Goals Soccer Centres scraps dividend after £6 million loss

Goals Soccer Centres has put through its own net as it plunged more than £6 million into the red and scrapped the dividend.

Shares sank 6% or 7p to 109.5p as the five-a-side operator blamed competition from cheaper local authority artificial pitches for luring away football fans.

The company is also still on the hunt for a chief executive after Keith Rogers was moved to oversee Goals’ healthier US business.

Chairman Keith Edelman is stepping down from the board in a reshuffle which sees Nick Basing become executive chairman.

Basing said 2015 was “undoubtedly a disappointing year” as the pre-tax loss of £6.2 million included write-offs of £14.5 million on its flagging UK centres. It has called a halt to expansion plans in the UK.

The firm made £6.8 million in profits in 2014. Sales fell 4.9% to £33 million and Goals is now focused on the US market to generate growth.