Annual Report 2004
Arena Leisure Plc
1 Hay Hill
Berkeley Square
London W1J 6DH
Telephone +44(0) 20 7495 2277
Facsimile +44(0) 20 7491 7174
www.arenaleisureplc.com
Staying ahead
Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004 Arena Leisure at a glance
Arena Leisure is the UK’s largest operator of horseracing ﬁxtures. Our portfolio of racecourse assets provides a solid base for the
future development of the group. Continued focus on extending our ﬁxture list, increasing racecourse attendance and expanding 
non racing facilities will enable us to develop venues which operate for 365 days a year.
Royal Windsor
167
Acreage
28
Race meetings 2005
2%
Share of UK horserace 
betting turnover
2%
Of UK race meetings
123
Attendance 000’s
Other information
• The ‘jewel in the crown’
•Afﬂuent residential, 
London and tourist market
•Popular summer Monday
evenings ﬁxtures
Lingﬁeld Park
450
Acreage
97
Race meetings 2005
6%
Share of UK horserace 
betting turnover
7%
Of UK race meetings
165
Attendance 000’s
Other information
• The UK’s busiest racecourse
• Championship golf course
• Sports and leisure club
Doncaster
214 (net 101)
Acreage
29
Race meetings 2005
3%
Share of UK horserace 
betting turnover
2%
Of UK race meetings
213
Attendance 000’s
Other information
•Currently under 
management contract
•Home of the St Leger, the
world’s oldest classic horse race
•Flat turf and National 
Hunt racing/Exhibition centre
Wolverhampton
105
Acreage
84
Race meetings 2005
4%
Share of UK horserace 
betting turnover
6%
Of UK race meetings
72
Attendance 000’s
Other information
•Awaiting Government 
Ofﬁce approval for the 
UK’s ﬁrst ‘Racino’
• Only ﬂoodlit UK racecourse
•Only racecourse in the 
UK with an onsite hotel
Folkestone
203
Acreage
22
Race meetings 2005
2%
Share of UK horserace 
betting turnover
2%
Of UK race meetings
35
Attendance 000’s
Other information
•Five minutes from the 
Channel Tunnel
•Railway station and 
immediate motorway access
• Kent’s only racecourse
Worcester
100
Acreage
20
Race meetings 2005
1%
Share of UK horserace 
betting turnover
1%
Of UK race meetings
37
Attendance 000’s
Other information
• Summer jumps track
• Popular family racecourse
•The company’s only 
leasehold asset
Horseracing
Media/Broadcast
Broadcast media
UK, Irish and international 
horse racing
Broadcast platforms
Sky , ntl, T elewest and Corus
Audience
Average monthly reach 
over one million
Income streams:
•Advertising, sponsorship 
and teletext
• International distribution
•Interactive betting 
and gaming
•Live Web streaming 
and video archive
• Casino and poker
•Distribution to UK 
commercial premises
Southwell
145
Acreage
75
Race meetings 2005
5%
Share of UK horserace 
betting turnover
6%
Of UK race meetings
72
Attendance 000’s
Other information
• All Weather and turf track
• Golf course
•Third busiest racecourse 
in the UK
Company information
Head and registered ofﬁce
1 Hay Hill
Berkeley Square
London W1J 6DH
Telephone +44(0) 20 7495 2277
Facsimile +44(0) 20 7491 7174
contact@arenaleisureplc.com
www.arenaleisureplc.com
Company secretary
Robert Mercer FCMA
Registered number
857819
Auditors
BDO Stoy Hayward LLP
8 Baker Street
London W1U 3LL
Solicitors
Freshﬁelds Bruckhaus Deringer
65 Fleet Street
London EC4Y 1HS
Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham LLP
110 Cannon Street
London EC4N 6AR
Principal bankers
Bank of Scotland
New Uberior House
11 Earl Grey Street
Edinburgh EH3 9BN
Stockbroker
Numis Securities Ltd
Cheapside House
138 Cheapside
London EC2V 6LH
Financial advisors
Investec Bank (UK) Limited
2 Gresham Street
London EC2V 7QP
Deutsche Bank
Winchester House
1 Great Winchester Street
London EC2N 2DB
Registrar and transfer ofﬁce
Capita Registrars
The Registry
34 Beckenham Road
Beckenham
Kent BR3 4TU
Designed by williams and phoa Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004 1
Contents
1 Financial and operating highlights
2 Chairman’s statement
4 Chief Executive’s statement
5 Always looking to maximise return
12 Review of operations
18 Financial review
22 Corporate social responsibility
24 Board of directors
26 Directors’ report
29 Corporate governance
31 Remuneration report
34 Consolidated proﬁt and loss account
35 Balance sheets
36 Group cash ﬂow statement
37 Notes to the accounts
49 Report of the independent auditors
50 Notice of meeting
52 Five year record
Operating highlights
• Record proﬁts and prize money levels 
from racecourse operations
• Arena is the largest operator of UK
horseracing ﬁxtures:
– 315 race meetings held in 2004, an increase
of 27% on 2003 (247 race meetings)
– We operate 25% of the industry’s ﬁxtures
• Progress on development of racecourse assets: 
– Lingﬁeld grandstand redeveloped 
and reopened
– Selected as preferred bidder for 
Doncaster racecourse 
– New racing surfaces installed at
Wolverhampton and Southwell
– Wolverhampton casino/hotel development –
awaiting approval from Government Ofﬁce
• Closed Arena Online in June 2004 
• At The Races relaunched in partnership 
with British Sky Broadcasting (‘BSkyB’) 
on 11 June 2004 and commenced legal
proceedings to recover rebates following
closure of the former attheraces business
A strong performance over the year
Financial highlights
• Fundamental improvement in proﬁt after 
tax to £5.3m (2003: loss of £42.2m)
• Signiﬁcant improvement in proﬁt before 
tax to £0.2m (2003 £42.2m loss)
• Racecourse operating proﬁt increased 
to £7.3m (2003: £7.0m) with underlying
increase of 20% allowing for loss of attheraces
income and changes to industry funding
• Arena’s share of At The Races operating loss
reduced to £4.6m, including £3m relating 
to the old attheraces contracts terminated 
in the ﬁrst half of 2004
• Net debt of £10.5m following capital
expenditure of £13.5m (2003: net cash £1.8m)
• Maiden dividend of 0.3 pence per 
share proposed 2 Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004
Highlights
•Achieved record proﬁts from our 
racecourse operations
•Returned the group to proﬁtability
•Made signiﬁcant progress on the 
improvement and development of 
our racecourse assets
•Restructured and successfully relaunched 
At The Races on 11 June 2004 following
termination of old attheraces contract 
in March 2004
I am delighted to report that Arena Leisure Plc (‘Arena’) 
has produced very good trading results this year through
concentrating its energies on driving its racecourse business
forward and investing in its racecourse assets. We have
withdrawn from our involvement in software development 
and together with our 47.5% partner, British Sky Broadcasting
(‘BSkyB’) have put At The Races, the media rights company , 
on a sound business and ﬁnancial footing.
Results for the year ended 31 December 2004
The results for the year highlight the signiﬁcant strides that
your Company has made. Turnover increased by 9% to £37.3m
(2003: £34.3m). Group operating proﬁt before exceptional items
reduced by 13% to £5.3m (2003: £6.1m) due to closure of Arena
Online. After deducting the losses incurred by At The Races,
pre-tax proﬁt amounts to £0.2m compared to a loss of £42.0m 
in 2003. A tax credit of £5.1m, principally in respect of At The
Races consortium relief, brings proﬁt after tax to £5.3m
(2003: £42.2m loss). Basic and diluted earnings per share 
were 1.5 pence (2003: loss per share 11.7 pence).
Chairman’s statement
‘I am delighted to 
report excellent
progress at Arena
Leisure and I am
particularly pleased
that we are able to 
pay our shareholders 
a maiden dividend.’
Roger D Withers  Outlook
Arena is increasingly focused on the long-term growth of its
racecourse assets and the distribution of media rights through
the increasing variety of media and technology platforms both
nationally and internationally .
We have seen a good start to the ﬁnancial year, we are 
currently trading ahead of expectations and we have excellent
opportunities for growth and further development of our assets.
With your company building on the successes of 2004, and with
low levels of bank debt and gearing, we approach the future
with conﬁdence.
Roger D Withers 
Chairman
7 April 2005
Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004 3
The board
Ian Renton was appointed as the Racing director in November
2004. He has been with Arena since 2001. At the same time, 
Ian Hogg, director of Gaming Systems and Graham Parr, 
a non-executive director, both resigned to pursue other business
interests. I thank them for their contribution. The board now
consists of two executive directors, two non-executive directors,
myself as Chairman, with the Company Secretary who is also
our Chief Financial Ofﬁcer.
Employees
I am grateful to all of our employees for their dedication and
hard work over the last year. It is their focus and determination
in the front line of the business that has enabled us to report
such good progress this year.
Dividend
I am pleased to announce that following this strong
performance, Arena is proposing to pay its maiden dividend.
The dividend of 0.3 pence per share (2003: nil pence), which
also reﬂects the total dividend for the year, will cost £1.1m 
and is proposed to be paid on 17 June 2005 to all shareholders 
on the register at the close of business on 22 April 2005.
Group turnover
£million
01 02 03 04
32.7
34.3
37.3
26.6
Dividend
£million
01 02 03 04
Nil Nil
1.1
Nil
Proﬁt/(loss) after tax
£million
01 02 03 04
-6.9 -42.2 -6.2
5.3 4 Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004
Strategic overview
Arena’s overall objectives are to maximise value for
shareholders by improving the quality of our venues, so that
they can be used 365 days of the year by an increasing number
of people, and to maximise the widespread distribution of our
racing product to bookmakers and the media, both nationally
and internationally .
As the business grows, we will continue to utilise revenues 
in a disciplined manner facilitating further the growth in 
your company . 
Horseracing venues
Arena operates in a racing industry which is rapidly evolving
towards a prosperous future. Racing is the second most 
popular sport in this country by attendance numbers, attracts
widespread television and media coverage and provides 
the opportunity for more than £9 billion of bets to be placed
annually on horseracing across the UK.
Arena will continue to invest in its racecourses to improve 
both the quality and experience for our widening customer
base, and to position the overall business to take advantage 
of the opportunities that lie ahead following the Ofﬁce of Fair
Trading investigation into racing and from the impact of
changing gaming regulation.
Media rights
Arena owns a valuable portfolio of media rights. We host 25% 
of all races run in the UK. These races generate some £2 billion
of betting turnover in the UK and tens of millions of pounds
internationally , with over £50 million from the South African
and Italian markets combined. We will continue to focus and
develop our relationships with bookmakers.
Through our investment in At The Races, we continue to 
ensure that live broadcasts of our racing are transmitted 
to the widest possible audience, both domestically and
internationally . We endeavour to make racing from Arena’s
racecourses available to some ten million satellite and cable
homes in this country , thereby maximising the appeal from 
an awareness, sponsorship, viewing and betting opportunity .
We value our strategic relationship with BSkyB, a world 
leader in innovative multi-channel digital television, in
order to accelerate and maximise this strategic objective.
Ian R Penrose
Chief Executive
7 April 2005
Chief Executive’s statement
‘2004 was a 
transformational 
year for Arena Leisure. 
We are a growth- 
focused company , 
seeking to grow 
organically and, 
where appropriate, 
through acquisition.’
Ian R Penrose  Always looking to maximise return
£13.5m
Improving on our existing assets
During 2004 we invested heavily on major improvements
to our customer facilities and have improved the standard
of our racing surfaces with the installation of new All
Weather tracks. This year we have featured our progress 
at Lingﬁeld Park racecourse to illustrate how we are
adding value to enhance the customer experience.
Fixture growth
Fixtures per annum
01 02 03 04
237
247
315
 Investing in quality
 Focusing on customer facilities
 A wider vision
Investment 
at a glance
 New All Weather tracks
The strategic investment in 
new All Weather surfaces at
Wolverhampton and Southwell
positions the group for the future
 Big screen facilities
Major investment in enhancing
customer viewing bringing the
customer closer to the action
 Lingﬁeld Park
A total remodelling and 
reﬁtting of the Grandstand 
has transformed the 
customer experience
 Investment increase
An unprecedented level of capital
expenditure was committed in 
the year to improve both customer
and racing facilities
236
Attendances
000’s
01 02 03 04
425
475
504
404
Growth in prize money
£million
01 02 03 04
8.5
9.1
11.6
7.3 Improving on our existing assets
 Investing in quality
 New grandstand at Lingﬁeld Park
Reduced to a shell, totally remodelled and reﬁtted; the 
new Lingﬁeld Park grandstand retains the character 
of the original building but provides a transformation 
of facilities for all our customers  Viewing the racing in comfort
New corporate boxes and a
spectacular tiered viewing
restaurant add quality and
comfort to the racing experience Improving on our existing assets
 Focusing on customer facilities
 Focusing on customer facilities
The new ‘Trackside’ viewing restaurant which accommodates 
250 diners offers bright modern surroundings, with ﬂat screen
TVs and superb panoramic views of the racecourse. Shortly 
after opening it was awarded The Times newspaper ‘New
Racecourse Restaurant of the Y ear Award’
With a light and airy feel, the new entrance lobby provides 
a fresh and modern arrival point to the new facility  With a state-of-the-art 
big screen on the outside and
modern ﬂat screen monitors 
on the inside, our customers are
always in touch with the action
The fresh new customer facilities
at Lingﬁeld Park add to the
world-class ‘Polytrack’ racing
surface installed in 2001 Improving on our existing assets
 A wider vision
 At The Races – taking racing to a wider audience
At The Races is now available to over 10 million satellite
and cable homes in the UK and Ireland on Sky channel 415, 
Telewest 534 and ntl 908, as well as online at www.attheraces.com  At The Races provides live
coverage of domestic racing. 
The channel has broadcast UK or
Irish racing every single day since 
17 August 2004, including exclusive
coverage of the entire All Weather
racing calendar
Interactivity is an increasingly
important part of the channel’s
appeal. Viewers can text or email live
presenters as they go through the
latest betting news of the day 12 Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004
of the original attheraces media rights contract, associated
ongoing costs and the removal of industry funding for starting
stalls. The above items reduced our income for the year by
£1.1m and we are pleased that our racecourses delivered
operating proﬁts of £7.3m, an effective underlying increase 
of 20% and a headline increase of 4% on last year. Prize money
paid out at our racecourses during the year increased from
£9.1m to £11.6m.
We have continued to seek to increase the utilisation of our
assets and in 2004, we hosted 315 race meetings, an increase 
of 68 race meetings (27%) on 2003. In total, we staged 2,145
races in 2004, 25% of all races run in the UK (2003: 23%). 
This growth in race meetings is expected to continue into 2005
when, including those run under management at Doncaster, 
we will stage over 350 race meetings, approximately 27% of all
races to be run in 2005.
We are delighted to be working closely with Ascot racecourse 
at a time when it is closed for redevelopment. This relationship
will enable us to host 13 of Ascot’s race meetings on Arena’s
racecourses during 2005. We also hosted ﬁve Ascot race
meetings during 2004, the most notable occasion being when
we reintroduced National Hunt racing to Royal Windsor
racecourse for the ﬁrst time in many years. 
All Weather racing
Our investment in All Weather racing continues to increase 
at an unprecedented rate. Arena has invested £4.5m in new
racing surfaces at Wolverhampton and Southwell during 2004,
following the highly successful £3m polytrack surface installed
at Lingﬁeld Park in 2001. It is strategically important for 
Review of operations
Overview
2004 was a transformational year for the group.
