LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - The Gym Group posted a surge in interim profit on Thursday and hiked its dividend amid growing membership numbers.
In the six months to the end of June, adjusted pre-tax profit increased 53.3% to £7.1m on revenue of £74m, up 27% on the same period a year ago. Membership numbers pushed up 10.6% to 796,000 and it opened eight new gyms during the half, taking its total estate to 165.

Average revenue per member per month was up 5.6% from the first half of last year to £15.47. Around half of the growth in this spend per head came as expected from LIVE IT, the group's premium pricing proposition, which reached 135,000 members by 30 June.

Adjusted earnings per share rose 42.9% to 4p and the interim dividend was lifted 28.6% to 0.45p a share.

The Gym Group said it has continued to trade "well" and in line with its expectations in the first two months of the second half and is on track to achieve its financial and operational plans for the full year.

Chief executive officer Richard Darwin said: "Our rapid and profitable growth has been achieved through operating high quality great value gyms that offer affordable fitness for all. Our growing membership visited a record 24 million times in the first half of the year demonstrating the wide and diverse appeal of The Gym.

"Continued investment in systems, infrastructure and people to scale the business is enabling us to take advantage of the huge growth potential that exists in the low cost gym market. We are on track to open between 15 and 20 standard catchment gyms this year whilst our new 'small box' format further increases the number of towns that we can go to. We are confident that we can deliver further profitable growth both this year and in the years to come."

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