annual report 2004
arena leisure plc
1 hay hill
berkeley square
london w1j 6dh
telephone 440 20 7495 2277
facsimile 440 20 7491 7174
wwwarenaleisureplccom
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 racingexhibition 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
mediabroadcast
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 440 20 7495 2277
facsimile 440 20 7491 7174
contactarenaleisureplccom
wwwarenaleisureplccom
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 casinohotel 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 £53m 2003 loss of £422m
• signiﬁcant improvement in proﬁt before 
tax to £02m 2003 £422m loss
• racecourse operating proﬁt increased 
to £73m 2003 £70m 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 £46m including £3m relating 
to the old attheraces contracts terminated 
in the ﬁrst half of 2004
• net debt of £105m following capital
expenditure of £135m 2003 net cash £18m
• maiden dividend of 03 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 475 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 £373m
2003 £343m group operating proﬁt before exceptional items
reduced by 13 to £53m 2003 £61m due to closure of arena
online after deducting the losses incurred by at the races
pretax proﬁt amounts to £02m compared to a loss of £420m 
in 2003 a tax credit of £51m principally in respect of at the
races consortium relief brings proﬁt after tax to £53m
2003 £422m loss basic and diluted earnings per share 
were 15 pence 2003 loss per share 117 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 longterm 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 nonexecutive director both resigned to pursue other business
interests i thank them for their contribution the board now
consists of two executive directors two nonexecutive 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 03 pence per share 2003 nil pence which
also reﬂects the total dividend for the year will cost £11m 
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
327
343
373
266
dividend
£million
01 02 03 04
nil nil
11
nil
proﬁtloss after tax
£million
01 02 03 04
69 422 62
53 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 multichannel 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
£135m
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


Summary:
 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 475 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 £373m
2003 £343m group operating proﬁt before exceptional items
reduced by 13 to £53m 2003 £61m due to closure of arena
online after deducting the losses incurred by at the races
pretax proﬁt amounts to £02m compared to a loss of £420m 
in 2003 a tax credit of £51m principally in respect of at the
races consortium relief brings proﬁt after tax to £53m
2003 £422m loss basic and diluted earnings per share 
were 15 pence 2003 loss per share 117 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 longterm 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 nonexecutive director both resigned to pursue other business
interests i thank them for their contribution the board now
consists of two executive directors two nonexecutive 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 03 pence per share 2003 nil pence which
also reﬂects the total dividend for the year will cost £11m 
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
327
343
373
266
dividend
£million
01 02 03 04
nil nil
11
nil
proﬁtloss after tax
£million
01 02 03 04
69 422 62
53