The group was returned to proﬁtability and is set to pay its
maiden dividend. Our racecourses made record proﬁts, paid
record levels of prize money and invested heavily to ensure 
that this growth continues. At The Races was launched on 
11 June 2004 following the termination of the previous
attheraces media rights contracts on 29 March 2004 and
current trading is ahead of initial expectations. At The Races
has commenced legal proceedings to recover rebates from 
the racecourses involved.
We completed the withdrawal from our involvement in software
development with the closure of Arena Online Services 
in June 2004.
Arena took over the management of Doncaster racecourse in
September 2004, and are the preferred bidders to enter into 
a joint venture partnership with Doncaster Metropolitan
Borough Council to redevelop that racecourse.
Racecourse division
Our racecourse division has produced very encouraging 
results in a period of major change and uncertainty in 
the racing industry . We took early action to address the
inevitable reductions in income that were going to accrue 
to our racecourses as a consequence of the termination 
 Ted Taylor
Racecourse Division 
Chief Operating Ofﬁcer
 Royal Windsor racecourse
Its picturesque setting by the banks of
the River Thames is ideally suited to the
garden party atmosphere of its summer
evening race meetings Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004 13
us to improve the quality of our racing surfaces, to decrease 
the likelihood of abandonments and to improve the racing
experience for all our customers. Wolverhampton, with its
polytrack surface, has been praised by many in the industry , 
as being the best All Weather racing surface in the world. 
The other contender for that accolade is Lingﬁeld Park, 
Arena’s third All Weather (and turf) racecourse.
We have worked tirelessly to raise the standard and perception
of All Weather racing in this country . In the All Weather season
2004/2005 100 races were worth over £10,000 in prize money
(2000/2001 – 28 races), and 40 races were worth a minimum 
of £20,000 (2000/2001 – eight races). Winter Derby Day , held
recently at Lingﬁeld Park attracted a record crowd, paid out 
an unprecedented £270,000 of prize money and hosted the
highest quality race on an All Weather surface in this country
with prize money of £100,000. The Winter Derby is the leading 
race in the European All Weather Racing Series, strongly
supported by Arena, with races in France, Sweden, Italy ,
Germany and Lingﬁeld Park here in the UK.
With the encouragement of international competition and
continuing increase in the quality of races run on the All
Weather, the standard of horses competing on our All 
Weather surfaces has never been higher.
Continued investment
This investment in the racing surfaces and prize money levels
has been supplemented by our strategy of investing in our
racecourses to improve both the quality and the experience 
for our wider customer base. Lingﬁeld Park has completed a
£6m investment in the grandstand, atrium, bars, restaurants,
parade ring, winners enclosure and landscaping to transform
this historic racing venue. This represented the third phase 
in what has been a three year programme to invest £10m in 
the racing and spectator facilities at Lingﬁeld Park. We have
received widespread acclaim for our investment in the
polytrack racing surface. It was very encouraging to receive 
The Times newspaper ‘New Racecourse Restaurant of the 
Y ear Award’ for the Trackside restaurant at Lingﬁeld Park.
Besides new racing surfaces, Southwell and Wolverhampton
racecourses also received signiﬁcant investment in creating
enhanced food, beverage and betting facilities in their
respective concourses. 
In line with Arena’s desire to improve horse welfare and health
and safety matters at its racecourses, we have now replaced the
tarmac parade rings, winners enclosure (where applicable) and
horse walks with rubber blocking at Royal Windsor, Lingﬁeld
Park, Wolverhampton and Southwell racecourses and installed
rubber blocking on the horsewalk at Folkestone.
To enhance the customer experience, we invested in acquiring
one large and one mobile, giant screen. The size and quality 
of these screens allow the racegoer to follow the action and 
feel part of it. In addition, we were able to broadcast other
sporting events to our racegoers throughout the summer,
thereby broadening the enjoyment of the social occasion.
 Floodlit racing at Wolverhampton
A unique night time spectacle; the only
ﬂoodlit racecourse in the UK
 David Roberts
Senior Director at
Wolverhampton, Southwell 
and Worcester racecourses 14 Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004
Industry developments
At a time when the sport and business of racing is enjoying 
a surge of popularity and income levels, there are a number 
of developments in the wider racing industry which should build
on these positive foundations. The Ofﬁce of Fair Trading (‘OFT’)
has been working with the industry to introduce, within the
future shape and regulation of British horseracing, a greater
commercial focus. Two of the key areas where this will apply are:
(i) A bidding process will be introduced so that racecourses 
can increase the number of racing days that they offer.
(ii) That the returns which are delivered back to the
racecourses from off-course betting – for example from
betting shops, betting exchanges and internet betting –
currently distributed by the Levy Board, are expected 
to be allocated on an increasing basis of hypothecation.
Hypothecation, put simply , means that a racecourse will
receive a proportion of the income that it generates from 
the off-course betting business.
The British Horseracing Board (‘BHB’) had plans to replace 
the Horserace Betting Levy Board (‘HBLB’) with a system of
charging for data and as such, persuaded the Government to
proceed with abolishing the HBLB in 2006. The issue of data
has been subject to challenge and the European Court of
Justice (‘ECJ’) found against the BHB’s plans. A ﬁnal ruling 
on this matter is due by the Court of Appeal later this summer.
With this in mind, a Funding Review Group (‘FRG’) has been
established to consider the appropriate method to fund racing.
The material emphasis has focused on the contribution of
bookmakers which is currently governed through a statutory
mechanism via the HBLB at 10% of gross proﬁts generated by
bookmakers on horseracing bets. Their initial recommendation,
which has been welcomed by the Government, is for the HBLB
to continue for a maximum of three years, to 2009, so that an
appropriate funding mechanism can be introduced and
transitional arrangements put into place.
The FRG, which consists of Lord Donoughue, Rodney Brack,
the Chief Executive of the HBLB, Patrick Nixon, Secretary 
of The Bookmakers’ Committee and David Zeffman, a 
leading commercial media lawyer, is due to report its ﬁnal
recommendations later this year. In the meantime, it would 
be reasonable to expect a gradual introduction of increasingly
commercial mechanisms in the years ahead.
Racecourse developments
Following a lengthy and detailed planning application and
consultation process, Wolverhampton racecourse received
planning approval from Wolverhampton City Council in
January 2004 for the development of an integrated sports,
leisure and gaming destination. The development, which will
include the building of a 40,000 sq ft casino, doubling the size 
of the existing hotel to 106 bedrooms, together with the creation
of dedicated trainers’ and owners’ facilities at the racecourse, 
is planned to be the ﬁrst integrated development of its type 
in the UK.
Review of operations continued
 Improved All Weather tracks
Ian Renton, Ian Penrose and David
Roberts inspect the new ‘Polytrack’
racing surface at Wolverhampton 
 Paul Shrimpton
Racecourse Division 
Finance Director Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004 15
The planning approval was subsequently ‘called in’ for review
by the Government Ofﬁce for the West Midlands, and the
Inspector held the Inquiry at the end of November 2004. 
Arena was strongly represented at the Inquiry with the
appropriate professionals and expert witnesses. We are aware
that the Inspector’s report is with the Ofﬁce of the Deputy
Prime Minister and we await the decision in due course.
Royal Windsor racecourse is a beautiful venue set on 
the banks of the River Thames. An application for detailed
planning consent will be submitted to the Royal Borough 
of Windsor and Maidenhead for regeneration proposals to
include a replacement grandstand, hotel and other essential
improvements to the racecourse. This is a highly sensitive and
complex site both in terms of design and planning regulations
and as a consequence, detailed discussions have been ongoing
over the past two years with all the appropriate bodies. Overall,
the discussions have been constructive and these consultations
will continue ahead of the application for detailed planning
consent, which is expected to be lodged in the next three months.
Further work on development opportunities around our
racecourses continues and we expect to make further
announcements in due course.
At The Races
The new At The Races business has without doubt undergone 
a fundamental change since the termination of the original
media rights agreement on 29 March 2004. In the weeks
following termination both Arena and BSkyB looked very
critically in deciding how, if at all, we could move forward
together, building on the strengths and experience gained 
from the original attheraces business. The result of these
deliberations was to create a business model in which At 
The Races would no longer operate as a bookmaker in its 
own right, but act as a facilitator for bets to be placed. This
change, together with a new management team has allowed 
the business to consolidate and refocus its energies on the
worldwide exploitation of its racing broadcast media and to
pursue other income streams backed by the At The Races 
brand and the popularity of the channel. New media rights
agreements have been negotiated on an individual basis which
directly correlate with the income derived from the broadcast 
of racing from individual courses. Racecourses beneﬁt from 
the widespread exposure of the sport, enhancing their on course
sponsorship and advertising, enhancing levy generation and 
by receiving royalty payments from At The Races. 
The change has facilitated a signiﬁcant reduction in the
operating cost base for At The Races which along with new media
rights agreements have transformed its operating performance. 
At The Races successfully relaunched on 11 June 2004 with
exclusive rights to broadcast racing from 28 UK racecourses
and all 27 Irish racecourses. At The Races is now available to
over 10 million satellite and cable homes in the UK and Ireland
on Sky channel 415, Telewest 534 and ntl 908, as well as online
at www.attheraces.com. At The Races’ UK ﬁxtures account for
over 55% of all UK race meetings and it has exclusive access 
to over 250 Irish race meetings a year. In addition to its UK and
Irish coverage, At The Races also shows top quality racing from,
amongst others, the USA, Dubai, France and Germany . 
 11 June 2004 ‘Back At The Races’
Presenters Zoey Bird, John McCririck 
and Alex Hammond
 All Weather racing from Wolverhampton
At The Races broadcasts live racing from 28 UK
and 27 Irish racecourses including exclusive
coverage of All Weather racing from Arena’s tracks 16 Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004
At The Races is majority owned by its racecourse partners. 
In addition to Arena, racecourse shareholdings are held 
by Ascot racecourse and future share issues will be made 
to Northern Racing Plc, Ripon, Plumpton and Newton 
Abbot racecourses. 
At The Races’ racecourse shareholder partners consider that 
to maximise the opportunities available to them, it is vital to be
in partnership with BSkyB, a world leader in innovative multi-
channel digital television and importantly , sports broadcasting.
We are delighted that BSkyB decided to maintain an equity
interest equal to that of Arena.
At The Races has successfully pursued a strategy of being 
as widely available as possible, and as a result, is able to
monetarise its distribution across numerous revenue streams.
These include interactive red button betting, cable and web
afﬁliate revenues, text services, advertising and sponsorship,
premium rate telephony , web audio, commissions received 
from bets placed with the UK bookmakers via At The Races 
on US racing and through distribution to leisure outlets such 
as pubs and clubs, in the UK and Ireland.
At The Races has also recently launched
www.attheracescasino.com and www.attheracespoker.com,
both of which are in a formative state but full of potential given
the cross promotional beneﬁts from the television channel. 
At The Races is also assessing the opportunities which 3G
mobile technology offers for live racing and betting services.
Given the popularity of UK racing outside the domestic market,
At The Races also derives revenues from its international
business. These revenues come from the established ﬁxed odds
territories such as the Caribbean and Sri Lanka, and also from
existing and emerging pari-mutuel territories such as Holland,
Russia, Eastern Europe and the USA. At The Races has
recently launched At The Races International, a thoroughbred
only racing channel targeted at betting outlets in pari-mutuel
markets. Through the recently announced agreement with the
UK Tote, international punters are now able to place bets on
races from At The Races courses which are then commingled
back into the UK Tote pools. At The Races earns a commission
on these bets, and our racecourses also beneﬁt from the returns
derived from increased liquidity of the domestic Tote pools.
Further territories will be opened up during 2005.
Going forward, At The Races is well positioned to capitalise 
on the success it has already had in growing revenues and
identifying new business opportunities and is focused on
moving into proﬁt in 2006. 
The television channel attracted an average daily audience
reach of 189,000 in the fourth quarter of 2004 (2003: 178,000).
The average monthly reach in the same period was 1,045,000
individuals (2003: 1,007,000), peaking in the month of October
Review of operations continued
 At The Races
Raising the proﬁle and
awareness of horseracing – 
good for Arena, good for racing
 Matthew Imi
Chief Executive of At The Races Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004 17
2004 at approaching 1.15 million viewers. Interactive sports
betting has risen from an average of £270,000 a week in the
ﬁrst quarter of 2004 to £707,000 in the ﬁrst quarter of 2005.
The strength of the new At The Races business is demonstrated
when the comparative ﬁgures in the fourth quarter of 2003 
and the ﬁrst quarter of 2004 occurred in a period when
attheraces held the rights to 49 UK racecourses.
The business formally known as attheraces terminated the
media rights agreement with the Racecourse Association
(‘RCA’) and the 49 racecourses on 29 March 2004 as a
consequence of a failure to agree revised commercial terms
following a reduction in the Tote’s takeout rate. As a
consequence, in August 2004, At The Races commenced
proceedings to enforce its rights to receive rebates exceeding
£50 million. This is scheduled to be heard in the High Court 
in November 2005.
In addition, in April 2004, the OFT ruled that, by selling 
their rights on a collective basis, the 49 racecourses restricted
competition between them when supplying attheraces and 
that, as a result, attheraces had to pay more for the rights than
would have been the case had there been effective competition.
The RCA and the BHB launched an appeal against this decision
and this was heard by the Competition Appeals Tribunal
(‘CAT’) in March 2005. The decision of the CAT is expected 
to be announced later this summer, at which point At The Races
will consider whether to make a further claim if appropriate.
Software development
In line with Arena’s strategic aims, Arena Online Services 
was closed in June 2004.
Trackplay
Our 30% investment in Trackplay , which delivered a broadly
break-even position, offers Arena a key strategic international
alliance with Scientiﬁc Games Corporation, the world’s largest
provider of Lottery and Totalisator systems.
Ian R Penrose
Chief Executive
7 April 2005
 Kevin Robertson
Chief Financial Ofﬁcer 
of At The Races
 www.attheraces.com
The At The Races website provides access to news, tips,
research, betting, live video, archive video, casino games
and poker. What more could you want! 18 Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004
Results summary
Group turnover for the year to 31 December 2004 shows 
a 9% increase to £37.3m (2003: £34.3m) which reﬂects a 24%
increase in turnover from our racecourse operations to £36.0m
(2003: £29.1m) and a 75% reduction in turnover from our Arena
Online software development business which was closed during
the year.
Operating proﬁt from our racecourse operations improved 
by 4% to £7.3m for the year (2003: £7.0m) notwithstanding 
the impact of additional operating costs and reduced income
following the withdrawal of industry funding for starting stalls
and termination of the old attheraces media rights contract 
at the end of March 2004. Operating proﬁt from the Arena
Online software development business, which closed during the
year, reduced by 66% to £0.5m (2003: £1.4m). As a consequence
of the above, group operating proﬁt before exceptional items
reduced by 13% to £5.3m (2003: £6.1m). Central costs remain
under control, being broadly static at £2.1m (2003: £2.0m).
The group’s share of operating losses in relation to At The 
Races total £4.6m for the year to 31 December 2004 (2003:
£21.2m) and reﬂect the trading and closure costs of the old
attheraces business during the ﬁrst half year and the relaunch
of the new At The Races business model from 11 June 2004. 
The results are in line with expectation. 
Proﬁt before tax for the year was £0.2m (2003: loss £42.2m).
Corporation tax credits of £5.1m (2003: charge £0.2m)
principally reﬂect the group’s share of consortium relief tax 
credits for 2002 and 2003 within At The Races and bring the
proﬁt after tax to £5.3m for the year (2003: loss £42.2m).
