Walkabout owner Intertain posts £5m loss to February 2013 despite successful sporting year

Parent company of high-street bar chain Walkabout, Intertain, has posted a pre-tax loss of nearly £5m for the year ending February 2013.

The newly-released results show a loss of £4,880,000 for the 53 weeks previous, greater than the £2,366,000 loss posted for 2012. Turnover was also down on the previous year, at just over £58m compared with £63m in 2012.

The company has primarily blamed the loss on "exceptional items" mainly related to the value of non-cash assets, including impairment charges and onerous leases.

Profit before exceptional costs was actually higher than last year, at £1,976,000 compared with £1,237,000, due to significant savings from the closure of loss-making sites in Portsmouth, Edinburgh and West Hampstead, and discontinuation of the "highlight" entertainment arm of sites in Glasgow and Leicester.

The sporting events calendar had a significant influence on the company's takings, which were boosted by an additional £1m during the Euro 2012 football tournament.

Commenting on potential future outlook, the company report included an evaluation of the impact of major sporting events on projected sales, calling 2013 a "fallow" year due to the lack of major football or rugby tournament on the horizon.

Already, takings to January 2014 are down 9.7% below last year, of which the company suggests 7% is entirely due to differences in the sporting calendar.