Shaw & Co, the specialist corporate finance advisory firm, has launched the second of its annual in-depth reports into the Leisure, Tourism and Sport (LTS) industry; the latest in its regular series of reports that offer business leaders a powerful sector overview and benchmarking tool to aid their decision-making.

The report segments 565 LTS businesses with earnings of over £1m by size and sub-sector - Cruise Ships & Lines, Tourism, Video Games & Toys, Sport & Fitness, Gambling, Theatre & The Arts, Hotels & Accommodation, Amusement Parks & Attractions, Events & Events Management to track their performance, profitability, debt levels, borrowing capacity and M&A activity.

The report’s key findings include:

• 47-59% Average Gross Margin: Gross (and Ebitda) margins have remained very healthy over the past 12 months despite a cautionary note over economic headwinds that may start to bite. Funders also remain keen to support the industry.

• 7 M&A Deals: Deal activity continues to be low across all sub-sectors. The latest political and economic challenges mean that this is unlikely to improve in the near term.

• 100% of Deals in Tourism: All M&A activity during this period occurred within the tourism subsector.

• Scale is King: With 7% of companies covering 67% of industry revenue and borrowers with Ebitda over £5m able to secure a multiple of debt in comparison to smaller companies, scale certainly appears to have its advantages.

A full copy of the report is available here