Basic and diluted earnings per share were 1.5 pence (2003: loss
per share 11.7 pence).
Financial review
‘Strong cash ﬂow 
from our racecourse
operations has
supported an
unprecedented level 
of capital investment 
to improve our
racecourse assets.’
Bob Mercer
Chief Financial Ofﬁcer 
and Company Secretary
Key highlights
• Fundamental improvement in proﬁt after 
tax to £5.3m (2003: loss of £42.2m)
• Signiﬁcant improvement in proﬁt before 
tax to £0.2m (2003 £42.2m loss)
• Racecourse operating proﬁt increased 
to £7.3m (2003: £7.0m) with underlying
increase of 20% allowing for loss of attheraces
income and changes to industry funding
• Arena’s share of At The Races operating loss
reduced to £4.6m, including £3m relating 
to the old attheraces contracts terminated 
in the ﬁrst half of 2004
• Net debt of £10.5m following capital
expenditure of £13.5m (2003: net cash £1.8m)
• Maiden dividend of 0.3 pence per 
share proposed Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004 19
Racecourse operations
Turnover from racecourse operations increased by 24% 
to £36.0m in the year (2003: £29.1m), driven largely by the
continued growth in the number of race meetings hosted 
at the six racecourses currently under the group’s ownership.
The number of race meetings held during the year increased 
by 28% to 315, up from 247 in the prior year. 
Headline operating proﬁt (excluding group management charges)
increased by £0.3m to £7.3m in the year to 31 December 2004
(2003: £7.0m). During the year our racecourse business
suffered combined operating cost increases and income
reductions of £1.1m, brought about by the withdrawal of
industry funding for the operation of starting stalls, a reduction
in media rights income as a result of the attheraces contract
termination and associated ongoing costs of the provision of 
BT ﬁbre optic lines, which were partly funded by attheraces
under the former rights agreement. Adjusting for these 
changes the underlying growth in operating proﬁt from the
racecourses is 20%. 
On 14 September 2004 the group entered into a short term
management agreement with Doncaster Metropolitan Borough
Council to manage Doncaster racecourse, having previously
been selected as the preferred bidder to take over the track 
as part of a joint initiative with the Council.
Media rights 
On 29 March 2004 attheraces terminated its media rights
agreement with the RCA and the 49 racecourses which were
party to the contract, including the six racecourses owned by
Arena. Following termination of this agreement, At The Races
has been broadcasting racing from the group’s racecourses
under a new media rights arrangement in return for rights
payments based on a percentage share of the relevant revenues
generated by the broadcasts from the group’s racecourses. 
This arrangement has enabled the group to resolve its rebate
liability under the original contract. Arena has received £0.2m
in respect of rights income for the period following termination
to 31 December 2004.
At 29 March 2004 the group held within creditors the sum 
of £3.2m in respect of deferred income received under the
original contract. This will be released to the proﬁt and loss
account on a straight line basis over the initial ﬁve year 
period of the new contract.
Software development (Arena Online Services)
Arena Online Services Ltd, the group’s software development
business was closed down during the ﬁrst half year as a
consequence of the fundamental restructuring of the new 
At The Races business. The closure followed a well managed
wind down process which contributed operating proﬁts of
£0.5m for the full year (2003: £1.4m). 
Joint venture – At The Races
The group’s share of the operating loss of At The Races is £4.6m
for the year to 31 December 2004 (2003: £21.2m). This reﬂects
the trading and closure costs of the old attheraces business
during the ﬁrst half year and the relaunch of the new At The
Races business model from 11 June 2004. The group’s share 
of operating losses, as reported in our interim statement to the
half year was £3.0m.
Capital expenditure
£million
01 02 03 04
2.4
2.7
13.5
4.2
Tight control of central costs
£million
01 02 03 04
2.2
2.0
2.1
1.8 20 Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004
Subsequent to the termination of the attheraces media rights
agreement on 29 March 2004, the business was ﬁnancially
restructured on 30 April 2004. As part of this restructuring
Arena and Sky Ventures Limited acquired equally the shares
and loans previously held by Channel 4 which increased the
group’s shareholding in At The Races to 50%. In addition to
this, 35 new recoupment shares were issued to Arena and 20
recoupment shares issued to Sky Ventures Limited in return
for the cancellation of the shareholder loans at that point. 
The recoupment shares entitle Arena and Sky to preferential
dividends of £17.5m and £10m respectively in priority to any
payment of dividend to any other class of share. This equates 
to preferential dividend entitlement of £0.5m per share.
On 8 October 2004, 158 new ordinary shares were issued 
to Ascot Racecourse Limited which diluted the ordinary
shareholding of Arena and Sky Ventures Limited equally 
to 47.5%. Further share issues to its other racecourse 
partners are anticipated.
Following its ﬁnancial restructuring at the end of April the
group has advanced loans of £2.9m to At The Races to fund 
the cost of reorganisation and working capital during the
second half year. At 31 December 2004, At The Races held 
net cash of £2.9m, principally as a result of payments received
for tax consortium relief, with a further £2.4m receivable in 
the early part of 2005.
With signiﬁcant cash reserves at the year end and trading 
in the early part of 2005 in line with expectation, the directors 
of Arena do not anticipate any further funding requirement 
to At The Races going forward.
Associate – Trackplay
The group’s share of the loss from its 30% associated company
Trackplay LLC for the year to 31 December 2004 was £0.04m
(2003: £0.02m). The charge to the proﬁt and loss account 
reﬂects a loss of £0.07m due to the impact of US$ exchange rate
movements since 31 December 2003 on the book value of our
investment and a share of operating proﬁt for the year of £0.03m.
Goodwill amortisation
Goodwill arising on consolidation in respect of the group’s
racecourse companies is amortised over a period of 20 years.
Goodwill amortisation in respect of the racecourse companies
was £0.3m for the year to 31 December 2004 and in line with
last year. 
On 30 April 2004 the group along with Sky Ventures Limited
each acquired 50% of the shares held by Channel 4 in
attheraces. The transaction gave rise to goodwill of £1.4m on
the acquisition which is being amortised over a 20 year period.
Under International Financial Reporting Standards, 
goodwill will no longer be amortised, but will be tested 
for annual impairment.
Capital expenditure
During the year the group has invested £13.5m on capital
expenditure and future development projects, which is an
unprecedented commitment for the group. This represents 
a strategic investment in the improvement of existing facilities
and future development opportunities which we believe 
will deliver signiﬁcant beneﬁts. The overall investment
includes the redevelopment of the grandstand and associated
facilities at Lingﬁeld Park, new racing surfaces at
Wolverhampton and Southwell, mobile big screen facilities,
maintenance capital spends and other development projects.
Financial review continued Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004 21
Treasury report
All bank borrowings and ﬁnancial assets of the group are 
held in sterling and on ﬂoating interest rates. In the current
economic climate, and with low levels of debt, hedging for
interest rate risk is not considered appropriate. However, the
board constantly monitors the ﬁnancial markets to ensure this
policy remains in the group’s interest. The group does not face
any signiﬁcant foreign currency risk.
At 31 December 2004 the group had unutilised bank facilities 
of £5.5m. Short-term liquidity risk is managed by obtaining 
and reviewing the adequacy of banking facilities. The group
does not use derivative ﬁnancial instruments to manage risk.
Interest is charged on the bank overdraft at 1% over Bank 
of Scotland base rate. Interest on the revolving credit loan
facility is charged at either 1% over Bank of Scotland base rate
or 1% over LIBOR. The bank loan and overdraft are secured 
by a ﬁxed and ﬂoating charge on the assets and undertakings 
of the group companies, and a ﬁrst legal charge on all the
freehold and leasehold properties owned by the group. This
security is subject to deeds of priority and permitted charges 
in favour of the Horserace Betting Levy Board (‘HBLB’) in
respect of security for interest free loans provided to the group,
which total £1.0m at 31 December 2004 (2003: £0.8m). 
Net cash ﬂow from operating activities reduced by £0.8m 
to £7.0m in the year (2003: £7.8m) which largely reﬂects the
reduction in operating proﬁt due to the closure of the Arena
Online. This cash ﬂow along with additional bank borrowings
and an increase in interest free loans from the HBLB were used
to ﬁnance the major capital improvements and development
projects which have taken place during the year, the acquisition
of shares in At The Races from Channel 4, shareholder loans 
to new At The Races and bank interest payments.
Net debt at 31 December 2004 was £10.5m (2003: net cash
including blocked bank deposit £1.8m). This represents gearing
of 18.6% (2003: nil) on net assets at 31 December 2004 of
£56.1m (2003: £51.9m).
Taxation
The tax credits recognised in the period represent the group’s
share of receipts in respect of 2002 and 2003 tax losses
surrendered by way of consortium relief in At The Races and
the release of a 2003 tax provision of £0.2m which is no longer
required. There is no current year tax charge due to the
availability of tax losses. 
Consortium relief claims in respect of the At The Races tax
losses for 2004 will be dealt with in the 2005 accounts and 
are anticipated to reduce accordingly . 
Capital reorganisation
On 11 August 2004, the company obtained court approval for 
a reduction of capital in order to eliminate the deﬁcit on its proﬁt
and loss account. As a result, the company’s share premium
account of £87,625,000 was cancelled.
Dividend
The board has proposed the payment to shareholders of 
a maiden dividend of 0.3 pence per share. 
Ian R Penrose
Chief Executive
7 April 2005 22 Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004
Arena Leisure and its racecourse businesses
have a major part to play in the local
community as a good neighbour, employer 
and host to those who visit our racecourses 
as a spectator or participant in the sport. 
Care for the local environment, the welfare 
of horses and of health and safety is a 
priority across our estate.
Introduction
There is growing interest from shareholders and the
investment community in general about the corporate social
activities of businesses. This reﬂects a wish to be satisﬁed that
businesses are behaving responsibly in their relationships with
employees, the community and stakeholders in general.
Arena has always sought to manage these relationships in 
a professional, fair and responsible manner and over recent
years has developed internal policies and procedures to govern
its behaviour. However, in light of the growing interest in CSR, 
we have reviewed our approach with the aim of bringing
policies in-line with current needs and making relevant
information more readily available to shareholders and the
investment community . We are therefore pleased to include 
the following information which provides an overview of the
policies and procedures that guide Arena’s approach to the 
key aspects of CSR.
Environment
Owning nearly 1,200 acres of real estate in six locations, and
managing a seventh location, Arena takes its environmental
responsibilities extremely seriously . We follow all current
guidelines with regards to waste disposal and endeavour 
to take our water for irrigation from natural sources under
licence whenever possible. Our Polytrack All Weather surfaces
at Lingﬁeld Park and Wolverhampton contain recycled rubber
products, and temporary stable bedding is collected from our
racecourses and recycled whenever possible.
Health and safety
Arena is making continued progress to ensure that our
racecourses remain safe and healthy places for our employees,
visitors and participants in the sport of racing. The safety 
and welfare of horses at the track continues to be a priority 
and during 2004 the group has replaced tarmac parade 
rings and horsewalks at Royal Windsor, Lingﬁeld Park,
Wolverhampton and Southwell racecourses with anti slip
rubber blocking and has installed rubber blocking on the
horsewalk at Folkestone.
Asbestos surveys have been carried out at each of our
racecourses and asbestos registers are maintained together
with an asbestos management programme to ensure that 
safe systems of work continue to be maintained.
Corporate social responsibility
 Microchip identiﬁcation of
horses in the racecourse stables
 Preparing the ‘Polytrack’
surface for racing Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004 23
Good training is a crucial factor in any successful health and
safety management programme. In addition to the routine safety
training programmes in place in each division, health and
safety is also incorporated into the group’s senior management
training programmes. Arena employs a qualiﬁed National
Education Board of Safety and Health (‘NEBOSH’) health 
and safety manager, and also staff who hold Institute of Safety
and Health (‘IOSH’) qualiﬁcations. At our Holiday Inn hotel
complex on Wolverhampton racecourse, regular training means
that staff continue to meet the required legal obligations.
Customers
With regard to facilities for the disabled, Arena strives to be
disability positive. Disability Discrimination Act (‘DDA’) access
audits have been carried out at all of our racecourses and 
have conﬁrmed that we remain compliant with the new DDA
legislation. Work has been undertaken to ensure that staff are
fully aware of the legislation and the access needs of customers
with varying degrees of mobility . To this end, a total of 80 staff
members have undertaken DDA training across the group. 
A DDA Council disability positive accreditation has been
awarded to each of Wolverhampton, Southwell and Worcester
racecourses.Arena has several British Sign Language
Certiﬁcate holders amongst its staff. Southwell racecourse 
has been appraised and approved by the Leonard Cheshire
Organisation in respect of mobility , sight and hearing issues.
Staff and corporate development
During the year Wolverhampton racecourse achieved the
Investors in People (‘IIP’) accreditation standard. This very
important development standard is also being pursued at the
group’s other racecourses.
Society and community
Arena believes that its racecourse operations make 
an important contribution to a visitor’s well-being, the 
quality of their leisure time and their enjoyment of a day 
in the countryside. We are members of the Chamber of
Commerce in Wolverhampton and represent ourselves on all
relevant community associations, such as Whitmore Reans In
Partnership (‘WRIP’). We have a policy of aiming to ‘be a good
neighbour’ in the way that our racecourses are run, examples of
which include crowd control, easy parking and control of trafﬁc.
Arena strives to support all local charities in terms of prizes for
their rafﬂes and is active in promoting responsible gambling.
Racing and gaming industries
We are regular participants in a wide range of charitable works
within the racing industry . We remain members of racing’s key
associations such as the Racecourse Association (‘RCA’) and
adhere to their policies and guidance. 
 Equine hydrotherapy centre 
at Lingﬁeld Park
 Parade ring safety has been
improved by the installation 
of non-slip rubber blocks  24 Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004
Board of directors
1 2
3 4
5 Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004 25
1 Roger D Withers
Non-Executive Chairman 
Aged 62, Roger has been involved at a senior level in 
the betting, gaming and leisure industries in the UK and
internationally for over 30 years with Ladbrokes (now Hilton),
Bass and Littlewoods Leisure. Posts held include Managing
Director of Coral and Chairman of Bass Leisure South Africa.
He is a director of Sportech Plc and ATE Holdings Ltd. Roger
also holds several other non-executive directorships in the
leisure, exhibition and technology industries. Roger became
Chairman of Arena in October 2001.
3 Ian Renton
Racing Director
Aged 46, Ian was promoted to the board on 24 November 2004,
having joined Arena’s racing division as Director of Racing 
in 2001. He started his racing career in 1985, and prior to
joining Arena, he held various roles including twelve years as
manager and Clerk of the Course of Salisbury and Wincanton
racecourses and eight years as Clerk of the Course at Aintree,
home to the world famous Grand National.
5 Brigadier Andrew H Parker Bowles OBE
Non-Executive Director
Aged 65, Andrew has extensive experience and interests in the
racing industry . He was a director of the British Horseracing
Board from 1997 to 2000, a member of the Jockey Club 
since 1982 and for four years was the Jockey Club Steward
responsible for all 59 racecourses. An owner, rider and breeder
of racehorses, he was a director of United Racecourses and
chairman of Sandown Park racecourse from 1995 to 1999.
Andrew is a non-executive director of two other companies 
and a Trustee or Governor of ten charities. Andrew joined
Arena in September 1999.
