Last checked at (Sharecast News) - Cinema chain Everyman Media posted a rise in full-year revenue on Thursday amid growing admissions, as it said it was difficult to predict the exact longer-term impact of the coronavirus.
In the year to 2 January 2020, revenue rose 25% to ?65m as admissions pushed up 17% to 3.3 million and spend per head ticked up 13% to ?7.13. Pre-IFRS 16 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were up 31.3% to ?12m but pre-tax profit fell to ?2.3m from ?2.7m the year before.
"With seven new openings in the year, 2019 marked another year of strong growth as the business performed in line with the board's expectations across all key areas," it said.
But the outlook was uncertain after the company made the decision earlier in the week to close all of its cinemas in response to Covid-19.
Everyman said it expects to see a significant pause in business due to the virus outbreak and is taking "all appropriate measures" to reduce the financial impact. In a bid to reassure investors, it noted that it has more than ?14m headroom in its loan facility currently.
In addition, it has taken action to postpone all non-committed capital expenditure, which will affect its planned rollout but maintains its "strong financial position".
Everyman said action to reduce operating expenses has been taken and further actions are in place to reduce expenses to a minimum during the closures.
Chief executive officer Crispin Lilly said: "We are facing an unprecedented global situation, and are now concentrating all our resources on tackling the challenge at hand. We will be focussed on preparing the business to be in the best possible position in the future."
At 1440 GMT, the shares were up 15% at 94p.
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