Interim Management Statement

RNS Number : 9808U

Cineworld Group plc

26 October 2010

 



RNS Number:

Cineworld Group PLC
26^thOctober 2010

CINEWORLD GROUP PLC
 Interim Management Statement

The Board of Cineworld Group plc ("Cineworld" or the "Group") today made the following Interim Management Statement for the 42 week trading period to 21 October 2010.

Revenues for the 42 weeks to 21 October 2010:

	% change vs. prior year (pro-rated 42 weeks)[1]
Total Revenues	+ 8.5%
Box Office	+ 8.3%
Retail	+ 1.5%
Other Income	+ 43.8%

The Group is pleased to report strong trading with total revenues up 8.5% in the 42 weeks to 21 October 2010.  Group's box office revenues, up 8.3% year on year, have underpinned Cineworld's healthy performance since the end of June. 

The second half of the financial year has delivered a number of successful films including "Shrek Forever After (3D)", "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" and "Toy Story 3" (3D). The latter is the biggest film release of the year to date grossing over £70m in the UK/Ireland (Source: Rentrak/EDI).  The higher number of admissions since the half year end has helped to increase retail revenues in what remains a challenging consumer environment. 

Screen advertising has continued to make encouraging progress compared to the prior year. DCM is capitalising on growing signs of recovery in the cinema screen advertising market and recently secured a contract from Vue Entertainment Limited which will commence in January 2011.  Other income has also increased, reflecting strong trading through booking fees, theatre hires and the sale of 3D glasses.  Cineworld's market share of UK Box Office during the current year to 21 October 2010 was 24.5% (2009: 23.8%) (Source: Rentrak/EDI).

Our ongoing investment in digital continues with the next stage of our programme to install a further 150 digital projectors by the end of January 2011. Once completed over 50% of our 801 screens will be digital, with the vast majority being 3D enabled, further extending our capability to offer more 3D and alternative content to our customers.

The final quarter of the financial year has a promising film line up, although this is set against a tough comparator for 2009.  "Harry Potter: Deathly Hallows 1" (now in 2D), is expected to be one of the major films of the year. Other major films to be released include "Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader" and "Tron".  Looking further ahead, the film release schedule in 2011 appears to be strong, with 3D releases of "Harry Potter: Deathly Hallows 2", "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" and "Tintin".  The remaining 2010 film line up together with our strong performance to date gives us confidence in delivering continued growth for the full year at least in line with market expectations.

-Ends-

For further information:

Richard Jones                      020 8987 5000

Chief Financial Officer

Cineworld Group plc

Georgina Briscoe                 020 7920 2348

M:Communications

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[1] Reported 2009 IMS was for the 43 week period to 22 October 2009

 

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