2 Ian R Penrose
Chief Executive
Aged 39, Ian has led the company since May 2001, initially
under the title of Group Managing Director and now as 
Chief Executive. A chartered accountant, Ian joined Arena 
in August 1998 as the Group Finance Director, and was jointly
responsible for the strategic direction of Arena, its racecourse
acquisitions and media initiatives. He has a wealth of
commercial experience across a wide range of leisure, 
media, sport and other businesses.
4 John Barnes
Non-Executive Director
Aged 55, John has 34 years experience in Europe and 
the USA in consumer orientated businesses. John is non-
executive chairman of La Tasca Restaurant Group Plc, 
a non-executive director of Hardy and Hanson’s Plc, 
a non-executive director of Caffe Nero Plc and non-executive
chairman of Zoo Digital Group Plc. John is also co-author of
the best selling marketing book ‘Marketing Judo’. He has been
a non-executive director of Arena since its formation in 1997. 26 Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004
Directors’ interests in shares
The following table shows the beneﬁcial interests of the directors who held ofﬁce at 31 December 2004 in the ordinary shares 
of the company:
Fully paid ordinary shares in the company
At 31 At 31
December December
2004 2003
R D Withers 85,000 85,000
I R Penrose 182,033 182,033
R I Renton – –
M J Barnes 170,833 170,833
A H Parker Bowles OBE 42,000 42,000
No changes to the above interests in shares have been notiﬁed to the company in the period from 31 December 2004 to 7 April 2005.
The directors’ holdings of options over ordinary shares in the company are noted in the Remuneration report on pages 31 to 33.
The directors present their annual report together with the
audited ﬁnancial statements for the year to 31 December 2004.
Results
The results of the group are set out on page 34. 
The group 
Pre tax proﬁt for the year to 31 December 2004 was £242,000
(year to 31 December 2003: loss £41,977,000). Group proﬁt after
tax was £5,321,000 (2003: loss £42,177,000).
The group proﬁt after tax and dividends of £4,237,000 has been
retained and transferred to reserves.
On 11 August 2004, the Company obtained court approval for 
a reduction of capital in order to eliminate the deﬁcit on its proﬁt
and loss account. As a result, the company’s share premium
account of £87,625,000 was cancelled.
Dividend
The directors recommend that a ﬁnal dividend of 0.3 pence per
share be paid on 17 June 2005 to those shareholders registered
on 22 April 2005.
Principal activity and business review
The principal activities of the group during the year were 
the ownership and operation of racecourses; the worldwide
broadcast and exploitation of racecourse media rights via 
the group’s shareholding in its At The Races joint venture 
and the international exploitation of gaming technology 
through a 30% shareholding in Trackplay LLC. 
The group’s interest in the development and operation of gaming
technology via its subsidiary Arena Online Services Ltd ceased
during the year.
A review of business is included in the Review of operations 
on pages 12 to 17.
Directors 
The directors who held ofﬁce during the year to 31 December
2004 (unless otherwise indicated) were as follows:
R D Withers
I R Penrose
R I Renton (appointed 24 November 2004) 
I C Hogg (resigned 24 November 2004)
M J Barnes
A H Parker Bowles OBE
G T Parr (resigned 24 November 2004)
In accordance with the Articles of Association, M J Barnes 
will retire by rotation at this year’s annual general meeting 
and being eligible, offer himself for re-election. R I Renton,
having been appointed during the year will also retire and 
being eligible, offer himself for re-election.
Directors’ report Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004 27
Substantial shareholders
The directors have been made aware of the following other interests, in addition to the interests of the directors, representing 
3% or more of the issued ordinary share capital of the company as at 4 April 2005:
Ordinary shares % of issued
of 5p share capital
Guild Ventures 127,663,217 35.3
Rumney Manor Ltd 22,000,000 6.1
Uberior Investments Plc 18,647,003 5.2
Goldman Sachs International 17,747,501 4.9
The market price of Arena Leisure Plc ordinary shares at 
31 December 2004 was 36.25 pence. High and low prices were 
52.75 pence and 36.0 pence respectively over the period.
The group’s insurance programme includes policies to insure
the directors and senior ofﬁcers of the company against claims
made against them personally as a result of the performance 
of their duties for the group.
Creditors’ payment policy and practice
The group’s policy is to ﬁx payment terms when agreeing
business transactions, to ensure that suppliers are aware of 
such terms and normally abide by the agreed terms of payment.
The number of days’ purchases which were represented by year
end group trade creditors was 37 (company 42).
Employment of disabled persons
The group is committed to a policy of recruitment and promotion
on the basis of aptitude and ability without discrimination of 
any kind. Management actively pursues both the employment 
of disabled persons whenever a suitable vacancy arises, and the
continued employment and retraining of employees who become
disabled whilst employed by the company. Particular attention 
is given to the training, career development and promotion of
disabled employees with a view to encouraging them to play 
an active role in the development of the company.
Environmental issues
The group is committed to minimising its impact on the
environment by maintaining a continuous, group wide
assessment and awareness of its environmental responsibilities.
The group’s policy is to meet and, where practical, exceed the
requirements of all applicable legislation and standards.
Furthermore, the group is conscious of its position and
responsibilities in the community and, at all practicable
opportunities, endeavours to support initiatives taken in 
the vicinity of our racecourses.
Employee involvement
The communication of information to employees is carried out
through regular management meetings at a national, regional
and local level with staff brieﬁngs and notices as appropriate. 28 Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004
Directors’ report continued
Directors’ responsibilities 
Company law requires the directors to prepare ﬁnancial
statements for each ﬁnancial year which give a true and fair
view of the state of affairs of the company and the group, and
of the proﬁt or loss of the group for that period. In preparing
those ﬁnancial statements, the directors are required to: 
• Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them
consistently.
• Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable 
and prudent.
• State whether applicable accounting standards have been
followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and
explained in the ﬁnancial statements.
• Prepare the ﬁnancial statements on the going concern basis 
unless it is inappropriate to presume that the company will
continue in business.
The directors are responsible for keeping proper accounting
records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time 
the ﬁnancial position of the company and enable them to ensure
that the ﬁnancial statements comply with the Companies Act
1985. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the
group and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention
and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
The directors are responsible for ensuring that the Directors’
report and the other information included in the annual report
is prepared in accordance with legislation in the United
Kingdom. They are also responsible for ensuring that the
annual report includes information required by the Listing
Rules of the Financial Services Authority.
Financial statements are published on the company’s website 
in accordance with legislation in the United Kingdom governing
the preparation and dissemination of ﬁnancial statements,
which may vary from legislation in other jurisdictions. The
maintenance and integrity of the company’s website is the
responsibility of the directors. The directors’ responsibility 
also extends to the ongoing integrity of the ﬁnancial statements
contained therein. The work carried out by the auditors does not
include consideration of these matters and accordingly the
auditors accept no responsibility for any changes that may have
occurred to the information contained in the ﬁnancial statements
since they were initially presented on the website.
Going concern
The directors conﬁrm that, after making enquiries, they have 
a reasonable expectation that the company and group has
adequate resources to continue in operational existence for 
the foreseeable future. For this reason they continue to adopt 
the going concern basis in preparing the ﬁnancial statements.
Annual general meeting
The notice convening the annual general meeting of the 
company on 13 June 2005 is on page 50.
Auditors
BDO Stoy Hayward LLP have expressed their willingness 
to continue in ofﬁce and a resolution to re-appoint them will 
be proposed at the annual general meeting.
By order of the board
Robert Mercer FCMA
Company Secretary
7 April 2005
Registered ofﬁce:
1 Hay Hill
Berkeley Square
London W1J 6DH Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004 29
Corporate governance
There is commitment to high standards of corporate governance
throughout the group. Following publication of the Higgs Review
– The Role and Effectiveness of Non-executive Directors and the
Smith Report – Combined Code Guidance for Audit Committees
in January 2003, the Financial Reporting Council issued the new
Combined Code on 23 July 2003, which comes into effect for
reporting years beginning on or after 1 November 2003. The
principles and provisions of the new Code have been considered
by the board. The board conﬁrms that throughout the year ended
31 December 2004 the group has complied with the main and
supporting principles as set out in the new Combined Code, except
that non-executives are not appointed for speciﬁed periods. 
The board is accountable to the company’s shareholders for good
governance and the statement set out below describes how the
principles identiﬁed in the new Combined Code (appended to the
listing rules) are applied by the group.
Directors
The board consists of a non-executive Chairman, Roger Withers,
two non-executive directors, John Barnes and Andrew Parker
Bowles, and two executive directors of which Ian Penrose is 
the Chief Executive. Both of the non-executive directors are
considered by the board to be independent of management and
free of any relationship which could materially interfere with 
the exercise of their independent judgement.
Biographies of the board members appear on page 25 of this
report. These indicate the high levels and range of business
experience which is essential to manage effectively a business 
of the size and complexity of the group. The group continues 
to experience rapid growth, and the board is aware of its
responsibilities to strengthen the board at appropriate times 
in the group’s development.
The board meets at least 12 times each year and has a schedule 
of matters reserved to it for decision. The requirement for board
approval on these matters is communicated widely throughout
the senior management of the group. This includes matters such
as material capital commitments, commencing or settling major
litigation, business acquisitions and disposals, and appointments
to subsidiary company boards.
There is an agreed procedure for directors to take independent
professional advice if necessary and at the company’s expense.
This is in addition to the access which every director has to the
company secretary.
The differing roles of Chairman and Chief Executive are
acknowledged and deﬁned in separate statements approved 
by the board. The key functions of the Chairman are to conduct
board meetings and meetings of shareholders and to ensure 
that all directors are properly briefed in order to take a full 
and constructive part in board discussions. The Chief Executive
is required to develop and lead business strategies and processes
to enable the group’s business to meet the requirements of 
its shareholders.
The senior non-executive director is John Barnes and any
concerns relating to the executive management of the company,
or the performance of the other non-executive directors, can be
raised with him.
Any director appointed during the year is required, under the
provisions of the company’s Articles of Association, to retire 
and seek election by shareholders at the next annual general
meeting. The articles also require that one third of the directors
retire by rotation each year and seek re-election at the annual
general meeting. The directors required to retire will be those 
in ofﬁce longest since their previous re-election and this will
usually mean that each director retires at least every three
years, although there is no absolute requirement to this effect. 
In order to comply with the new Combined Code, but avoid the
expense of amending the company’s articles to deal with this
single point, the board has resolved that each director will 
retire at least every three years, even if this is not strictly
required by application of the provisions of the articles.
Full details of directors’ remuneration and a statement of the
company’s remuneration policy is set out in the Remuneration
report appearing on pages 31 to 33. The members of the
Remuneration Committee and the principal terms of reference 
of the Committee appear on page 31. Executive directors 
abstain from any discussion or voting at full board meetings 
on Remuneration Committee recommendations, where the
recommendations have a direct bearing on their own
remuneration package. The details of each executive director’s
individual package are ﬁxed by the Committee in line with 
the policy adopted by the full board.
Nomination Committee
The members of the Nomination Committee are M J Barnes
(Chairman), R D Withers and A H Parker Bowles. The
Committee meets as required but not less than once a year. 
Its responsibilities include reviewing the board structure, size
and composition, nominating candidates to the board to ﬁll 
board vacancies when they arise, and recommending directors
who are retiring by rotation to be put forward for re-election. 
The Committee also ensures that all board appointees undergo
training as appropriate. 30 Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004
Communication
The company places a great deal of importance on communication
with its shareholders. The full report and accounts are sent to 
all shareholders and to other parties on request who have an
interest in the group’s performance. Shareholders also may 
have direct access to the company, and the company responds 
to numerous letters and enquiries from shareholders on a 
wide range of issues. There is regular dialogue with individual
institutional shareholders, and all shareholders have the
opportunity to put questions at the company’s annual general
meeting. The board makes a presentation at the meeting to
highlight the key business developments during the ﬁnancial year.
Audit and internal control
The respective responsibilities of the directors and the auditors
in connection with the accounts are explained on page 28 
within the Directors’ report and page 49 in the Report of the
independent auditors and the directors’ statement on going
concern appears in the Directors’ report.
The directors are responsible for the company’s system of internal
control which is designed to provide reasonable but not absolute
assurance against material misstatement or loss. The key
procedures that the directors have established to provide
effective internal ﬁnancial controls are as follows:
Financial reporting: a detailed formal budgeting process for all
group businesses culminates in an annual group budget which 
is approved by the board. Results for the company and for its
main constituent businesses are reported monthly against the
budget to the board.
Financial and accounting principles: comprehensive ﬁnancial
and accounting controls are required by the board for effective
ﬁnancial control.
Capital investment: the company has clearly deﬁned guidelines
for capital expenditure. These include annual budgets, detailed
appraisal and review procedures, levels of authority and due
diligence requirements where businesses are being acquired.
The directors have reviewed the effectiveness of the system 
of internal control from information provided by management
and external auditors.
Following publication of guidance for directors on internal
control (The Turnbull Guidance), the board conﬁrms its
commitment to the management of risk within the organisation.
Information provided by the group’s risk committee, internal
management reporting, external auditors and industry sources
provides the basis on which the board carries out its review,
to identify, evaluate and manage any risk deemed signiﬁcant
to the achievement of the company’s strategic objectives.
The group does not have an internal audit function. Following
the necessary evaluation the board has concluded that due to
the modest size of the group, a formal internal function is not
required. Limited internal audit work is however carried out
by the group ﬁnance department.
During the period under review, the group has operated a risk
review committee chaired by A H Parker Bowles. The committee
is appointed from members of the board and senior management.
Its role is to identify, evaluate and report formally to the board 
on signiﬁcant risk issues.
The Audit Committee will keep the scope and cost effectiveness 
of both internal controls and the external audit under review. 
The independence and objectivity of the external auditors is also
considered on a regular basis, with particular regard to the level
of non-audit fees. The split between audit and non-audit fees 
for the year under review appears on page 39. The non-audit 
fees were paid in respect of tax advice and reports required for
shareholder documents and are considered by the Committee 
not to affect independence or objectivity.
Two of the directors of the group are on the board of the group’s
joint venture, At The Races. At least one of the group’s directors
will attend all signiﬁcant meetings of the joint venture, where
they will use their inﬂuence to ensure that the highest standards
of internal control are maintained.
The listing rules – the model code
Dealings in the company’s securities by directors and relevant
employees follow the terms of the model code.
Corporate governance continued
Audit Committee
The Audit Committee is scheduled to meet at least three times a year. It is comprised of R D Withers (Chairman), A H Parker Bowles
and M J Barnes. Meetings are attended by senior representatives of the group’s external auditors and appropriate members of senior
management. Amongst other matters, the Committee considers the company’s annual and interim ﬁnancial statements and any issues
raised by the auditors in relation to the ﬁnancial statements, ﬁnancial systems and internal control within the group. 
The attendance at board and committee meetings by the directors and senior executives of the company during 2004 are as follows:
Full Remuneration Audit Nomination
Board Committee Committee Committee
Number of Meetings 12 2 3 2
Executive Directors
I R Penrose 12
R I Renton ** 1
I C Hogg * –
Non-Executive Directors
R D Withers 12 2 3 2
M J Barnes 11 2 2 2
A H Parker Bowles 12 1 3 1
G T Parr * 11 2 2
Executive Management
R Mercer 12 3
R I Renton 8
* Resigned 24 November 2004
** Appointed 24 November 2004
Throughout 2004 IC Hogg was on full time secondment to attheraces as its Managing Director. During this period the board considered
it inappropriate for him to attend board meetings due to a possible conﬂict of interest. Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004 31
Remuneration report
As well as complying with the provisions of the new Combined
Code as disclosed in the Corporate Governance Statement, the
company has applied the principles relating to directors’
remuneration as described below.
