12 May 2010 07:00
Cineworld Group PLC12th May 2010
CINEWORLD GROUP PLCAGM Statement and Interim Management Statement
Cineworld Group plc ("Cineworld" or "The Group"), the UK's only quoted cinema chain, is today holding its Annual General Meeting ("AGM") at 11am at the Cineworld in Southside Shopping Centre, Wandsworth High Street, SW18 4TF and provides the following Interim Management Statement for the period to 6 May 2010.
Revenues for the 18 weeks to 6 May 2010:
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| % change vs. Prior year (Pro-rated 18 weeks)
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| Total Revenues | +13.9% |
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| Box Office | +14.6% |
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| Retail | +6.6% |
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| Other Income | +39.0% |
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The Group is pleased to report strong trading in the 18 weeks to 6 May 2010 with total revenues up 13.9%. This performance has been driven principally by the box office following the successful release of films such as "Avatar" and "Alice in Wonderland". The Group has also delivered steady performance in its retail activities given the continuing challenges in the consumer environment. Screen advertising remained broadly flat against the previous year, although other income was supplemented by the sales of 3D glasses and by fees associated with higher booking volumes. Cineworld's market share to 6th May was 24.0% (2009: 23.6%) (Source: EDI Neilsen).
Digital remains a key part of the Group's strategy and currently over 33% of our 790 screens are digital, the majority of which have 3D capability. The ongoing rollout of 102 additional digital screens enabled us to capitalise further on the continuing success of 3D films which contributed over 30% to our total box office for the year to date (approximately 5% in the equivalent period in 2009).
The major films for the remainder of the first half including "Robin Hood", "The Prince of Persia (3D)" and "Sex and The City 2" will be released before the start of the football world cup in anticipation of reduced cinema demand during the tournament. As a result of this scheduling, the Group expects H1 performance to be comfortably ahead of the comparable period in 2009, albeit with overall growth for the half to be below that achieved in the year to date.
Looking into the second half, the exciting film slate includes "Shrek Forever After (3D)", "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse", "Toy Story 3" (3D), "Harry Potter: Deathly Hallows 1" (3D) and "Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader". This attractive line up of film releases, combined with the strong start to the year, means that we remain confident in the overall outlook for the year.
-Ends-
For further information:
Georgina Briscoe 020 7920 2330
M:Communications