American Golf returns to profit as new boss starts

The retailer made £2.8m pre-tax profit for the year to January 29 against a £1.5m loss last year. EBITDA rose from £4.9m to £8.8m.

Sales grew 25% to £108.2, as the retailer added seven stores to its portfolio.  Margin was up by one percentage point to 38.1% over the year.

In documents filed at Companies House, the retailer said it intends to continue the profit growth by adding new stores and further investing in its ecommerce operation.

American Golf, which was bought by private equity firm Sun European Partners in December last year, believes there is potential for the 90-store retailer to reach 140 shops in the UK and is eyeing eight openings a year domestically.

It is also set to tee off overseas expansion and has identified Germany, France and Sweden as its target markets.

Styles, who was most recently chief executive of furniture chain Habitat for four months before it went bust last year, joined the golfing specialist earlier this month replacing Nick Wood who left to take the helm at Pets at Home.

Styles, who was placed at American Golf by headhunters Clarity, said: “We’re ideally placed to capture further market share in Europe as we extend our footprint and make significant investments in our digital business.”

Prior to his time at Habitat, Styles was UK marketing director for US electricals giant Best Buy, which exited the UK last year.  Before this he was managing director at Kingfisher-owned Trade Depot where he worked for five years.

Verdict practice leader Maureen Hinton said she expects American Golf’s growth to continue.

She said: “They’re riding the crest of a wave in the popularly of golf. It’s a market which is pinpointed for growth and for good reason given the ageing population.”

Hinton said the golf market is protected in tough economic times. She said: “Generally people are prepared to pay for expensive golf equipment, it’s not as price driven as other sports.”