Remuneration Committee
The Remuneration Committee consists of M J Barnes (Chairman),
A H Parker Bowles and R D Withers. The Committee determines
the remuneration of all directors and of certain other senior
executives within the company.
Remuneration policy
The company’s remuneration policy is to pay individual 
directors a salary or fee at market levels for comparable jobs,
recognising the size of the company and the business sector 
in which it operates.
The following comprised the principal elements of executive
directors’ remuneration:
• Basic salary and beneﬁts.
• Annual bonus.
• Long-term incentives.
• Pension contributions into a deﬁned contribution 
pension scheme.
It is group policy to ensure that there is a strong link between 
the level of directors’ remuneration and performance of the
group. Consequently only basic salaries and beneﬁts are ﬁxed.
These ﬁxed elements are recognised as being comparable with
other companies. The Remuneration Committee recognises that
the long-term success of the group is largely dependent on
attracting executives of the highest quality. Therefore each
director can signiﬁcantly augment their salary through annual
bonuses and long-term incentives. The group’s contributions to 
a deﬁned contribution pension scheme are based on basic salary
levels only.
In addition to the statutory vote to be held on this Remuneration
report, shareholders will be given the opportunity to ask the
Chairman of the Remuneration Committee, M J Barnes,
questions on any aspect of the group’s remuneration policy.
The remuneration for non-executive directors consists of salary
or fees for their services in connection with the board and board
Committee meetings. They are not eligible for pension scheme
membership. Their fees are determined by the executive
directors who have regard to the level of salary or fees paid 
to the non-executives of similar companies.
Each element of remuneration payable to executive directors 
is discussed in more detail below.
Basic salary and beneﬁts
Basic salaries for all executive directors are reviewed (but not
necessarily increased) annually by the Committee. In determining
the level of basic salaries, the Committee will give consideration
to the government’s published inﬂation statistics, salaries for
comparable positions and any signiﬁcant change in the role
performed by the director. The Committee also makes use of
external remuneration consultants.
In addition to basic salaries, each executive director is entitled 
to the following main beneﬁts:
• 25 working days’ holiday per annum in addition to normal 
bank and public holidays.
• A fully expensed company car or cash equivalent.
• Permanent health insurance for themselves, their spouse 
and children.
Annual bonus
In addition to a basic salary, the Chief Executive Director is
entitled to an annual performance related bonus of up to 60% 
of basic salary and other executive directors of up to 50% of basic
salary . Speciﬁc performance criteria are set by the Committee at
the commencement of the year following approval of the group’s
budgets and are primarily related to deﬁned strategic and
ﬁnancial objectives of the group.
Long-term incentives – share options
The Committee believes that share ownership and the granting
of options strengthens the link between executives’ personal
interests and those of the shareholders. Speciﬁc performance
criteria are linked to the exercise of options based upon growth 
in the share price. The grant of share options is at the discretion
of the board. No new options have been issued since 2001.
Pension policy 
Each of the executive directors is entitled to participate in 
the group’s deﬁned contribution pension scheme to which the
company will contribute 8% of basic salary . The pension scheme
provides life insurance cover equal to four times basic salary .
Performance graph
The following graph compares the total return on the company’s
shares with that of the FTSE All-Share total return index over
the last ﬁve years. The reasons the company has chosen this
particular index are that it is considered the most likely
benchmark by which the majority of shareholders would 
want to assess their investment in a public company and it 
is generally less volatile over time than other market indices. 
The board does not however consider that the total shareholder
return index as presented below properly reﬂects the true
underlying performance of the group over the ﬁve year period.
This is due to a major spike in the company’s share price at the
start of the period and throughout the year 2000. This followed 
as a consequence of the internet ‘boom’ which inﬂated the
company’s share price at this point. 
Arena Leisure Plc
FTSE All-Share
Total shareholder return 
31 December 1999 – 31 December 2004
50
100
0
150
04 03 02 01 00
£ 32 Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004
Service contracts
The Remuneration Committee has adopted the following policies concerning contracts and service periods which will be applied 
to any future appointment to the board:
• The notice period required by the company to terminate contracts is 12 months for executive directors.
• If the company terminates without notice the individual is entitled to a payment in lieu of notice of up to 12 months’ pay. 
• In the event of termination for reasons of misconduct, no payment in lieu of notice is payable.
• Executive directors will be employed under normal contracts of employment, but are required to give the company 12 months’ notice
of their intention to leave.
• Non-executive directors are required to give three months’ notice under the terms of their service contracts. Details of each director’s
contract are shown below.
• The notice period required by the company to terminate contracts is three months for non-executive directors.
Director Date of contract Notice period
R D Withers 1 April 2002 3 months
I R Penrose 3 August 1998 1 year
R I Renton 9 April 2001 1 year
M J Barnes 22 May 1997 3 months
A H Parker Bowles 8 September 1999 3 months
Directors’ remuneration
The following disclosures on directors’ remuneration have been audited, as required by Part 3 of Schedule 7A of the Companies 
Act 1985.
The emoluments of the individual directors were as follows:
Year ended Year ended
31 December 31 December 
2004 2003
Total Pension Total Pension
Salary/fee Bonus Beneﬁts Ex 2004 Contributions 2003 Contributions
£000 £000 £000 Gratia £000 £000 £000 £000
R D Withers 62 – – – 62 – 62 –
I R Penrose 200 150 15 – 365 14 243 13
R I Renton 
(appointed 24 November 2004) 12 5 1 – 18 1 – –
I C Hogg 160 – 15 30 205 13 191 12
M J Barnes* 25 – – – 25 – 43 –
A H Parker Bowles* 25 – – – 25 – 43 –
G T Parr* 29 – – – 29 – 43 –
513 155 31 30 729 28 625 25
* Salary payments made to the three non-executive directors in 2003 included additional payments made to compensate for increased
duties undertaken in respect of attheraces and OFT related matters. The underlying base salary for each of the three non-executive
directors was £25,000. 
An ex gratia payment of £30,000 was made in the year to I C Hogg, who resigned from the board on 24 November 2004.
The bonus payment made to I R Penrose for 2004 represents a payment equivalent to 60% of salary for achievement of speciﬁc bonus
criteria. An additional 15% was paid at the discretion of the remuneration committee for exceptional performance during the year.
R D Withers is Chairman of the Audit Committee.
M J Barnes is Chairman of the Remuneration and Nomination Committees.
A H Parker Bowles is Chairman of the Risk Review Committee.
Remuneration report continued Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004 33
The directors’ holdings of options over ordinary shares are as follows:
At 31 December At 31 December Date from which
2004 2003 Exercise price exercisable Expiry date
I R Penrose 541,294 541,294 14.25p 3 August 2001 2 August 2008*
458,706 458,706 62p 25 January 2003 24 January 2010
1,200,000 1,200,000 62p 24 May 2006 23 May 2011
2,200,000 2,200,000
R I Renton 250,000 250,000 105p 25 May 2004 24 May 2011*
* All the options above are held under the discretionary Share Option Scheme, with the exception of 209,533 held by I R Penrose 
and 28,571 held by R I Renton which are under the Share Option Plan.
All performance criteria in respect of the above options have been met, with the exception of 1,200,000 options allocated to
I R Penrose on 24 May 2001 and 250,000 options allocated to R I Renton on 25 May 2001.
The share option performance criteria for these options are noted below:
Date of grant Options Performance criteria
I R Penrose 24 May 2001 1,200,000 Exercisable if the mean closing mid price of shares is at least
154p over a continuous period of 30 days.
R I Renton 25 May 2001 125,000 Exercisable if the mean closing mid price of shares is at least 
139.75p over a continuous period of three months.
62,500 Exercisable if the mean closing mid price of shares is at least 
159.5p over a continuous period of three months.
62,500 Exercisable if the mean closing mid price of shares is at least 
181.5p over a continuous period of three months.
250,000 
No options were granted during the year. The market price of the shares at 31 December 2004 was 36.25 pence. High and low prices
were 52.75 pence and 36.0 pence respectively over the period.
On behalf of the board
M J Barnes
Chairman, Remuneration Committee
7 April 2005 34 Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004
Total Total
Group Group
2004 2003
Note £000 £000
Total turnover: group and share of joint venture turnover 43,515 44,207
Less: share of joint venture turnover (6,203) (9,905)
Discontinued operation 1,293 5,208
Continuing operations 36,019 29,094
Group turnover 2 37,312 34,302
Cost of sales
Discontinued operation (565) (3,044)
Continuing operations (23,688) (17,499)
(24,253) (20,543)
Gross proﬁt
Discontinued operation 728 2,164
Continuing operations 12,331 11,595
13,059 13,759
Administrative expenses
Discontinued operation (246) (726)
Continuing operations (7,159) (6,589)
Exceptional items – continuing operations 5 – (25,717)
Goodwill amortisation – continuing operations 5 (307) (308)
Total administrative expenses 3 (7,712) (33,340)
EBITDA 7,080 (17,657)
Depreciation (1,426) (1,616)
Goodwill amortisation (307) (308)
Group operating proﬁt
Discontinued operation 482 1,438
Continuing operations 4,865 (21,019)
5 5,347 (19,581)
Share of operating loss in
Joint venture 6 (4,595) (21,215)
Associate 7 (40) (22)
Goodwill amortisation in respect of joint venture 8 (47) (226)
Goodwill impairment in respect of joint venture 8 – (1,794)
Total operating proﬁt/(loss): group and share of joint ventures and associates 665 (42,838)
Income from other ﬁxed asset investments – 307
Net interest (payable)/receivable 9 (423) 554
Proﬁt/(loss) on ordinary activities before taxation 12 242 (41,977)
Tax credit/(charge) on ordinary activities 10 5,079 (200)
Proﬁt/(loss) on ordinary activities after taxation 5,321 (42,177)
Dividend 23 (1,084) –
Proﬁt/(loss) on ordinary activities after taxation and transferred to/(from) reserves 22, 23 4,237 (42,177)
Pence Pence
Basic earnings/(loss) per share 12 1.5 (11.7)
Diluted earnings/(loss) per share 12 1.5 (11.7)
The notes on pages 37 to 48 form part of these ﬁnancial statements.
All recognised gains and losses are included above.
Consolidated proﬁt and loss account
for the year ended 31 December 2004 Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004 35
2004 2003 2004 2003
Group Group Company Company
Note £000 £000 £000 £000
Fixed assets
Intangible assets 13 4,571 4,878 – –
Tangible assets 14 67,840 55,834 64 45 
Investment in joint venture – share of gross assets 3,795 – – –
– share of gross liabilities (5,052) – – –
15 (1,257) – – –
Goodwill in respect of joint venture 15 1,327 – – –
Arena Leisure Plc loans to joint venture 2,991 – – –
15 3,061 – – –
Investments – in associate 15 298 338 – –
– in other 15 345 345 48,184 46,159
3,704 683 48,184 46,159
76,115 61,395 48,248 46,204
Current assets
Stock 16 30 55 – – 
Debtors – due within one year 17 3,904 3,176 880 237 
Debtors – due in more than one year 17 – – 13,499 6,845
3,904 3,176 14,379 7,082
Blocked bank deposit 20 – 1,365 – 1,365
Cash at bank and in hand 27 1,284 – 592 
27 2,649 – 1,957
3,961 5,880 14,379 9,039
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year 18 (12,386) (9,586) (6,654) (6,255) 
Net current (liabilities)/assets (8,425) (3,706) 7,725 2,784
Total assets less current liabilities 67,690 57,689 55,973 48,988
Creditors: amounts falling due after one year
Share of gross assets of joint venture 15 – 5,006 – –
Share of gross liabilities of joint venture 15 – (41,464) – –
– (36,458) – –
Arena Leisure Plc loans to joint venture 15 – 33,968 – –
Goodwill in respect of joint venture 15 – – – –
– (2,490) – –
Other (11,556) (3,302) (8,000) – 
19 (11,556) (5,792) (8,000) – 
Net assets 56,134 51,897 47,973 48,988
Capital and reserves
Called up share capital 21 18,075 18,075 18,075 18,075
Share premium account 22 – 87,625 – 87,625
Merger reserve 22 5,417 5,417 5,417 5,417
Revaluation reserve 22 – 15 – 15 
Proﬁt and loss account 22 32,642 (59,235) 24,481 (62,144) 
Shareholders’ funds 23 56,134 51,897 47,973 48,988
All amounts within shareholders’ funds are equity.
These ﬁnancial statements were approved by the board of directors on 7 April 2005 and were signed on its behalf by:
I R Penrose R D Withers
The notes on pages 37 to 48 form part of these ﬁnancial statements.
Balance sheets 
at 31 December 2004 36 Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004
Y ear ended Year ended
31 December 31 December
2004 2003
Note £000 £000
Net cash inﬂow from operating activities 24 7,011 7,783
Returns on investment and servicing of ﬁnance
Interest received 106 990
Interest paid (943) (257) 
Dividends received – 307
(837) 1,040
Capital expenditure and ﬁnancial investment
Purchase of tangible ﬁxed assets (13,537) (2,689) 
Sale of tangible ﬁxed assets 82 130
Loans to joint venture (2,991) (9,135) 
(16,446) (11,694)
Acquisitions and disposals
Investment in joint venture (2,025) – 
Net cash outﬂow before ﬁnancing (12,297) (2,871)
Management of liquid resources – cash withdrawn from blocked bank deposit 1,365 9,135 
Financing
Inception of loans 8,580 –
Repayment of loans (422) (3,476) 
8,158 (3,476) 
(Decrease)/increase in cash 25, 26 (2,774) 2,788 
Group cash ﬂow statement
for the year ended 31 December 2004 Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004 37
1 Principal accounting policies
Basis of preparation and consolidation
The ﬁnancial statements, which have been prepared on the basis of the historic cost convention in accordance with applicable accounting
standards, include the ﬁnancial statements of the company and all of its subsidiary undertakings made up to 31 December 2004, 
using the acquisition method of accounting. Joint venture and associated companies have been included in the ﬁnancial statements 
in accordance with FRS9.
Interests in joint ventures 
Joint ventures are entities in which the group holds a long-term interest and shares control under a contractual arrangement.
Investments in joint ventures are dealt with by the gross equity method of accounting. Provision is made for the group’s share 
of net liabilities of the joint venture. The premium on goodwill is dealt with under the goodwill policy.
Interests in associated undertakings
Associated undertakings are entities in which the group holds a long-term minority interest, but over which it is in a position to exert
a signiﬁcant inﬂuence. The accounts include the relevant proportion of the results of associated undertakings. In the consolidated
balance sheet, investments in associated undertakings are shown as the group’s share of the underlying net assets under the heading
Investment in associates. Interests in associated undertakings are accounted for using the equity method of accounting.
Overseas currencies
The result of the overseas associate is translated at the average rate of exchange during the year and the balance sheet is translated
into sterling at the rate of exchange ruling on the balance sheet date. Exchange differences which arise from translation of the opening
net assets and from translating the proﬁt and loss account at an average rate are taken to reserves.
Goodwill
Goodwill arising on an acquisition of a subsidiary undertaking is the difference between the fair value of the consideration paid
and the fair value of the identiﬁable assets and liabilities acquired. It is capitalised and amortised through the proﬁt and loss
account over its useful economic life which the directors estimate to be 20 years. Goodwill relating to the At The Races joint venture
is written off over twenty years on a straight line basis.
Impairment tests on the carrying value of goodwill are undertaken:
• At the end of the ﬁrst full ﬁnancial year following acquisition.
• In other periods if events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable.
