Bad weather and betting shop closures reduced Jockey Club profits in 2019

Abandonments and betting shop closures in 2019 had held back growth and reduced profits at the Jockey Club even before Covid-19 struck, according to the group's latest set of financial results.

The Jockey Club recorded revenues of £216.5 million in 2019 – a year-on-year increase of just under £2m despite the adverse impact of weather-related fixture losses and media revenues hit by the closure of 1,200 betting shops.

With £1.4m of profit lost due to abandoned meetings, group operating profits fell by £500,000 to £20.5m in 2019, and as a result net profit reduced by £100,000 to £4.4m.

The Jockey Club, which boasts that it puts its profits back into British racing, said it had spent more than £30m on the sport's participants in its last financial year.

However, the results cover the period before the Covid-19 pandemic, which the Jockey Club estimates will cost it more than £90m in lost revenues in 2020 alone, with continuing impacts into 2021.

Nevin Truesdale: 'The Jockey Club is a resilient business'

Acting group chief executive Nevin Truesdale said: "The Jockey Club is a resilient business with hugely popular major racing events and a diverse range of revenue streams.

"We have great potential for future growth as an industry, however the pandemic is costing British racing £250-300 million in 2020 alone, including more than £90 million of lost revenues for the Jockey Club.

"Resuming racing behind closed doors on June 1 was a vital step in the right direction, but without the spectators who account for more than half of our revenues this will be a long road to recovery."

The Jockey Club added that it had invested £8.4m into capital projects in 2019, including a major irrigation project at Cheltenham, and had reduced its net debt by £6m to £95.9m up to December 31.

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