(ESS) Essenden

ESSENDEN PLC

("Essenden" or the "Company")

Interim results for the 26 week period ended 3^rd July 2011

Essenden plc, the second largest UK operator of bowling and entertainment centres, today announces interims results for the 26 week period ended 3^rd July 2011.

Highlights

Management actions aimed at building a sustainable business

o  CVA proposal for Tenpin implemented involving 5 underperforming sites

o  Operational and overhead savings in 2010 and 2011 reduced cost base by £5m

o  Four snooker club freehold sites disposed - funds received to reduce Company's borrowing

New customer service programme introduced, enhanced by front line management structure 

Significantly enhanced on-line booking system launched

New product trials continuing in bowling and other ancillary areas

Pre-tax profit of £0.12m (2010: £1.21m), Net debt of £3.5m

Nick Basing, Chief Executive, said:

"It has been a difficult period as we effect the turnaround of the business against the backdrop of a tough economic climate.  The successful outcome of the CVA is a defining moment for the Company and is a significant step towards creating a stronger business which the Board believes should have a viable and sustainable future. Combined with our aggressive cost re-engineering and our focus on innovation and the customers' experience, we have now set the business for its next stage."

30 September 2011

Enquiries:

Essenden Plc                                                                              Tel: 020 8879 3932

Nick Basing

Richard Darwin

Strand Hanson Limited                                                                Tel: 020 7409 3494

Stuart Faulkner

David Altberg

College Hill                                                                                Tel: 020 7457 2020

Matthew Smallwood

Jamie Ramsay

CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S STATEMENT

During the last six months further critical steps have been taken towards the turnaround of Essenden's business.Management have implemented many initiatives delivering operational change, streamlined costs further and accelerated the trial of new revenue generating ideas, whilst facing difficult economic conditions affecting consumer spend.

An extensive strategic review of the site portfolio was undertaken during the period, which resulted in the launch of the CVA proposal for Tenpin Ltd ("Tenpin"). The agreement to the CVA proposal by Tenpin's creditors is a significant step towards creating a stronger business which the Board believes should have a viable and sustainable future.  The 28 day period post the creditors meeting has now concluded without challenge and as a result the CVA proposal has been formally implemented.

The need to implement this aggressive turnaround plan was highlighted by the 8.8% decline in like for like sales for the 26 week period to 3^rd July 2011, which was compounded by a combination of a late and very warm Easter and the continuing challenging economic situation.  The business has been able to mitigate some of the impact of this sales decline through cost saving measures implemented in 2010 and 2011. Operational and overhead savings are estimated to have reduced the cost base by over £5m.  For the first half of the year EBITDA was down to £1.3m (2010: £2.3m). Net Debt increased to £3.5m from the year end position of £3.1m. Pre-tax profit fell from £1.21m in the six months to 3^rd July 2011 to £120,000.

The Board also acted to enhance the Company's cash position, by pursuing the disposal of five ex-Riley's freehold sites which were non-operating assets of the Group.  To date, four of the five sites have been disposed  with net proceeds of £1.5m received.  Negotiations on the disposal of the remaining site at Lewisham are ongoing. The proceeds of these sales will reduce the Company's borrowings.  The future cash position of the Company was also protected by our success in negotiating an exit from a further site commitment at Halifax where a termination agreement was signed.

Additionally, there has been further significant progress in cutting costs.  Costs associated with our support office were reduced in March of this year in order to bring it in line with the management of a smaller portfolio.  At the same time we have introduced further efficiencies in the areas of supply contracts, cleaning and security.

Across our business we have implemented significant operational change.  The new site management structure that we introduced at the end of 2010 is working efficiently. This has served to bring our colleagues closer to the customer and has resulted in a significant improvement in customer service, as measured by the Net Promoter Score. This is very encouraging progress.

In August 2011 we launched a significantly enhanced version of our website that enables customers to book online in an efficient and speedy manner.  We are leading the industry in terms of our channel management as we are the only company to have a dedicated call centre and the Directors believe that the website is now truly market-leading.

