AMBITIOUS Hampshire County Cricket Club were expected today to announce details of a new public share offer which will raise around £5million to further develop the Rose Bowl, writes Dave King.

Chairman Rod Bransgrove was announcing details of the initiative at a press conference this morning which, besides aiding development of the ground, will also provide working capital for the expansion of Rose Bowl PLC.

This is the group which manages and operates the 150-acre Rose Bowl site, which not only includes the cricket bowl, the Nursery Ground and the pavilion, but also consists of the Cricket Academy, Connor's Health & Fitness Club, and a proposed golf driving range.

Rose Bowl PLC also owns and operates Wise Catering and the directors include Bransgrove, former Hampshire captain, Mark Nicholas, along with Hampshire Cricket Club chief excecutive, Graham Walker, the county's director of coaching, Tim Tremlett, plus businessman Nicholas Pike, whose grandfather was a vice-chairman of Hampshire.

The offer price will be £1 per ordinary share, and the subscription list opens on March 4, closing on March 31.

In a 52-page document to potential investors, the company points out that the Rose Bowl was valued last October at £3.2million. Since then a further £1.7million has been committed to fitting out the pavilion in time for the start of this summer's campaign.

With around 4,800 Hampshire members, the share document details that revenue drawn from membership subscriptions, gate receipts, as well as the media and advertising rights distributed each year by the England & Wales Cricket Board, currently amount to £1.3million a year.

"The directors believe that significant revenues will also be generated from grants, sponsorship, the golf course, Connor's, and from catering and bars," says the report, which points out that the Rose Bowl has been awarded international one-day status from 2004, with the possibility of being awarded a Test match later on.

"The directors believe that the Group's new and enhanced facilities, its accreditation as an international cricket venue and its experience in business management should produce increases in revenue and profitability over the next few years."

In fact trading results during the first year of operation to October last year showed a turnover of £2,743,053 and a trading loss of £245,530 - attributed to the troubles the cricket club had with completion of the new ground.

Rose Bowl PLC are predicting a trading loss to October this year of £1,256 from a turnover of £5,612,633 - that does not include the performance of Wise Catering which reported a trading profit of £183,971 and a turnover of £1,628,272 for the year ending December 2001.

However Rose Bowl PLC are predicting a trading profit of £209,588 for the financial year ending October 2003 resulting from a turnover valued at £6,020,076.

The current seating capacity of the Rose Bowl is 6,600 and that can be increased, initially to 10,000, and eventually 20,000 but success on the cricket front is key to that dream.

The report adds: "Further expenditure is required to unlock what the directors believe to be significant commercial opportunities presented by the 150-acre sport, entertainment and leisure complex at the Rose Bowl."