Third quarter revenues are up by 8 per cent on last year at SATS; price increases have led to record-high profitability, while club upgrades have resulted in happy, active customers, the company has reported.

In February 2023, SATS chose to put the brakes on expansion and focus on driving profitability within its existing portfolio and the strategy is paying off.

After revealing its strongest set of year-end financial results last February, the momentum continued in Q2, with record results for six consecutive quarters.

The Nordic operator has now unveiled record highs for the third quarter, with total revenues increasing by 8 per cent to NOK 1,194 million (€100 million, £84 million, US$109 million.)

EBITDA before IFRS 16 was NOK 170 million (€14.2 million, £12 million, US$15.5 million) in the quarter, up by 10 per cent from Q3 2023, resulting in a margin of 14 percent.

The increased profits have been driven by investment in both the clubs and the group training product, which has led to more active members, who have accepted price increases. The average revenue per member is up by 8 per cent compared with the same quarter last year. The member base has kept relatively stable, with members per square metre increasing by 2 per cent.

"We remain committed to investing in our product offering to deliver the best possible experience for our members," says Sondre Gravir, CEO of SATS. “The response has been positive, with third-quarter visits reaching a record high of 10.1 million.

“This growth is largely driven by the rising popularity of group training, which we have fuelled by expanding our class schedule and launching innovative new group training classes. This quarter, we launched a wellness bundle to address the increasing focus on mental health and stress relief, furthering our commitment to a holistic approach to public health.”

Investments have included expanding the group exercise offering with more classes and more innovative products.

The company also has a strong liquidity position of NOK 1.1 billion and leverage ratio of 1.8x, which is in line with its target of 1.5x to 2x.

SATS is the largest Nordic operator and one of the five largest operators in Europe; it has 10,000 employees and 728,000 members across Norway (117 clubs), Sweden (96 clubs), Finland (31 clubs) and Denmark (29 clubs).