Prior to the adoption of FRS10 all positive goodwill was eliminated against reserves as a matter of accounting policy. Such goodwill
remains eliminated against reserves and will be charged to the proﬁt and loss account on the subsequent disposal of the business 
to which it relates.
Depreciation
Depreciation is provided to write off the cost or valuation, less estimated residual values, of all tangible ﬁxed assets, except for freehold
land, evenly over their estimated useful economic lives. Depreciation is provided on a straight line basis as follows:
Freehold buildings 2% per annum
Leasehold land and buildings over length of lease
All Weather tracks Surface 5% to 10% per annum
Base 2.5% to 3.3% per annum
Fixtures and ﬁttings 5% to 25% per annum
Plant, machinery and equipment 5% to 25% per annum
Motor vehicles 25% per annum
Stock
Stock is stated at the lower of cost and net realisable value.
Turnover
Turnover represents the value of sales by group companies to third parties, all arising within the UK, excluding value added tax.
Media rights
On 29 March 2004 attheraces terminated its media rights agreement with the RCA and the 49 racecourses which were party to the
contract, including the six racecourses owned by Arena Leisure Plc. Following termination of this agreement the group negotiated 
a new media rights contract with At The Races. This enabled the group to resolve it’s rebate liability under the original contract and 
to receive future rights payments based on a percentage share of the relevant revenues generated by the broadcasts from the group’s
racecourses. This income will be credited to the proﬁt and loss account in the period in which it is earned.
At 29 March 2004 the group held within creditors the sum of £3.2m in respect of deferred media rights income received under the original
contract. This will be released to the proﬁt and loss account on a straight line basis over the initial ﬁve year period of the new contract.
Development costs
Expenditure incurred in relation to the development of interactive and internet activities is written off as incurred.
Financial instruments
Short-term debtors and creditors are not treated as ﬁnancial assets or liabilities for disclosure purposes. The group does not hold 
or issue derivative ﬁnancial instruments for trading purposes.
Notes to the accounts 38 Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004
1 Principal accounting policies continued
Liquid resources
Management of liquid resources for the purpose of the cash ﬂow statement are deﬁned as short-term deposits.
Deferred taxation
Deferred tax assets and liabilities arise from timing differences between the recognition of gains and losses in the ﬁnancial statements
and their recognition in a tax computation.
In accordance with FRS19, deferred tax is provided in respect of all timing differences that have originated, but not reversed, at the
balance sheet date that may give rise to an obligation to pay more or less tax in the future. An asset is recognised where there is no
uncertainty as to the transfer of future economic beneﬁts. Deferred tax is measured on a non-discounted basis.
Pension costs
Contributions to the group’s deﬁned contribution pension scheme are charged to the proﬁt and loss account in the year which they
become payable.
2 Segmental information
Racecourse operations Software development Central costs T otal
2004 2003 2004 2003 2004 2003 2004 2003
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Turnover 36,019 29,094 1,293 5,208 – – 37,312 34,302
Segment proﬁt/(loss) 7,293 7,021 482 1,438 (2,121) (2,015) 5,654 6,444
Exceptional items – – – – – (25,717) – (25,717)
Goodwill amortisation – – – – (307) (308) (307) (308)
Operating proﬁt/(loss) 7,293 7,021 482 1,438 (2,428) (28,040) 5,347 (19,581)
Share of operating loss in:
Joint venture (4,595) (21,215)
Associate (40) (22)
Goodwill amortisation in respect of joint venture (47) (226)
Goodwill impairment in respect of joint venture – (1,794)
Income from other ﬁxed asset investments – 307
Interest receivable 602 1,050
Interest payable (1,025) (496)
Proﬁt/(loss) on ordinary activities before taxation 242 (41,977)
Segment net assets/
(liabilities) 39,752 34,831 (5,703) (5,847) 18,726 25,065 52,775 54,049
Joint venture 3,061 (2,490)
Associate 298 338
Group net assets 56,134 51,897
Operating proﬁt/(loss) is stated before group management charges and income within each segment. Central costs consist principally
of expenditure incurred in respect of the management, control and administration of the group. The main charges relate to directors’
pay, other general administrative staff and public relations costs. Exceptional items in 2003 relate to provisions against loans to
attheraces and exceptional legal and professional fees.
Discontinued operations relate to the closure of Arena Online Services Limited (software development).
3 Administrative expenses 
Y ear ended Year ended
31 December 31 December
2004 2003
£000 £000
Administrative expenses include the following charge
Amortisation of goodwill arising on consolidation (Note 13) 307 308 
Notes to the accounts continued Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004 39
4 Staff numbers and costs
The average number of persons employed by the group (including directors and part-time staff but excluding race-day casual staff)
during the period, analysed by category, was as follows:
Y ear ended Year ended
31 December 31 December
2004 2003
Management and administration 84 71
Customer service 179 129
263 200
Y ear ended Year ended
31 December 31 December
2004 2003
£000 £000
Wages and salaries 4,775 5,262
Social security costs 497 549
Other pension costs 120 131
5,392 5,942
The table above includes staff costs of £232,000 in respect of 66 staff employed and recharged as part of the Doncaster racecourse
management contract which commenced on 14 September 2004.
The company employs casual staff to assist during race-days. The number of casual staff varies between 13 and 105 depending on the
race-day. Casual staff are not included in the staff numbers or costs stated above. The aggregate payroll cost in respect of casual staff
in 2004 was £800,000 (2003: £626,000). This includes casual staff costs of £32,000 for Doncaster racecourse.
Directors’ remuneration
Y ear ended Year ended
31 December 31 December
2004 2003
£000 £000
Directors’ emoluments 729 625
Company contributions to deﬁned contribution pension schemes 28 25
757 650
Further disclosures on the remuneration of each individual director are given in the Remuneration report, of which the information
on page 32 has been audited.
I R Penrose and R I Renton were members of the group deﬁned contribution pension scheme during the year ended 31 December 2004
and year ended 31 December 2003. 
5 Operating proﬁt/(loss)
Y ear ended Year ended
31 December 31 December
2004 2003
£000 £000
Operating proﬁt/(loss) is stated after charging/(crediting):
Amortisation of goodwill (Note 13) 307 308
Loss/(proﬁt) on sale of tangible ﬁxed assets 23 (67) 
Auditors’ remuneration and expenses – audit services (including £68,000 in respect 
of the company for the year ended 31 December 2004 (2003: £68,000)) 136 132 
Auditors’ remuneration and expenses – non-audit services 235 94
Depreciation 1,426 1,616
Exceptional provision against loans to At The Races – 24,667
Exceptional legal and professional costs in respect of OFT and At The Races – 1,050
Non audit services include taxation, due diligence work and advice in respect of the ﬁnancial restructuring of At The Races.
6 Share of operating loss in joint venture
Y ear ended Year ended
31 December 31 December
2004 2003
£000 £000
At The Races – share of operating loss before exceptional items (3,672) (10,066)
– share of exceptional items (923) (11,149)
(4,595) (21,215)  40 Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004
6 Share of operating loss in joint venture continued
Exceptional charges in the year to 31 December 2004 relate to the fundamental restructuring of the business. This includes contract
termination costs, redundancy costs and losses on the disposal of tangible ﬁxed assets.
At 31 December 2003, attheraces incurred exceptional charges which principally include the write off of prepaid media rights costs 
and other industry related matters, along with a full impairment of interactive development costs.
7 Share of operating loss in associate
Y ear ended Year ended
31 December 31 December
2004 2003
£000 £000
Trackplay LLC (40) (22) 
This relates to the group’s 30% equity share of the operating loss of Trackplay LLC. In accordance with UK accounting standards,
the accounts of Trackplay LLC have been restated to write off all development costs as they are incurred, and to write back any
amortisation charges in relation to these costs, in line with our group accounting policy. The impact of this is to reduce the share
of the total loss recognised in respect of Trackplay by £25,000 (2003: reduction in the share of the operating loss by £25,000).
8 Goodwill amortisation/impairment in respect of joint venture
Y ear ended Year ended
31 December 31 December
2004 2003
£000 £000
Goodwill amortisation (47) (226)
Goodwill impairment – (1,794)
(47) (2,020)
As a consequence of the termination of the attheraces media rights agreement, an impairment provision of £1,794,000 was made 
in 2003 to eliminate the carrying value of goodwill at 31 December 2003.
9 Interest
Y ear ended Year ended
31 December 31 December
2004 2003
£000 £000
Interest receivable and similar income
Bank interest receivable 106 253
Other interest receivable 86 737
Share of joint venture interest receivable 410 60
Total interest receivable 602 1,050
Interest payable and similar charges
Interest payable on bank loans and overdrafts (317) (132) 
Other interest payable (626) (125)
Share of joint venture interest payable (82) (239) 
Total interest payable (1,025) (496) 
10 Taxation
Y ear ended Year ended
31 December 31 December
2004 2003
£000 £000
UK Corporation tax
Current tax – adjustments in respect of prior years – (credit)/charge (195) 200
Other tax
Share of joint venture’s tax (credit) (4,884) –
Taxation (credit)/charge on proﬁt/(loss) on ordinary activities (5,079) 200
The group’s share of At The Races results for the year include a share of tax credits in respect of 2002 and 2003 tax losses surrendered
by way of consortium relief. The group’s policy is to recognise a credit for consortium relief only at the time at which a payment is made
or reasonably anticipated, following the formal submission of such a claim by the consortium member and a corresponding consent 
by the company to the Inland Revenue.
Notes to the accounts continued Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004 41
10 Taxation continued
The tax assessed for the period differs from the standard rate of corporation tax in the UK applied to the proﬁt before tax. 
The differences are explained below.
Tax reconciliation
Y ear ended Year ended
31 December 31 December
2004 2003
£000 £000
Factors affecting tax (credit)/charge for the period:
Proﬁt/(loss) on ordinary activities before taxation 242 (41,977)
Proﬁt/(loss) on ordinary activities at standard rate of corporation tax in the UK of 30% 73 (12,593)
Effects of:
Expenses not deductible for tax purposes 1,357 934
Income not assessable to tax (2,019) (256)
Short-term timing differences (54) (116)
(Accelerated capital allowances)/depreciation in excess of capital allowances (20) 325
Group accounting policy alignment 106 (128)
Reinstatement of Arena Leisure Plc loans to At The Races on consolidation – (10,190)
Adjustment for joint ventures and associates 1,278 6,427
Tax losses (utilised)/unutilised (721) 14,576
Tax losses extinguished – 1,021
Adjustment to prior year tax charge (195) 200
Current tax (credit)/charge for the year (195) 200
As at the year end, corporation tax losses (net of corporation tax timing differences) representing trading and non trading losses 
of £58,309,000 (2003: £61,350,000) were available for utilisation in future years subject to agreement with the Inland Revenue.
Unrecognised deferred tax
At At
31 December Movement 31 December
2003 in the year 2004
£000 £000 £000
Depreciation in excess of capital allowances 1,293 355 1,648
Other short-term timing differences 87 (54) 33
Tax losses 18,405 (912) 17,493
Unrecognised deferred tax assets 19,785 (611) 19,174
The group has not provided for the deferred tax asset on losses, accelerated capital allowances and other short-term timing differences
as it is prudent to assume that the group will not make sufﬁcient proﬁts in the short-term to absorb these amounts.
11 Result for the period
The company has taken advantage of the exemption allowed under Section 230 of the Companies Act 1985 and has not presented 
its own proﬁt and loss account in these ﬁnancial statements.
The group results for the period include a loss of £1,015,000 after tax and dividend (year to 31 December 2003: loss of £58,685,000)
which is dealt with in the ﬁnancial statements of the company.
12 Earnings/(loss) per share
The calculation of the basic earnings per share is based on the proﬁt after tax of £5,321,000 (31 December 2003: loss after tax of £42,177,000)
and on 361,495,535 (31 December 2003: 361,495,535) ordinary shares, being the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue.
The calculation of diluted earnings per share is based on the proﬁt after tax for the year divided by the weighted average number 
of shares in issue, adjusted for outstanding share options capable of being exercised at 31 December 2004.
2004 2003
Shares used for calculation of basic EPS 361,495,535 361,495,535
Share options capable of exercise at 31 December 2004 2,706,472 –
Shares used for calculation of diluted EPS 364,202,007 361,495,535 42 Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004
13 Intangible assets 
Racecourse
operations
£000
Goodwill on consolidation
At 1 January 2004 and at 31 December 2004 6,151
Amortisation:
At 1 January 2004 (1,273)
Provision for year (307)
At 31 December 2004 (1,580)
Net book value at 31 December 2004 4,571
Net book value at 31 December 2003 4,878
14 Tangible assets
Long Freehold
leasehold land, Plant Fixtures,
land and buildings and ﬁttings and
buildings and A WT machinery vehicles T otal
Group £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Cost:
At 1 January 2004 1,344 54,542 5,100 5,154 66,140
Additions 2 9,980 2,497 1,058 13,537
Re-classiﬁcation – – (3) 3 –
Disposals – – (41) (944) (1,035)
At 31 December 2004 1,346 64,522 7,553 5,221 78,642
Depreciation:
At 1 January 2004 (117) (3,120) (3,506) (3,563) (10,306)
Charged in year (26) (585) (370) (445) (1,426)
Re-classiﬁcation – – 2 (2) –
Disposals – – 8 922 930
At 31 December 2004 (143) (3,705) (3,866) (3,088) (10,802)
Net book value at 31 December 2004 1,203 60,817 3,687 2,133 67,840
Net book value at 31 December 2003 1,227 51,422 1,594 1,591 55,834
Freehold land and buildings include expenditure of £2,304,000 in respect of proposed developments at Wolverhampton (casino and
hotel extension), Windsor (hotel and grandstand) and Doncaster (racecourse redevelopment).
All leasehold land and buildings are long leasehold.
Tangible ﬁxed assets include non-depreciable assets of £38,081,000 (31 December 2003: £37,512,000) included within freehold land
and buildings and All Weather track.
Fixtures,
ﬁttings and
motor vehicles
Company £000
Cost:
At 1 January 2004 71
Additions 52
Disposals (28)
At 31 December 2004 95
Depreciation:
At 1 January 2004 (26)
Charged in year (23)
Disposals 18
At 31 December 2004 (31)
Net book value at 31 December 2004 64
Net book value at 31 December 2003 45
Notes to the accounts continued Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004 43
15 Investments
Associate Unlisted
undertaking investment Total Joint venture
£000 £000 £000 £000
Group
Cost:
At 1 January 2004 722 345 1,067 2,260
Additions – – – 1,445
Disposals – – – (71)
Provisions utilised – – – (2,260)
At 31 December 2004 722 345 1,067 1,374
Provisions:
At 1 January 2003 – – – (2,260)
Provisions utilised – – – 2,260
At 31 December 2004 – – – –
Share of proﬁt/(loss):
At 1 January 2004 (384) – (384) (36,458)
attheraces – group reconstruction (capitalisation of shareholder loans) – – – 35,368
(Loss)/proﬁt for the year (40) – (40) 617
Goodwill amortisation charge – – – (47)
Increase in share of net liabilities in attheraces due to acquisition 
of Channel 4 shares – – – (820)
Reduction in share of net liabilities in At The Races due to issue 
of shares to Ascot racecourse – – – 36
At 31 December 2004 (424) – (424) (1,304)
Net book value at 31 December 2004 298 345 643 70
Net book value at 31 December 2003 338 345 683 (36,458)
The group’s share of the joint venture proﬁt for the year comprises the share of the loss before interest of £4,595,000 (2003: £21,215,000),
interest receivable of £410,000 (2003: £60,000), the group’s share of interest payable of £82,000 (2003: £239,000) and the group’s share 
of taxation credit £4,884,000 (2003: £nil).
