LA FITNESS, just about the last remaining quoted health and fitness club operator, showed it was in rude health yesterday, reporting a 34 per cent jump in first-half profits.

The group, which has resisted the temptation to join rivals such as Esporta and Fitness First in going private, said it would be doubling its opening programme next year to about eight clubs — it has 66 — after enjoying a 19 per cent rise in memberships in the first half to 196,900.

Fred Turok, chief executive, said: “Trading is still not easy by any stretch of the imagination and customers are still very much driven by value. But we’ve made a positive start to the year as we’ve built on the strong foundations laid over the last 12 months.”

Mr Turok said that the key to the group’s resilient per- formance had been its ability to drive revenue from its existing members. In particular, it launched a promotion encouraging members to add a partner to their existing memberships at a fraction of the normal rate. The average monthly direct debit collected was up 4.3 per cent.

He said that LA, in tandem with the Fitness Industry Association, was continuing to lobby the Government for tax and VAT incentives on gym memberships as part of its anti-obesity strategy.

Citing the huge strain put on the NHS by the rise in obesity, Mr Turok said: “My view is that the Government has no choice but to look at prevention. The focus on food is misplaced. We should be focusing on encouraging physical activity.”

The LA Fitness founder also reiterated his determination to remain as a quoted company, pointing to the tripling of the company’s share price over the past 12 months. “There’s going to be consolidation in the sector, and as the last high-profile public company we will be part of that. It’s a question of how that happens.”

In the half year to January 31, the group reported a rise in pre-tax profits from £2.8 million to £3.7 million, from turnover up 27 per cent to £38.4 million. Like-for-like sales rose by 5 per cent and basic earnings per share reached 6.1p (4.3p).

The company pared back its expansion programme, opening just two new clubs with another two due to open in the second half. It also closed two units without pools and is close to selling a further two.

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