Face and tail for RSG Group at the gates of the sale of its business in Spain. The subsidiary achieved record revenues in Spain in 2022 thanks to the recovery of the business after the pandemic, but it also continued to generate significant losses. The group that owns the McFit and Holmes Place gym chains ended 2022 with revenues of 41 million euros, 60.8% more year-on-year. It was even 26.5% above the volume of income it registered in 2019, according to the annual accounts analyzed by 2Playbook Intelligence, the intelligence and market data unit of 2playbook.
The interannual growth of its turnover was slightly lower, at 57.4%, an increase that is largely explained by the incorporation of the business of the five Holmes Place clubs, for which he paid 7.2 million euros. This figure also includes the two openings that McFIT made last year, in Zaragoza and Santander, according to the accounts. Without taking into account the centers of the premium brand, the chain sold 34.7% more than in 2021. This means that the sales of the 41 McFIT gyms rose to 33.2 million, while the five Holmes Place contributed other 5.6 million euros to total sales.
The Iberian subsidiary cut its losses by 13.5%, up to 6.6 million euros. Despite this, RSG Group Spain drags red numbers of 71.5 million euros since its arrival in the country in 2003. This figure would be higher if the parent company had not capitalized two loans worth 20 million and 12 million euros in 2016 and 2017, respectively. The company, yes, qualifies that part of its negative result is explained by the expansion plan carried out in recent years to achieve its current position.
Its last three years, on the other hand, have been impacted by the pandemic, which has not allowed the company to recover the number of partners like for like it had in 2019. The improvement in billing is due to the price increase applied to members since 2022, as well as the opening of clubs. At the end of 2019, the company had 35 gyms, twelve less than now. Since then, it has added six McFIT, five Holmes Place and one Sergio Ramos by John Reed which, at the beginning of 2023, has become McFIT Gold, after ending the alliance with the footballer. The joint venture between Ramos and the RSG Group allocated 3.1 million to the works to adapt this latest sports center, of 2,100 square meters, in an underground location in the Moncloa transport interchange, next to Calle de la Princesa in Madrid.
Although it does not give subscriber figures, the company does anticipate that, between the end of all restrictions to combat the pandemic and the integration of Holmes Place gyms, It expects to reach the levels of profit and ebitda prior to the pandemic during 2023. In addition, the group expects to recover the volume of clients it had in 2019 at the end of 2023 or the beginning of 2024.
The accounts of the Iberian subsidiary of RSG Group also show the group’s intention to introduce two of its brands, John Reed and Gold’s Gym, in the Spanish market in the short term. Some plans that have been altered by the death of the founder of the group, Rainier Schaller. This event caused the company to change its strategy and opt for withdrawal, which explains why it began negotiations to sell its business in the country. Among those interested in buying the RSG Group gym network in Spain is VivaGym, which has gone through a second round of talks, as advanced 2playbook.
The company has increased its net debt by 75.5%, up to 9 million euros. Last year he obtained a loan worth 2.4 million euros from Banco Santander with a one-year grace period and maturity in 2025. This amount is in addition to the 7 million euros of loans with the ICO guarantee that he requested in 2020 and whose grace period was extended in 2021 to three and five years.
Currently, McFit operates 41 centers in Spain distributed in Catalonia (12), Community of Madrid (8), Andalusia (6), Valencian Community (3), Galicia (2) Aragon (2), Asturias, Balearic Islands, Cantabria, Basque Country, Logroño, Murcia, Castilla La- Mancha and Castilla y León (1). To these are added a McFIT Gold in the Spanish capital, where it manages three premium clubs acquired from Holmes Place and two more in Barcelona.
Globally, the RSG group has a total of 10,000 employees, spread over 19 different brands, and the more than 900 gyms it manages in 30 countries serve 4.5 million members. The markets in which it operates are Europe, mainly in countries such as Germany, Austria, Spain and Italy with gyms owned by the McFIT, High5, John Reed and Gold’s Gym brands, as well as in the United States (USA), with gyms owned by the Heimat, John Reed and Gold’s Gym brands and more than 700 Gold’s Gym brand franchises throughout the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
