Ardent Leisure further expands Goodlife Health Clubs and US FEC business

Ardent Leisure is expanding its Goodlife Health Clubs chain while announcing plans to more than double its strongly performing Main Event family entertainment (FEC) business in the USA.

The group, which also operates AMF and Kingpin Bowling; d'Albora Marinas; and the Dreamworld, WhiteWater World & SkyPoint theme parks and attractions on the Gold Coast, also announced a 38% rise in its annual profit.

As reported yesterday (Fitness First Australia sells West Australian clubs to Ardent Leisure) the company is to acquire Fitness First's remaining eight Western Australian clubs for $32.5 million, more than doubling its Goodlife portfolio to 14 in its strongest performing state.

Ardent Chief Executive Greg Shaw said the group was excited by the growth opportunities in Western Australia, where Goodlife membership already outperforms Fitness First.

Shaw (pictured) explained "our existing clubs in Western Australia, even though they are smaller than the Fitness First clubs, already trade at 20% higher membership."

He added that Goodlife memberships jumped more than 20% when Ardent bought six South Australian Fitness First stores in 2012.

With Goodlife and Main Event consistently ranking as the company's highest performing divisions, Ardent plans to raise $50 million by issuing new shares to pay for the Western Australian purchase with the remaining money raised to be used to more than double its number of Main Event FECs in the USA to 35 by the end of the 2016/17 year.

Main Event has been the main driver of Ardent Leisure's growth in 2013/14, and further earnings growth has helped the company's expected net profit for the year to increase to $49 million.

Shaw expects Main Event to continue to perform well as it expands across major US cities including Chicago, Phoenix and Orlando.

Shaw explained "our like-for-like revenue growth is up 13% in July which is just phenomenal.

"We've got a business model that's really unique in that market, there's not a lot of direct competition and there's a chance for us to really scale this business across the broader US market."

7th August 2014 - FITNESS FIRST AUSTRALIA SELLS WEST AUSTRALIAN CLUBS TO ARDENT LEISURE

12th May 2014 - ARDENT LEISURE GROWS NINE-MONTH REVENUE 

13th November 2012 - GOODLIFE HEALTH CLUBS EMBRACES NUTRITIONAL COACHING 

3rd August 2012 - GOODLIFE RECOGNISED AS ONE OF THE WORLD’S LEADING FITNESS CLUBS

1st June 2012 - FITNESS FIRST TO SHED 24 AUSTRALIAN CLUBS

7th October 2011 - IHRSA REVEALS ASIAN AND AUSTRALASIAN FITNESS CLUB PERFORMANCE 

9th March 2011 - GOODLIFE HEALTH CLUBS ACQUIRES THREE RE-CREATION CLUBS 

16th October 2010 - OLIVER MOVES TO HEAD GOODLIFE

18th February 2010 - REVENUE DROP FOR ARDENT LEISURE