United Kingdom cinema chain Cineworld's 2017 revenue grows as Star Wars, Dunkirk shine

According to reports from January 2018, the United Kingdom cinema chain Cineworld Group experienced an annual revenue increase of nearly 12 percent for the year ending December 31, 2017. This growth was aided by major film releases including Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Dunkirk. Additionally, group box office revenue grew by 10.3 percent, driven by rising admissions in both Britain and Ireland.

The UK and Ireland region recorded a 5.9 percent increase in revenue, while Rest of the World revenue rose by 10.9 percent at constant exchange rates. Cineworld also attributed its performance to the expansion of its retail offerings, which included the addition of five Starbucks sites and three VIP sites during 2017. By the end of the year, the group operated 232 sites containing 2,217 screens.

The company’s proposed tie-up with Regal was set to create the second-biggest cinema operator behind AMC Entertainment. To support this, Cineworld announced it would issue 1,095,662,872 new ordinary shares at 157 pence per share, representing a 34 percent discount to its previous Tuesday closing price. The rights issue was fully underwritten by Barclays Bank PLC, HSBC Bank PLC, and Investec Bank PLC, with 28 percent shareholder Global City Holdings BV agreeing to take its full entitlement.

Following the announcements, shares in the FTSE 250 company fell 4.4 percent to 539.00 pence on Wednesday, valuing the group at a market capitalization of 1.47 billion pounds. Looking ahead, the company stated it was well positioned for 2018 with a film slate featuring upcoming releases such as Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Avengers: Infinity War, The Incredibles 2, and Mamma Mia!