Goals misses the target

Five-a-side specialist Goals Soccer Centres issued its second profits warning in two months today after its autumn growth targets fell short of expectations.

The company, which has sites in Willenhall and Rowley Regis, had warned over profits in September after a washout summer saw players head overseas to escape the drizzly British weather.

That announcement led the company to lose one fifth of its stock market value.

Now it has told investors that it has cut its forecasts again, and said it was hoping for better weather in the winter to prevent further falls.

"As previously reported at the interim results on September 9, trading in the UK business over the summer holiday period had been challenging," the company said in a statement today.

"Whilst we have made progress since then, delivering week-on-week sales improvements, the speed of this recovery has not been at the level anticipated.

"In view of this, the board now anticipates that profit before tax for the current financial year will be in the range of £8.2m to £8.6m, predicated on the absence of adverse weather conditions."

In September, Goals said it expected to deliver profits of between £9.3 and £9.8 million. City analysts had previously anticipated Goals achieving a profit of £10.9 million for the current year.