The group’s share of net liabilities of the joint venture were shown within creditors falling due after more than one year (Note 19) in 2003.
Goodwill on joint venture
Included within group investments above is goodwill in respect of the At The Races joint venture as follows:
Joint venture
£000
Goodwill:
At 1 January 2004 2,259
Additions 1,445
Disposals (71)
Provisions utilised (2,259)
At 31 December 1,374
Amortisation and impairment provision:
At 1 January 2004 (2,259)
Amortisation charged in year (47)
Provisions utilised 2,259
At 31 December 2004 (47)
Net book value at 31 December 2004 1,327
Net book value at 31 December 2003 –
Associate Unlisted Joint
undertaking investment venture Subsidiaries Total
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Company 
Cost:
At 1 January 2004 722 195 – 45,242 46,159
Additions – – 2,025 – 2,025
At 31 December 2004 722 195 2,025 45,242 48,184 44 Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004
15 Investments continued
The principal subsidiary undertakings, in which the company owns 100% of the ordinary share capital (with the exception 
of Worcester Racecourse Limited (81%)) are as follows:
Country of registration Principal activity
Windsor Racing Limited England Racecourse
Lingﬁeld Park (1991) Limited England Racecourse
Dunstall Park Centre Limited* England Racecourse/Hotel
Southwell Racecourse Limited* England Racecourse
Folkestone Racecourse Limited England Racecourse
Worcester Racecourse Limited** England Racecourse
Windsor Concessions Limited England Racecourse concession
Doncaster Racecourse Management Company Limited England Racecourse Management
Arena Online Services Limited England Gaming technology
RAM Racing Leisure Limited England Holding company
Windsor Racecourse Company Limited England Holding company
Arena Leisure Corporation United States Holding company
Farringford Hotel (Freshwater) Limited England Dormant
Foxberg Limited England Dormant
Rowanglen Limited* England Dormant
Dunstall Park Stables Limited* England Dormant
Southwell Race Company Limited* England Dormant
* Denotes indirect holdings.
** No minority interests have been recognised on the grounds of materiality.
Joint venture and associated companies in which the company owns an equity share are as follows:
Equity share Classiﬁcation Country of registration Principal activity
Attheraces Holdings Ltd 47.5% Joint venture England Holding company
Trackplay LLC 30.0% Associate United States Gaming technology
Joint venture
The group had the following aggregate interests in the At The Races joint venture:
31 December 31 December
2004 2003
£000 £000
Share of assets
Fixed assets 143 386
Current assets 3,652 4,620
3,795 5,006
Share of liabilities
Liabilities due within one year (1,881) (7,496)
Liabilities due after one year or more (3,171) (33,968)
(5,052) (41,464)
Share of net liabilities (1,257) (36,458)
The group’s share of At The Races results for the year include a share of tax credits in respect of 2002 and 2003 tax losses surrendered
by way of consortium relief. The group’s policy is to recognise a credit for consortium relief surrendered only at the time at which a
payment is made or reasonably anticipated, following the formal submission of such a claim by a consortium member and a corresponding
consent by the company to the Inland Revenue. There was no tax charge in the current year due to the availability of losses.
The results of the joint venture are based on the latest available accounts which have not been signed off as audited. However the
directors do not anticipate any material adjustments.
16 Stock
Group Group Company Company
31 December 31 December 31 December 31 December
2004 2003 2004 2003
£000 £000 £000 £000
Consumable stock and stock for resale 30 55 – – 
30 55 – – 
The replacement cost of stock is not materially different to its book value.
Notes to the accounts continued Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004 45
17 Debtors
Group Group Company Company
31 December 31 December 31 December 31 December
2004 2003 2004 2003
£000 £000 £000 £000
Amounts falling due within one year
Trade debtors 1,889 1,772 1 9
Other debtors 926 729 487 54
Prepayments and accrued income 1,089 675 392 174
3,904 3,176 880 237
Amounts falling due after more than one year
Amounts owed by subsidiary undertakings – – 10,508 6,845
Loans to joint venture (Note 15, 20) – – 2,991 –
– – 13,499 6,845
18 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Group Group Company Company
31 December 31 December 31 December 31 December
2004 2003 2004 2003
£000 £000 £000 £000
Bank overdraft (secured) (1,517) – (1,139) –
Other loans (326) (422) – –
Trade creditors (2,988) (1,631) (597) (193) 
Amounts due to subsidiary undertakings – – (3,111) (4,680)
Corporation tax (5) (200) – –
Other taxation and social security (293) (442) (60) (116)
Proposed dividend (1,084) – (1,084) –
Other creditors (594) (429) (123) (12)
Accruals and deferred income (5,579) (6,462) (540) (1,254)
(12,386) (9,586) (6,654) (6,255) 
19 Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year 
Group Group Company Company
31 December 31 December 31 December 31 December
2004 2003 2004 2003
£000 £000 £000 £000
Bank loan (secured) (8,000) – (8,000) – 
Other loans (644) (390) – –
Share of joint venture liabilities – (2,490) – –
Accruals and deferred income (2,912) (2,912) – –
(11,556) (5,792) (8,000) – 
An explanation of the group’s objectives, policies and strategies for the role of derivatives and other ﬁnancial instruments in managing
the risks of the group can be found in the Financial review.
Short-term debtors and creditors are not treated as ﬁnancial assets and liabilities in relation to FRS13 disclosure requirements.
All banks borrowings and ﬁnancial assets of the group are held in sterling and on ﬂoating interest rates. In the current economic
climate, and with the group’s evolving structure, hedging for interest rate risk is not considered appropriate. However, the board
constantly monitors the ﬁnancial markets to ensure this policy remains in the group’s interest. The group does not face any signiﬁcant
foreign currency risk. At 31 December 2004, the group had unutilised bank facilities of £5,510,000 (31 December 2003: £15,000,000).
Short-term liquidity risk is managed by obtaining and reviewing the adequacy of banking facilities. The group does not use derivative
ﬁnancial instruments to manage risk.
Interest receivable on bank deposits ranged between 4.15% and 4.75% during the year. Interest is charged on the bank overdraft at 1%
over Bank of Scotland base rate. Interest on the revolving credit loan facility is charged at either 1% over Bank of Scotland base rate 
or 1% over LIBOR. The bank loan and overdraft are secured by a ﬁxed and ﬂoating charge on the assets and undertakings of the group
companies, and a ﬁrst legal charge on all the freehold and leasehold properties owned by the group. This security is subject to deeds 
of priority and permitted charges in favour of the Horserace Betting Levy Board (‘HBLB’) in respect of security for interest free loans
provided to the group, whose loans to the group total £970,000 at 31 December 2004 (31 December 2003: £812,000). 46 Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004
Notes to the accounts continued
19 Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year continued
Bank loans and overdrafts are repayable as follows:
31 December 31 December
2004 2003
£000 £000
In one year or less, or on demand 1,517 – 
In more than one year but not more than two years 8,000 – 
Other loans represent monies advanced (interest free) in sterling by the Horserace Betting Levy Board. Of the total balance, £326,000
is repayable within one year (31 December 2003: £422,000), £296,000 is repayable within one to two years (31 December 2003:
£210,000) and £348,000 is repayable within two to ﬁve years (31 December 2003: £180,000). The directors consider that the fair values
of the loans are not materially different from the values stated above.
20 Blocked bank deposit
The blocked bank deposit was a restricted cash deposit used to fund the group’s obligations to Attheraces Holdings Ltd and its
subsidiaries during the period to 30 April 2004. The monies were made available to fund payments to racecourses in connection with
the acquisition of media rights and to fund Arena Leisure Plc’s share of the attheraces working capital requirements. No such facility
was required following the ﬁnancial restructuring of attheraces which took place on 30 April 2004.
21 Called up share capital
31 December 31 December
2004 2003
£000 £000
Group and company
Authorised
429,353,724 ordinary shares of 5p each (31 December 2003: 429,353,724) 21,468 21,468 
Allotted, called up and fully paid
361,495,535 ordinary shares of 5p each (31 December 2003: 361,495,535) 18,075 18,075
Total share options in issue at 31 December 2004 were as follows:
Number of Exercise Period
ordinary shares price exercisable
(i) Under the Share Option Plan 209,533 14.25p 3 August 2001 – 2 August 2008
314,997 105p 25 May 2004 – 24 May 2011
524,530
(ii) Under the Discretionary Share Option Scheme
2,165,178 13p 18 June 2000 – 17 June 2007
331,761 14.25p 3 August 2001 – 2 August 2008
1,425,764 62p 25 January 2003 – 24 January 2010
489,304 62p 25 January 2005 – 24 January 2010
3,000,000 62p 24 May 2006 – 23 May 2011
515,003 105p 25 May 2004 – 24 May 2011
7,927,010
Total 8,451,540 
Details of directors’ share options, included above, are disclosed in the Remuneration report. No share options have been granted
during the year. Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004 47
22 Reserves
Share Proﬁt
premium Merger Revaluation and loss
account reserves reserves account
£000 £000 £000 £000
Group
At 1 January 2004 87,625 5,417 15 (59,235)
Retained proﬁt for the year – – – 4,237
Capital reorganisation (87,625) – (15) 87,640
At 31 December 2004 – 5,417 – 32,642
On 11 August 2004, the company obtained court approval for a reduction of capital in order to eliminate the deﬁcit on its proﬁt 
and loss account. As a result, the company’s share premium account of £87,625,000 was cancelled.
Cumulative goodwill eliminated against reserves at 31 December 2004 was £303,000 (31 December 2003: £303,000).
Share Proﬁt
premium Merger Revaluation and loss
account reserves reserve account
£000 £000 £000 £000
Company
At 1 January 2004 87,625 5,417 15 (62,144)
Loss for the year – – – (1,015)
Capital reorganisation (87,625) – (15) 87,640
At 31 December 2004 – 5,417 – 24,481
23 Reconciliation of movement in shareholders’ funds 
Group Group Company Company
31 December 31 December 31 December 31 December
2004 2003 2004 2003
£000 £000 £000 £000
Proﬁt/(loss) for the year 5,321 (42,177) 69 (58,685) 
Dividends (1,084) – (1,084) –
4,237 (42,177) (1,015) (58,685) 
Opening shareholders’ funds 51,897 94,074 48,988 107,673 
Closing shareholders’ funds 56,134 51,897 47,973 48,988
24 Reconciliation of operating proﬁt/(loss) to net cash inﬂow from operating activities
Y ear ended Year ended
31 December 31 December
2004 2003
£000 £000
Operating proﬁt/(loss) 5,347 (19,581)
Depreciation charges 1,426 1,616
Amortisation of goodwill 307 308
Loss/(proﬁt) on disposal of tangible ﬁxed assets 23 (67) 
Goodwill released on allocation of shares in At The Races to Ascot racecourse 71 –
Proﬁt on allocation of shares in At The Races to Ascot racecourse (36) –
Decrease/(increase) in stocks 25 (14)
(Increase)/decrease in debtors (642) 315 
Increase in creditors 490 539
Provision against loans to joint venture – 24,667
Net cash inﬂow from operating activities 7,011 7,783 48 Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004
25 Reconciliation of net cash ﬂow to movement in net debt 
Y ear ended Year ended
31 December 31 December
2004 2003
£000 £000
(Decrease)/increase in cash in the year (2,774) 2,788 
Cash (inﬂow)/outﬂow from changes in debt (8,158) 3,476
Change in net debt arising from cash ﬂows (10,932) 6,264
Opening net funds/(debt) excluding blocked bank deposit 472 (5,792) 
Closing net (debt)/funds excluding blocked bank deposit (10,460) 472 
Blocked bank deposit – 1,365
Net (debt)/funds including blocked bank deposit (10,460) 1,837
26 Analysis of net debt 
At At
31 December 31 December
2003 Cash ﬂow 2004
£000 £000 £000
Cash at bank and in hand 1,284 (1,257) 27
Overdrafts – (1,517) (1,517)
1,284 (2,774) (1,490)
Loans – amounts falling due within one year (422) 96 (326)
Loans – amounts falling due after more than one year (390) (8,254) (8,644)
(812) (8,158) (8,970)
Net cash/(debt) 472 (10,932) (10,460) 
Blocked bank deposit 1,365 (1,365) –
Net funds including blocked bank deposit 1,837 (12,297) (10,460)
27 Contingent asset
Attheraces Holdings Limited and it subsidiaries have commenced proceedings against The Racecourse Association Limited (‘RCA’) 
and various racecourses to recover rebates, in excess of £50 million, which are payable from monies received by the racecourses from
prospective media agreements.
Following the claims made by Attheraces Holdings Limited and Attheraces Limited as detailed above, the RCA and the racecourses
have made a counterclaim against Attheraces Limited which it is vigorously defending.
At this point in time the directors of Arena Leisure cannot reliably assess the ﬁnancial impact of these claims and the counterclaim 
in respect of Attheraces Limited, and as such no contingent asset has been recognised in these accounts.
28 Related party transactions
The following sales and year end balances relate to transactions with the group’s joint venture and associated company during 
the year.
Joint venture Associate Joint venture Associate
2004 2004 2003 2003
Sales of services 1,457 – 5,110 –
Debtors 54 – 288 –
Loans due from joint venture 2,991 – ––
Notes to the accounts continued Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004 49
To the shareholders of Arena Leisure Plc
We have audited the ﬁnancial statements of Arena Leisure Plc
for the year ended 31 December 2004 on pages 26 to 48 which
have been prepared under the accounting policies set out on
pages 37 to 38. We have also audited the information in the
directors’ Remuneration report that is described as having
been audited.
Respective responsibilities of directors and auditors
The directors’ responsibilities for preparing the annual report,
the directors’ Remuneration report and the ﬁnancial statements
in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting
Standards are set out in the Statement of directors’ responsibilities.
Our responsibility is to audit the ﬁnancial statements and the
part of the directors’ Remuneration report to be audited in
accordance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements,
United Kingdom Auditing Standards and the Listing Rules 
of the Financial Services Authority.
We report to you our opinion as to whether the ﬁnancial statements
give a true and fair view and whether the ﬁnancial statements
and the part of the directors’ Remuneration report to be audited
have been properly prepared in accordance with the Companies
Act 1985. We also report to you if, in our opinion, the Directors’
report is not consistent with the ﬁnancial statements, if the
company has not kept proper accounting records, if we have not
received all the information and explanations we require for our
audit, or if information speciﬁed by law or the Listing Rules
regarding directors’ remuneration and transactions with the
group is not disclosed.
We review whether the corporate governance statement reﬂects
the group’s compliance with the nine provisions of the 2003 FRC
Combined Code speciﬁed for our review by the Listing Rules of
the Financial Services Authority, and we report if it does not. 
We are not required to consider whether the board’s statements
on internal control cover all risks and controls, or form an opinion
on the effectiveness of the company’s corporate governance
procedures or its risk and control procedures.
We read other information contained in the annual report and
consider whether it is consistent with the audited ﬁnancial
statements. This other information comprises only the Directors’
report, the unaudited part of the directors’ Remuneration report,
the Chairman’s statement, the Chief Executive’s review of
operations, the Financial review and the Corporate governance
statement. We consider the implications for our report if we
become aware of any apparent misstatements or material
inconsistencies with the ﬁnancial statements. Our responsibilities
do not extend to any other information.
Our report has been prepared pursuant to the requirements 
of the Companies Act 1985 and for no other purpose. No person
is entitled to rely on this report unless such a person is a person
entitled to rely upon this report by virtue of and for the purpose 
of the Companies Act 1985 or has been expressly authorised 
to do so by our prior written consent. Save as above, we do not
accept responsibility for this report to any other person or for 
any other purpose and we hereby expressly disclaim any and 
all such liability.
