Ascot turnover and profits rise in 2023 but landscape remains challenging, says chief executive Alastair Warwick

Ascot racecourse reported increases in turnover and profits last year, according to its latest set of financial results, although chief executive Alastair Warwick warned the landscape continued to be challenging.

After breaking the £100 million barrier for the first time in 2022, Ascot's turnover rose again by nine per cent to £110.9 million in 2023, while the racecourse recorded a pre-tax profit of £5.9m, up from £3.4m.

"It was a good year," Warwick said. "The previous year had been a tough year. It was nice to be back racing but to see profitability levels down at £3.4 million was not the happiest place I've ever been.

"To see the build back and the increase in turnover and the increase in profitability is good. Underlying it we did great things with prize-money. Even though we are building back we are still spending money."

Although pre-tax profits increased by nearly 75 per cent, ebitda (earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation) rose by only £582,000 or 3.8 per cent.

Alastair Warwick: "The cost of operating continues to be challenging"Credit: David Sell

Warwick said: "Revenue was increasing but making money out of that increased revenue becomes harder. If you look at the ebitda numbers, which is the part we focus on as a business, the cost of operating continues to be challenging.

"When you look at the numbers, for an event such as Royal Ascot with seven and a half thousand staff a day, wage bills go up quite a lot. When you continue to put the money into prize-money, as we do, it adds another thing. We are still suffering from the electricity and gas bills and we ended up with a £600,000 increase in the bill for business rates.

"We are not back at pre-Covid levels in reality. It is 2024 and it is 2019 we are comparing ourselves with. We are five years down the line and we are still not back to where we were. So is it harder to make money? Yes, but that's business."

Warwick said the situation was stabilising but racecourses were getting used to a new landscape, one in which tracks faced plenty of competition.

"We think it will ease off towards the back of this year," he said. "Wage inflation is still significant and there has been a change in government, so I doubt that will change.

"Things are stabilising but there are still key areas where the costs are going to increase. I think we are over the worst of it, which will be reflected this year."

Ascot also reduced its debt level, a legacy of loans taken out to develop the grandstand opened in 2006, with an overpayment, which meant its net debt at the end of 2023 stood at £9.5m having been £17.2m in 2022 and £25.4m the previous year.

Warwick said: "The good thing for us was also paying down the debt. It has been a constant theme for the last few years because the debt level was quite high. We made an overpayment last year and some of that was because the cost of interest was rising.

"We are a business that has quite a lot of cash in the bank, so we chose to spend it on paying off some of that debt and bringing it down quicker to try and save the interest.

"It leaves us in a great position of net debt of nine million. When I started here in 2008, just after redevelopment, we were at £142 million. Fifteen years on and in reality the grandstand is nearly paid off."

Warwick said this year's Royal Ascot had been a success but it was too early to put any numbers to it.

“Royal Ascot 2024 was a hugely enjoyable and successful week on a number of levels," he said. "We are yet to fully finalise the financial performance of the week, but we saw good hospitality sales and really strong public attendance numbers, which was especially pleasing."

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