Cineworld profits rise home and abroad, with Star Wars still to come

British cinema outlet, Cineworld Group said its half-year revenue rose 17.8% on last year thanks to strong box office showings by titles like 'Beauty and the Beast', 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2' and 'The Fate of the Furious'.

The group said box office revenue grew 17.7% to £267.2m over the first half of the year, with a 10% rise in admissions to its 2,136 screens across the UK.

Revenue also saw a substantial increase, from £356.7m in the first six months of 2016 to £420.2m to June 30 this year.

EBITDA was up 12.9% on a constant currency basis and after tax profits increased 23.5% to £42m.

Cash generated from operating activities jumped up £21.5m to £65.9m, while the group's net debt rose to £309.1m at the end of the period from £282.3m at the end of last year.

The UK & Ireland markets reported a growth of 11.5%, thanks in part to the acquisition of the 16 screen Empire Newcastle cinema, a region where Cineworld was previously unrepresented in the market.

The group also saw a 13.7% constant currency growth across its other ventures in Israel, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia.

Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) increased by 21.3% to 15.4p.

"I believe that the six months results clearly reflect our strategy and a good quality of film slate," said chief executive officer Mooky Greidinger. "Our strategy is based on our strong belief in the cinema experience, emphasizing our efforts on creating our cinemas in a way that will give our customers 'the best way to watch a movie'. We have continued opening new sites as well as refurbishing our top cinemas around the estate and taking great consideration to create better sightlines, bigger screens, better sound and great comfort around the halls in the public areas. These cinemas are being embraced by our customers and give a clear message that we believe in the theatrical experience and expect our customers to come to the cinemas again and again."

He noted that the film release programme for the second half of the year includes a number of strong titles, with the biggest titles in the summer months so far having been 'Dunkirk', 'Despicable Me 3' and 'Spider-Man: Homecoming'.

Significant releases still to come in the remainder of 2017 include 'Justice League', 'Paddington 2', 'Thor: Ragnarok', 'Kingsman: The Golden Circle' and 'Star Wars: Episode VIII'.

Said Greidinger: "Based on the film slate in the second half and our first half results, we remain confident of delivering a performance for the year as a whole in line with current market expectations."

As of 0945 BST, shares had edged forward 3.70% to 728.50p.