site in Los Angeles, which reported sales jumping by 22 per cent to £600,000 during the six-month period.
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