* December box office sales at 88% vs 2019
* Generated positive cash flow in fourth quarter
* Banking on strong film slate for 2022
(Adds background)
By Pushkala Aripaka
Jan 14 (Reuters) - Cineworld's on Friday reported
its December box office sales recovered to nearly 90% of
pre-pandemic levels helped by the Marvel superhero film
"Spider-Man: No Way Home", sending its shares 3% higher in early
trade.
The world's second-largest theatre operator said its cash
flow turned positive in the fourth quarter after sales improved.
Movie delays hurt footfall in November, and global curbs to
contain the Omicron coronavirus variant also hit demand.
Cinema operators have also been hurt by
straight-to-streaming, but Cineworld has seen gradual recovery
since April helped in part by Marvel films including "Black
Widow" and "Eternals".
The December sales update is likely to bring some relief for
Cineworld after it was ordered last month to pay C$1.23 billion
($985 million) in damages to rival Cineplex for
abandoning a planned takeover, though Cineworld has appealed the
decision.
Many of the main markets for Cineworld have refrained from
stringent lockdowns, while vaccinations have also helped. The
company gets 90% of its revenue from vaccine-advanced nations
such as the United States, UK and Israel.
"Spider-Man: No Way Home" became the sixth-highest grossing
movie ever at the U.S. box office https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/box-office-spider-man-no-way-home-rules-again-the-355-misfires-2022-01-09,
raking in $668 million so far and surpassing 1998 Oscar-winner
"Titanic". The superhero adventure was the first pandemic-era
film to top $1 billion https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/spider-man-no-way-home-becomes-first-pandemic-era-movie-smash-1-billion-2021-12-26
in global sales.
Group sales for Cineplex in December stood at 88% of
pre-pandemic 2019 levels, up from 56% in November.
Larger rival AMC Entertainment Holdings last month
said nearly 1.1 million people watched the new 'Spider-Man" film
when it opened in its U.S. theatres, setting a company record https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/amc-says-over-million-people-watch-new-spider-man-movie-its-us-theaters-2021-12-17.
Britain's Cineworld, which also operates U.S.-based Regal
Cinemas, acknowledged challenges remain due to the pandemic but
said a strong slate of 2022 releases, including "Jurassic World:
Dominion" and "Top Gun: Maverick", gave it confidence.
($1 = 1.2488 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry
Jacob-Phillips and Rashmi Aich)