We are now concentrating our efforts on driving footfall, increasing value to our customers and improving the quality of the bowling proposition.  We have recently launched a trial of a number of lanes at one of our sites where customers can bowl without using bowling shoes and can use different balls.  We intend to extend this trial in a limited way in the coming months as customer response has been positive to date. We are continuing to work towards introducing other ideas and innovations to upgrade our business.

The outlook for current trading continues to be unpredictable with sales at the start of the second half of the year marginally ahead of the first half trend, reinforcing the necessity of undertaking the CVA.  Following a successful completion of the CVA, we will have addressed the cost base and remodelled the site portfolio.  Our focus is now being concentrated on stabilising the like for like sales performance.  All these actions are being taken in a difficult trading environment where disposable incomes and consumer confidence are being squeezed in an unprecedented way.  However, the steps we have taken over the past 18 months, anchored by the CVA, provide a platform for the Company to take the actions necessary to further strengthen the business.  I am grateful for the support of all our stakeholders during this difficult period.

Nick Basing

CEO

Consolidated Income Statement

for the 26 week period ended 3rd July 2011

Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income

For the 26 week period ended 3rd July 2011

Consolidated balance sheet

at 3rd July 2011

Consolidated cash flow statement

for the 26 week period ended 3rd July 2011

Consolidated statement of changes in equity

for the 26 week period ended 3rd July 2011

NOTES:

1     General information          

Essenden PLC ("Essenden" or the "company") is a public limited company incorporated and domiciled in the United Kingdom. The address of the registered office is 3^rd Floor, 2-4 St. Georges Road, Wimbledon, London, SW19 4DP. The condensed consolidated interim financial statements of the Group for the 26 week period ended 3rd July 2011 comprise the company and its subsidiaries (together referred to as the "Group"). The principal activity of the Group comprises the operation of tenpin bowling centres.

The financial information for the 26 week period ended 3^rd July 2011 is unaudited and has not been reviewed by the company's auditors. It does not constitute statutory financial statements within the meaning of Section 434 of the Companies Act 2006. The condensed consolidated interim financial information should be read in conjunction with the annual financial statements of Essenden for the 53 week period to 2nd January 2011, which have been prepared in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the European Union. The financial information of the Group for the 53 week period to 2nd January 2011 has been extracted from the financial statements for that period which were approved by the board of directors on 31st March 2011 and have been filed with the Registrar of Companies. The report of the auditors on those financial statements was unqualified, did not contain an emphasis of matter paragraph and did not contain any statement under section 434 of the Companies Act 2006.

The accounting policies applied by Essenden in this report are consistent with those of the financial statements of the Group for the 53 week period to 2nd January 2011, as described in those financial statements.

This report was approved by the directors on 29^th September 2011.

2     Basis of preparation

The condensed consolidated interim financial statements have been prepared in accordance with IAS 34 "Interim financial reporting" as adopted by the European Union, and incorporate the consolidated results of Essenden and all its subsidiaries for the 26 week period ended 3rd July 2011. The comparative financial information is for the Essenden Group for the 26 week period ended 27th June 2010.

3     Going concern

The Group meets its day-to-day working capital requirements through its bank facilities. The current economic conditions continue to create uncertainty particularly over the level of demand for the Group's products. The Group's forecasts and projections, taking account of reasonably possible changes in trading performance, show that the Group should be able to operate within the level of its current facilities, meet future debt repayments and will continue to comply with its banking covenants for at least the foreseeable future. The Group therefore continues to adopt the going concern basis in preparing its condensed consolidated interim financial statements.

4     Accounting estimates

The preparation of condensed consolidated interim financial statements requires management to make judgements, estimates and assumptions that affect the application of accounting policies and the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, income and expense. Actual results may differ from these estimates. In preparing these condensed consolidated interim financial statements, the significant judgements made by management in applying the Group's accounting policies and the key sources of estimation uncertainty were the same as those that applied to the consolidated financial statements for the year ended 2nd January 2011.

5     Earnings per share

Basic earnings per share for each period is calculated by dividing the earnings attributable to ordinary shareholders by the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the period. Earnings per share is based on the capital structure of Essenden.

Details of the earnings and weighted average number of ordinary shares used in each calculation are set out below.