Cineworld revenues rise as fans flock to films

The cinema chain said strong admissions growth took place across both the UK and the rest of the world, with “particularly good performances” in the UK, Israel, Romania and Slovakia.

“The growth was driven by the attractiveness of the film slate, the group's new openings in the prior year and the improved results from the ongoing refurbishment programme,” Cineworld said.

The highest grossing films in the period were Beauty and the Beast, La La Land, Sing, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, The Fate of the Furious and The Lego Batman Movie.

“Retail revenue also showed strong growth of 19.7% as a result of the increase in admissions, the nature of the film mix and the expansion of the group's retail offerings, such as the opening of new Starbucks outlets and VIP sites,” the company added.

“The increase in UK admissions also had a positive effect on screen advertising revenues for the period, with other Income increasing by 7.5% across the group, despite a particularly strong comparative period.”

“Whilst still early in the year, the Group is on track to deliver a performance for the year in line with current market expectations.”

Meanwhile, the Guardian reported that staff at two of Cineworld's Picturehouse outlets would be protesting outside the company's annual meeting about pay.

Staff at the Ritzy in Brixton and several other cinemas have gone on strike in recent months in their battle to secure the independently calculated living wage for workers. In London, the living wage stands at £9.75 an hour.

The shareholder group ShareAction said it was supporting staff in their battle for better pay.

A spokesperson for ShareAction told the newspaper: “With the growing momentum of staff calling for a Living Wage, the board of Cineworld have a lot to answer for at their AGM. Institutional investors will be closely following how the company responds to the concerns raised from their staff and shareholders today.”

According to the report, Picturehouse has argued that its pay rates are among the highest in the industry, starting at £8.18 an hour, above the government’s national living wage of £7.20 an hour and minimum wage of £6.95 an hour.