CINE.L Regulatory News (CINE)

18 Jan 2008 07:01

Cineworld Group plc18 January 2008 Cineworld Group PLC18th January 2008 CINEWORLD GROUP PLC Pre-Close Trading Update Cineworld Group plc ("Cineworld" or the "Group") will publish its preliminaryresults for the twelve months ended 27th December 2007 on 18th March 2008. Priorto entering its close period, Cineworld issues the following trading update. The UK Cinema industry enjoyed a solid year during 2007 with UK industry boxoffice up 6.9% against the previous year, according to information collated byNielsen EDI. This reflects the strong film release schedule which included HarryPotter and the Order of the Phoenix, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End,Shrek 3 and The Simpsons Movie. Set against this backdrop, Cineworld performedwell, increased its market share of box office to 23.7% in the period (2006:23.5%) and grew admissions at its continuing sites by 4.8%. The Group expects toreport EBITDA for the 2007 financial year towards the top of the range ofcurrent market expectations. In May 2007, Cineworld opened a new cinema in Didcot, Oxfordshire, which isperforming ahead of expectations and brings the total number of cinemas in theestate to 73 with 758 screens. Our national expansion plans remain a keystrategic priority for the Group as we seek to deliver growth for ourshareholders. March 2008 will see the opening of a new 12 screen cinema in HighWycombe and towards the end of the year a new five screen cinema is scheduled toopen at Haverhill. We have also signed contracts on two further sites inAldershot & Witney, currently scheduled to open in 2009. In October 2007 we announced a deal with Real-D to bring 3-D digital technologyto certain cinemas across the estate. This deal coincided with the release ofthe 3D version of Beowulf, which launched in the UK on 16th November 2007, andwe feel confident its success will encourage the release of further films inthis format. It also strengthens Cineworld's leading position in the digitalarena and we are proud to be able to offer our customers the largest digitalestate of any cinema operator in the UK. Discussions with Carlton Screen Advertising ("CSA") concerning thescreen-advertising sales contract are continuing. While these are in progressthe Group has agreed with CSA that the full contracted amount can be paid on amonth by month basis rather than six monthly in advance; the first instalmentwas received by the Group at the end of December 2007. The Group is pleased to report that 2008 has started strongly with thesuccessful release of I Am Legend. Whilst it is very early in the new financialyear, the outlook for 2008 looks promising with a compelling line up of provenfilm franchises which include The Chronicles of Narnia, Batman, The Mummy, HarryPotter, Star Trek, James Bond and a new instalment of Indiana Jones. -Ends- For further information: Georgina Briscoe 020 7153 1530M:Communications Notes for Editors and Analysts: - Cineworld is the UK's second largest cinema operator with 73 sites and 758 screens, including five of the eight highest grossing cinemas in the UK and Ireland. - The Group listed on the Main Market on May 2nd 2007. - As at 27 December 2007 the number of shares in issue was 141.7m. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange