Shares digital

Goals Soccer Centres (GOAL:AIM) 301.75p

The leisure operator is to expand into South Africa and the US to explore interest in its five-a-side football service. (Read the full story: www.sharesmagazine.com/node/3393)

Shares says: The international expansion is wise as it appears that the UK growth is slowing down. There are still opportunities to partner with schools, building pitches for their free use and then opening up sites to the public in the evening. But overseas gains may come quicker than school developments. Football remains an incredibly popular sport and the cost of playing five-a-side is relatively low at around £5.50 a person. It should weather any leisure downturn as players tend to be loyal to their teams and should be able to afford to keep using Goal’s facilities. It cannot be complacent, however, as there’s still competition from rivals such as Powerleague, which last week snapped up JJB’s Soccer Domes five-a-side business. HOLD

The Times says: While five-a-side football is not a new craze, the professionalism that has been brought to the sport by operators such as Goals and Powerleague has spurred fresh interest in what is known in the trade as small-sided football. The shares are trading on a multiple of about 22 times’ 2008 earnings. That is not cheap and does not provide much margin for slippage, but there is development potential – both here and overseas. HOLD

The City - Altium says: Without the recent acquisition of three sites, the current year’s development programme would most likely have been beyond reach. It paid a hefty price, around £2.6 million a site, and there is execution risk in the development programme. We see net debt rising to £35.2 million by December, against our previous estimate of £27.9 million. SELL