Odeon figures make for good viewing
THE Irish arm of the Odeon cinema chain has pointed to ‘Bridget Jones’ Baby’, ‘Finding Dory’ and ‘The Secret Life of Pets’ as driving revenues of €11.3m last year.
United Cinemas International (Ireland) Ltd announced that its market share of the 15.9 million cinema attendances in 2016 had increased by 1.2pc to 18.4pc overall.
The directors revealed that attendances in Ireland increased by 4.6pc to 15.9 million.
Pre-tax profits at the company remained static at €1.2m as revenues fell by 3pc from €11.73m to €11.38m.
The company said it was a market leader and was now operating 11 cinemas in Ireland, with 77 screens.
The directors said that the increase in market share had been driven by organisational changes and improved strategy.
They added that the increase in share was “providing clear evidence that the strategy for the group is continuing to deliver”.
Though medium-term attendance figures are broadly stable, they said, there is some volatility year on year.
United Cinemas International (Ireland) Ltd pointed out that “an increase in the availability of pirated films, changes to customer film viewing habits or the level of competition from other exhibitors may also have an impact on attendance”.
The company said that in spite of some commentators being concerned about the impact of the increasing penetration of home cinema equipment and online viewing on cinema attendances, there would be ongoing demand for the cinema experience for the foreseeable future.
Numbers employed decreased by one to 147. Staff costs last year increased from €1.7m to €1.92m.