Arena Leisure boosted by racing coverage

The company, which operates seven courses around the UK including Doncaster, reported an increased contribution from international media rights distributed through its At The Races affiliate.

The group said that trading in the year to date has been in line with expectations and it anticipates that the improvements will continue.

It said that trading over the important summer period is more dependent on economic recovery and consumer sentiment and so the outlook at this stage remains uncertain. To date, the booking patterns for hospitality business are similar to 2009 and the group believes 2010 will have a similar outcome.

Across Arena's seven racecourses, 138 fixtures were staged during the period.

Some 11 fixtures were lost to bad weather in the early part of the year although the group was able to stage an additional eight fixtures at short notice so the total impact on profits was not significant.

Total attendances in the early part of the year were also hit by bad weather, but recent meetings have shown more encouraging numbers.

In total, the 138 fixtures were attended by 133,000 racegoers resulting in an average attendance that was five per cent ahead of the same period in 2009.

Private and corporate hospitality business was 25 per cent higher than in 2009.