29 Apr 2008 07:00
Cineworld Group plc29 April 2008 Cineworld Group plc29th April 2008 CINEWORLD GROUP PLC Interim Management Statement The Board of Cineworld Group plc ("Cineworld" or the "Group") today made thefollowing Interim Management Statement for the 17 week trading period to 24April 2008. Revenues for the 17 weeks to 24 April 2008: % change vs. prior year (continuing operations)Total Revenues + 3.4% Box Office + 3.3%Retail + 5.5%Other Income - 1.4% Steve Wiener, Chief Executive, Cineworld Group plc comments: "The Group is pleased to report healthy trading in the 17 weeks to 24 April2008, which is especially encouraging when considering the only blockbusterduring the period was I Am Legend, released at the end of 2007. With theforthcoming releases in Q2 of "Iron Man", "Indiana Jones", "Sex In The City" andthe "Incredible Hulk", we are confident that revenues will continue to becomfortably ahead of last year for the first half as a whole. At the end of theperiod our market share was 23.6% (Source: EDI Neilsen). The Group continues to be highly cash generative and its balance sheet remainsstrong. During March 2008 we opened a 12 screen cinema in High Wycombe,increasing our estate to 74 cinemas and 770 screens. Later in the year a newfive screen cinema is scheduled to open at Haverhill. We are heartened by the resilience of our business in the light of the currenteconomic and financial climate. There is a strong line up of film releases inthe second half of this year including "The Chronicles of Narnia", "Batman","Hancock", "The Mummy", "Harry Potter", "Mamma Mia", "James Bond:Quantum OfSolace" and "Star Trek". We therefore remain confident of delivering revenuegrowth for the year as a whole, with the second half performance expected to beweighted significantly more to Q4 than was the case in 2007." -Ends- For further information: Georgina Briscoe 020 7153 1530Charlotte WinderM:Communications This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange