Cineworld sees 12.7% increase in screen advertising revenue for first half of 2013 as 3D revenue grows
Cineworld has witnessed a 12.7 per cent increase in screen advertising revenue for the first half of 2013, as the company saw 3D movies make up almost a third of its revenue during the same period.
Announcing its financial results for the first 26 weeks of 2013, Cineworld reported a 21.9 per cent increase of group revenue to £201.6m, and a 24.1 per cent increase in pre-tax profit during the six months to £16.5m.
The company saw admissions increase by 5.7 per cent to 24.3m, without the Olympic Games to compete with from last year, while average ticket prices rose by 4.72 per cent £5.39 and weekend cinema attending also rose ‘slightly’.
The performance of Les Miserables, which gross around £40m nationally, alongside the spread of attendance across Iron Man 3, The Croods and Star Trek: Into Darkness, as well as The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Wreck It Ralph, Man of Steel and Fast and Furious 6 and Life of Pi helped buoy attendances, as did Bollywood releases.
3D releases were lower this year, at 24 in comparison with 28 releases last year, now representing 30.5 per cent of Cineworld’s box office during the first half, growing from last year’s figure of 18.5 per cent.
Other revenue, including screen advertising, screen hires, sponsorships, games machine income and 3D glasses sales, rose by 14.8 per cent to £10.1m in total.
Stephen Wiener, CEO of Cineworld Group, commented: "Once again our results show that cinema is a resilient investment in challenging economic times with a number of growth opportunities. We have maintained our position as the leading cinema operator in both the UK and the UK and Ireland combined. Since the end of the first half we also surpassed important milestones for both our Unlimited and MyCineworld schemes, with now over 350,000 Unlimited subscribers and 3.0 million MyCineworld members. The current trading performance, together with a reduction in net debt since the end of 2012, means that the Group remains in a sound financial position to fund continued growth. Against this backdrop, we have again increased the interim dividend to our shareholders.
“There is a strong film line up for the second half including key titles: ‘Despicable Me 2’; ‘Monsters University’; and ‘The Wolverine’. In the third quarter there are weaker comparatives due to the impact of the London Olympics on scheduling last year. By contrast, there is a tougher fourth quarter comparative due to the phenomenal success of ‘Skyfall’.
The strength of the film line up in the second half, coupled with our solid first half performance, underpins our confidence that we are on track with our plans for the full year."
Releases coming up during the second half of the year include Thor: The Dark World, The Hobbit: There and Back Again and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.