XP Factory plc (LON:XPF), one of the UK’s pre-eminent experiential leisure businesses operating the Escape Hunt® and Boom Battle Bar® brands, has announced its unaudited interim results for the twenty-six weeks ended 28 September 2025
| H1 FY2026 (£m) | H1 FY2025 (£m) | Change | |
| Revenue | 28.2 | 24.9 | +13% |
| Gross Profit | 17.3 | 15.6 | +11% |
| Pre IFRS 16 Site level EBITDA | 6.1 | 5.6 | +8% |
| Pre IFRS 16 Group Adjusted EBITDA | 1.7 | 1.5 | +15% |
| Post IFRS16 Group Adjusted EBITDA | 4.7 | 3.2 | +48% |
| Adjusted loss per share | (0.71) | (0.87) | +18% |
| Statutory loss per share | (1.05) | (1.26) | +17% |
| Pre IFRS16 Cash from operating activities | 2.3 | 2.3 | 0% |
| Free cash generation | 1.4 | 1.8 | -19% |
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
| · | Group revenue increased 13.1% to £28.2m (H1 2024: £24.9) |
| – Escape Hunt owner operated site revenue increased 12.7% to £7.3m (H1 FY2025: £6.5m) | |
| – Boom Battle Bar (“Boom”) owner operated revenue increased 16.0% to £20.4m (H1 FY2025: £17.6m) | |
| · | Pre IFRS 16 Group Adjusted EBITDA2 up 15% to £1.7m (H1 FY2025: £1.5m) |
| · | Pre IFRS16 site level EBITDA up 8% to £6.1m (H1 FY2025: £5.6m) |
| · | IFRS16 cash generated from operating activities of £2.3m (H1 FY2025: £2.3m) |
| · | £2.2m invested in growth capex, and £0.5m in maintenance capex |
| · | £1.4m free cash generated (H1 FY2025 £1.8m) |
| · | Cash balance at 28 September 2025 of £4.5m (31 March 2025: £1.1m) |
| · | Net debt at 28 September 2025 of £5.3m (31 March 2025: £4.9m) |
OPERATING HIGHLIGHTS
| · | Creditable performance amidst a tough market environment | |
| o | Escape Hunt: UK LFL growth up 1.8% in the 26 weeks to 28 September 2025 | |
| o | Boom: UK LFL down 6.8% in the 26 weeks to 28 September 2025 | |
| · | Escape Hunt owner operated site level EBITDA margins of 40.4% (H1 FY2025: 42.0%) | |
| · | Boom owner operated site level EBITDA margins up 1% to 12.8% (H1 FY2025: 11.8%) | |
| · | New Boom site opened in Reading in May 2025 | |
| · | New Escape Hunt opened in Canterbury in May 2025 together with significant expansion at Birmingham Resorts World. | |
POST PERIOD-END HIGHLIGHTS
| · | Strong performance at EH with +8.3% LFL growth in the 9 weeks to 30 November 2025 |
| · | Boom performing in line with a very tough competitive socialising market at -9.8% LFL growth for the 9 weeks to 30 November 2025, with overall sales +1% ahead of prior year when including the new sites in Reading and Cambridge. Record corporate pre-bookings for Christmas and improved cost controls partly mitigating ongoing softer consumer demand |
| · | New and more flexible three year £20m revolving credit facility signed with HSBC to refinance existing Barclays facility on more attractive terms |
| · | Escape Hunt Sheffield opened in October 2025, five further sites in advanced discussions; target to open three more sites by year end |
| · | Budget outcome expected to be neutral to modestly positive after detailed evaluation with net lower business rates offsetting higher than planned NLW increases |
| · | Graham Bird, group CFO, has informed the board that he will be retiring from the board at the end of the financial year effective 29 March 2026 |
Richard Harpham, Chief Executive of XP Factory, commented: “XP Factory group has had another period of double-digit growth generating strong underlying free cashflow in particularly challenging trading conditions. Escape Hunt has bounced back strongly since the first quarter and continues to produce industry leading metrics on all measures. Boom has performed ahead of the experiential leisure industry as a whole over the period, with softer consumer demand being mitigated by improved cost control and record corporate pre-bookings for the crucial Christmas period on which, as ever, the outturn for the financial year is heavily dependent. Evidencing the attractions of our business model, we have successfully secured new, extended, larger and lower cost banking facilities providing access to liquidity and the flexibility for continued growth and future shareholder value creation.”
XP Factory will provide a trading update after the Christmas period in late January / early February 2026 and will schedule meetings with investors at that time, including an online presentation via Investor Meet Company which will be available to retail shareholders.
