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(Alliance News) - Cinema chain Everyman Media Group PLC said Tuesday its interim profit fell on higher expenses amid its ongoing venue roll-out programme, yet revenue jumped on higher admissions and market share.
For the six months ended June 30, pretax profit halved to GBP445,000 from GBP1.4 million the year prior. This was despite revenue rising 16% to GBP28.9 million from GBP24.9 million the year before.
Profit performance was hurt by financial expenses of GBP1.2 million booked related to lease liabilities. The year prior, no such costs were recorded.
"The appetite for Everyman has never been stronger with our continued roll-out allowing us to deliver exceptional experiences to more audiences across the UK with our increasing footprint," Everyman Chief Executive Officer Crispin Lilly said.
"As a result, we have seen progress across both our financial and operational key performance indicators, with growth in revenue and operating profit driven by increasing admissions and food & beverage spend," Lilly continued. "This has resulted in the record market share we are reporting today."
During the period, cinema admissions rose to 1.5 million from 1.3 million the year prior. This took the company's market share in the UK & Ireland to a record 3.0% from 2.5% in 2018.
Everyman expects to add four more cinemas to its current 28 venues during the remainder of 2019, with a further 11 cinemas committed to in the future.
"Our ambitious roll out continues both in the UK and with our first international site, which is due to open in Ireland next year," Lilly added. "We are confident that there is significant room for expansion. We look forward to delivering our proven model to additional communities in both countries in the current period and beyond."
Shares in Everyman were untraded at 182.90 pence in London on Tuesday.
By Ahren Lester; ahrenlester@alliancenews.com
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