Basis of audit opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with United Kingdom
Auditing Standards issued by the Auditing Practices Board. 
An audit includes examination, on a test basis, of evidence
relevant to the amounts and disclosures in the ﬁnancial
statements and the part of the directors’ Remuneration report 
to be audited. It also includes an assessment of the signiﬁcant
estimates and judgements made by the directors in the
preparation of the ﬁnancial statements, and of whether the
accounting policies are appropriate to the group’s circumstances,
consistently applied and adequately disclosed.
We planned and performed our audit so as to obtain all the
information and explanations which we considered necessary 
in order to provide us with sufﬁcient evidence to give reasonable
assurance that the ﬁnancial statements and the part of the 
directors’ Remuneration report to be audited are free from
material misstatement, whether caused by fraud or other
irregularity or error. In forming our opinion we also evaluated
the overall adequacy of the presentation of information in the
ﬁnancial statements and the part of the directors’ Remuneration
report to be audited.
Opinion
In our opinion:
• The ﬁnancial statements give a true and fair view of the state 
of the group’s and the company’s affairs as at 31 December
2004 and of the group’s proﬁt for the year then ended; and
• The ﬁnancial statements and the part of the directors’
Remuneration report to be audited have been properly
prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 1985.
BDO Stoy Hayward LLP
Chartered accountants and registered auditors
London
7 April 2005
Report of the independent auditors 50 Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004
Notice of meeting
Notice is hereby given that the 41st annual general meeting
of the company will be held at Royal Windsor racecourse,
Maidenhead Road, Windsor, Berkshire, SL4 5JJ on Monday 
13 June 2005 at 3.00pm for the following purposes:
Ordinary business
1 To receive the Directors’ report, the accounts for the year ended
31 December 2004 and the auditors’ report on the accounts.
2 To approve the directors’ Remuneration report for the year
ended 31 December 2004.
3 To authorise the payment of a ﬁnal dividend for the year ended
31 December 2004 of 0.3 pence per share.
4 To re-appoint as a director M J Barnes who retires by rotation
pursuant to the company’s Articles of Association and who,
being eligible, offers himself for re-election.
5 To re-appoint as a director R I Renton who having been
appointed during the year retires and offers himself 
for re-election. 
6 To re-appoint BDO Stoy Hayward LLP as auditors of
the company from the conclusion of this meeting until
the conclusion of the next general meeting at which accounts
are laid before the company in accordance with the provisions
of the Companies Act 1985, and to authorise the directors 
to ﬁx the auditors’ remuneration.
Special business
As special business to consider and, if thought ﬁt, to pass the
following resolutions of which resolution 7 will be proposed 
as an ordinary resolution and resolution 8 will be proposed 
as a special resolution. 
Ordinary resolution
7 That the board of directors (the ‘board’) be and is hereby
generally and unconditionally authorised to exercise all powers
of the company to allot relevant securities (within the meaning
of Section 80 of the Companies Act 1985 (the ‘Act’)) up to an
aggregate nominal amount of £3,392,909 provided that the
authority hereby conferred shall expire 15 months after the
passing of this resolution or on the conclusion of the annual
general meeting of the company held in 2006, whichever ﬁrst
occurs, unless this authority is renewed, varied or revoked
before such expiry by the company in general meeting, save
that the company may at any time before such expiry make 
an offer or agreement which would or might require any
relevant securities to be allotted after such expiry, and the
board may allot relevant securities in pursuance of such 
offer or agreement as if the authority hereby conferred had 
not expired.
Special resolution
8 That, subject to the passing of resolution 7 above, the board 
be and is hereby empowered pursuant to Section 95 of the Act
to allot equity securities (within the meaning of Section 94 of
the Act) for cash, pursuant to the authority conferred by that
resolution, as if Section 89(1) of the Act did not apply to any
such allotment, provided that this power be limited to:
a) the allotment of equity securities in connection with an offer
by way of rights or any other offer on a pre-emptive basis
in favour of holders of ordinary shares where the equity
securities comprised in that offer are offered to the holders
of ordinary shares on a ﬁxed record date in proportion (as
nearly as may be) to the respective numbers of such shares
held by them on that date, but subject to such exclusions
or other arrangements as the directors may deem necessary
or expedient to deal with any legal or practical problems
under the laws of any overseas territory or the requirements
of any regulatory body or any stock exchange in any
territory or in relation to fractional entitlements; and
b) the allotment (other than pursuant to sub-paragraph (a)
above) of equity securities having, in the case of relevant
shares, a nominal amount, or in the case of other equity
securities giving the right to subscribe for or convert into
relevant shares having a nominal amount, not exceeding in
aggregate the sum of £903,738 (representing approximately
5% of the issued share capital of the company at the date 
of the notice of meeting in which this resolution appears)
provided always that the power conferred by this resolution 
shall expire on the earlier of the date falling 15 months following
the passing of this resolution and the date of the annual general
meeting of the company held in 2006, save that the company 
may before such expiry make an offer or agreement which would
or might require equity securities to be allotted after such expiry,
and the board may allot equity securities in pursuance of 
such offer or agreement as if the power conferred hereby had 
not expired.
By order of the board
Robert Mercer FCMA
Company Secretary
7 April 2005
Registered ofﬁce:
1 Hay Hill 
Berkeley Square 
London W1J 6DH Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004 51
Explanatory notes to resolutions 7 and 8
Resolution 7 is proposed as an ordinary resolution to renew 
the directors’ authority to allot shares and other relevant
securities up to an aggregate nominal amount of £3,392,909
(which represents 18.8% of the total issued ordinary share capital 
of the company at the date of this notice). The authority will 
last until next year’s annual general meeting or 15 months after 
the passing of the resolution, whichever is the earlier. This is
standard practice for many public companies. The directors have
no present intention of exercising this authority. If shares are 
to be allotted under this authority and are to be paid for in cash,
Section 89(1) of the Companies Act 1985 requires that those
shares are offered ﬁrst to existing shareholders in proportion 
to the number of shares that they hold at that time. This is the
statutory ‘pre-emption right of existing shareholders’. There 
may be circumstances when it is in the interest of the company
for the directors to be able to allot some of the shares for cash
other than in proportion to the holdings of existing shareholders.
Resolution 8, which is proposed as a special resolution, gives 
the directors authority to disapply the statutory pre-emption
rights of existing shareholders. The resolution gives the directors
the power to allot shares and other equity securities for cash
other than in proportion to the holdings of existing shareholders
up to a maximum nominal value of £903,738, representing
approximately 5% of the company’s issued ordinary share 
capital at the date of this notice, which is in accordance with 
the guidelines issued by institutional investors. The resolution
also gives the directors the power to allot shares for cash in
connection with a rights issue or any other offer on a pre-emptive
basis in favour of holders of ordinary shares, subject to the
exclusions and arrangements set down in the resolution. This
disapplication of pre-emption rights will last until next year’s
annual general meeting or 15 months after the passing of the
resolution, whichever is earlier.
Notes
A member entitled to attend and vote at this meeting is entitled
to appoint one or more proxies to attend and, on a poll, vote in his
stead. A proxy need not be a member of the company. A form of
proxy is enclosed with this notice for your use in connection with
the meeting. To be effective, the instrument appointing a proxy
and the power of attorney or other authority, if any, under which
it is signed (or a notarially certiﬁed copy of such power or
authority) must be lodged with the company’s registrars not 
later than 48 hours before the time appointed for the meeting.
The company, pursuant to regulation 41 of the Uncertiﬁcated
Securities Regulations 2001, speciﬁes that only those
shareholders registered in the register of members of the
company as at 3.00pm on 11 June 2005, or in the event that the
meeting is adjourned, in such register 48 hours before the time 
of any adjourned meeting, shall be entitled to attend or vote at
the meeting in respect of the number of shares registered in their
name at the relevant time. Changes to entries in the register 
of members after 3.00pm on 11 June 2005 or, in the event that 
the meeting is adjourned, in such register less than 48 hours
before the time of any adjourned meeting, shall be disregarded
in determining the rights of any person to attend or vote at 
the meeting. Copies of all the directors’ service contracts are
available for inspection at the company’s registered ofﬁce during
normal business hours on business days from the date of this
notice until the close of the meeting and will be available for
inspection at the place of the meeting for 15 minutes before 
the meeting and during the meeting.
CREST members who wish to appoint a proxy or proxies by
utilising the CREST electronic proxy appointment service may 
do so by utilising the procedures described in the CREST manual.
CREST personal members or other CREST sponsored members,
and those CREST members who have appointed a voting service
provider(s), should refer to their CREST sponsor or voting service
provider(s), who will be able to take the appropriate action 
on their behalf. In order for a proxy appointment made by 
means of CREST to be valid, the appropriate CREST message 
(a ‘CREST Proxy Instruction’) must be properly authenticated
in accordance with CRESTCo’s speciﬁcations and must contain
the information required for such instructions, as described 
in the CREST manual. The message must be transmitted so 
as to be received by the issuer’s agent (ID RA 10) by the latest
time(s) for receipt of proxy appointments speciﬁed in the Notice
of meeting. For this purpose, the time of receipt will be taken 
to be the time (as determined by the timestamp applied to 
the message by the CREST Application Host) from which the
issuer’s agent is able to retrieve the message by enquiry to
CREST in the manner prescribed by CREST.
CREST members and, where applicable, their CREST sponsors
or voting service providers should note that CRESTCo does not
make available special procedures in CREST for any particular
messages. Normal system timings and limitations will therefore
apply in relation to the input of CREST Proxy Instructions. It is
the responsibility of the CREST member concerned to take (or,
if the CREST member is a CREST personal member or sponsored
member or has appointed a voting service provider(s), to procure
that his CREST sponsor or voting service provider(s) take(s))
such action as shall be necessary to ensure that a message is
transmitted by means of the CREST system by any particular
time. In this connection, CREST members and, where applicable,
their CREST sponsors or voting service providers are referred,
in particular, to those sections of the CREST manual concerning
practical limitations of the CREST systems and timings.
The Company may treat as invalid a CREST Proxy Instruction 
in the circumstances set out in Regulation 35 (5) (a) of the
Uncertiﬁcated Securities Regulations 2001. 52 Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004
Five year record
Year to Year to Year to Year to 9 months to
31 December 31 December 31 December 31 December 31 December
2004 2003 2002 2001 2000
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Group turnover 37,312 34,302 32,675 26,604 15,700
Group operating proﬁt/(loss) before exceptional items 5,347 6,136 4,044 (1,779) (5,036)
Tangible ﬁxed assets 67,840 55,834 54,824 54,531 52,608
Net assets 56,134 51,897 94,074 100,861 26,145
Shareholder information
Analysis of shareholders
Number of shareholders: 6,595 (as at 4 April 2005)
Shareholders Shares
% %
1,000 and under 48.8 0.4
1,001 to 5,000 34.6 1.6
5,001 to 10,000 7.0 1.0
10,001 to 100,000 7.7 4.2
Over 100,000 1.9 92.8
Held by:
Shareholders Shares
% %
Banks 0.1 5.0
Insurance companies and pension funds 0.2 5.4
Nominee companies 7.8 38.2
Other corporate bodies 1.0 43.1
Individuals 90.9 8.3 Arena Leisure at a glance
Arena Leisure is the UK’s largest operator of horseracing ﬁxtures. Our portfolio of racecourse assets provides a solid base for the
future development of the group. Continued focus on extending our ﬁxture list, increasing racecourse attendance and expanding 
non racing facilities will enable us to develop venues which operate for 365 days a year.
Royal Windsor
167
Acreage
28
Race meetings 2005
2%
Share of UK horserace 
betting turnover
2%
Of UK race meetings
123
Attendance 000’s
Other information
• The ‘jewel in the crown’
•Afﬂuent residential, 
London and tourist market
•Popular summer Monday
evenings ﬁxtures
Lingﬁeld Park
450
Acreage
97
Race meetings 2005
6%
Share of UK horserace 
betting turnover
7%
Of UK race meetings
165
Attendance 000’s
Other information
• The UK’s busiest racecourse
• Championship golf course
• Sports and leisure club
Doncaster
214 (net 101)
Acreage
29
Race meetings 2005
3%
Share of UK horserace 
betting turnover
2%
Of UK race meetings
213
Attendance 000’s
Other information
•Currently under 
management contract
•Home of the St Leger, the
world’s oldest classic horse race
•Flat turf and National 
Hunt racing/Exhibition centre
Wolverhampton
105
Acreage
84
Race meetings 2005
4%
Share of UK horserace 
betting turnover
6%
Of UK race meetings
72
Attendance 000’s
Other information
•Awaiting Government 
Ofﬁce approval for the 
UK’s ﬁrst ‘Racino’
• Only ﬂoodlit UK racecourse
•Only racecourse in the 
UK with an onsite hotel
Folkestone
203
Acreage
22
Race meetings 2005
2%
Share of UK horserace 
betting turnover
2%
Of UK race meetings
35
Attendance 000’s
Other information
•Five minutes from the 
Channel Tunnel
•Railway station and 
immediate motorway access
• Kent’s only racecourse
Worcester
100
Acreage
20
Race meetings 2005
1%
Share of UK horserace 
betting turnover
1%
Of UK race meetings
37
Attendance 000’s
Other information
• Summer jumps track
• Popular family racecourse
•The company’s only 
leasehold asset
Horseracing
Media/Broadcast
Broadcast media
UK, Irish and international 
horse racing
Broadcast platforms
Sky , ntl, T elewest and Corus
Audience
Average monthly reach 
over one million
Income streams:
•Advertising, sponsorship 
and teletext
• International distribution
•Interactive betting 
and gaming
•Live Web streaming 
and video archive
• Casino and poker
•Distribution to UK 
commercial premises
Southwell
145
Acreage
75
Race meetings 2005
5%
Share of UK horserace 
betting turnover
6%
Of UK race meetings
72
Attendance 000’s
Other information
• All Weather and turf track
• Golf course
•Third busiest racecourse 
in the UK
Company information
Head and registered ofﬁce
1 Hay Hill
Berkeley Square
London W1J 6DH
Telephone +44(0) 20 7495 2277
Facsimile +44(0) 20 7491 7174
contact@arenaleisureplc.com
www.arenaleisureplc.com
Company secretary
Robert Mercer FCMA
Registered number
857819
Auditors
BDO Stoy Hayward LLP
8 Baker Street
London W1U 3LL
Solicitors
Freshﬁelds Bruckhaus Deringer
65 Fleet Street
London EC4Y 1HS
Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham LLP
110 Cannon Street
London EC4N 6AR
Principal bankers
Bank of Scotland
New Uberior House
11 Earl Grey Street
Edinburgh EH3 9BN
Stockbroker
Numis Securities Ltd
Cheapside House
138 Cheapside
London EC2V 6LH
Financial advisors
Investec Bank (UK) Limited
2 Gresham Street
London EC2V 7QP
Deutsche Bank
Winchester House
1 Great Winchester Street
London EC2N 2DB
Registrar and transfer ofﬁce
Capita Registrars
The Registry
34 Beckenham Road
Beckenham
Kent BR3 4TU
Designed by williams and phoa Annual Report 2004
Arena Leisure Plc
1 Hay Hill
Berkeley Square
London W1J 6DH
Telephone +44(0) 20 7495 2277
Facsimile +44(0) 20 7491 7174
www.arenaleisureplc.com
Staying ahead
Arena Leisure Plc Annual Report 2004