The Gym Group PLC (LON:GYM) said the number of joiners jumped 30% year-on-year though cancellations rose 6% in the first five weeks of trading this summer following the lockdown.
Gyms in England were allowed to reopen on July 25 with heightened safety measures, while sites in Wales and Scotland resumed activity on August 10 and 31, respectively.
READ: The Gym Group says to reopen gyms in England on July 25
The reopenings allowed the company to be cash-flow positive in August, the group said in its interim results.
The chain also opened four new sites which had been under construction before lockdown, taking the total number of gyms in its estate to 183.
As of August 31, the group had 676,000 members, consisting of 639,000 paying members and a further 37,000 members on 'free freeze' for those who would rather come back to the gym at a later date.
In the six months to June 30, Gym Group's revenue halved to £37mln while it slumped to a £26mln loss due to the forced closures.
Net debt at period-end was £29mln, with a liquidity headroom of £70mln within a £100mln revolving credit facility.
"We view this as a highly resilient return in membership levels and profitability, and reinforces our view on the long-term importance consumers place in health & fitness and attending gyms and resilience of the low-cost, tech-enabled model," analysts at Liberum commented.
"The current market cap of £260mln implies a value of c£1.4mln per site, broadly in line with average construction costs and so is not giving any credit for value creation."
Shares rose 1% to 157.6p early on Wednesday.
--Adds analyst comment, shares--