Trading Statement

RNS Number : 4725O

Cineworld Group plc

30 June 2010

 



EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE AT 7AM, 30 June 2010

CINEWORLD GROUP plc
Trading Update

The Board of Cineworld Group plc ("Cineworld" or "the Group") announces the following trading update for the 26 week trading period to 1 July 2010.

Estimated revenues for the 26 weeks to 1 July 2010:

	% change vs prior year  pro forma 26 weeks
Total Revenues	+ 3.7%
Box Office	+4.1%
Retail	- 3.2%
Other Income	+31.4%

The Group is pleased to report good growth in the first half of 2010 with revenues up 3.7% despite a reduction in cinema going during the World Cup tournament.

This performance is in line with our expectations and reflects a strong box office in the first quarter resulting from successes such as "Avatar" and "Alice in Wonderland", as well as good box office performances from "Iron Man 2" and "Sex and the City 2".  

We are pleased to report our box office market share increased during the period to 24.3% (2009: 23.5%) [Source: EDI Nielsen].   Retail revenues are lower, reflecting the challenging consumer environment although our strong performance in "Other Income" is encouraging.  This income stream mainly comprises screen advertising, which remained broadly flat against the prior year as well as ticket booking fees, screen hires, games machine income and the sale of 3D glasses. 

On 14 June we announced a partnership with Arts Alliance Media to complete the rollout of digital projection facilities across the remainder of our estate in the UK and Ireland. We expect to install the first tranche of new projectors in the second half of the year, with the rollout due for completion within three years, which will enable the Group to capitalise further on the significant line up of 3D films.  This deal represents a significant milestone in Cineworld's strategy to be at the forefront of cinema entertainment, and we look forward to screening exciting alternative content across our cinema estate.

The film line up for the second half of the year looks promising with a significant number of movies to be screened in 3D format, in the main to coincide with the school holidays. The third quarter will open with "Shrek Forever After (3D)", "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" and "Toy Story 3 (3D)" with "Harry Potter: Deathly Hallows 1" (3D) and "Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader" scheduled for later in the year.  This strong line up of films together with our performance to date underpins our confidence in the overall outlook for the year.

The Group will publish its interim results for the six months ended 1^st July 2010 on 19th August 2010.

For further information:

Cineworld Group plc	020 8987 5000		M:Communications	020 7920 2348
Richard Jones Chief Financial Officer			Georgina Briscoe

 

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