The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Regal boost for Cineworld
Shares in cinema group Cineworld jumped yesterday after half-year trading figures proved a ratings winner with investors.
The results included revenues which flowed after the “transformative” $5.8 billion acquisition in February of Regal Entertainment Group in the US. In total, the group logged 123 million admissions in the six months to June 30, up from 50.7m in the prior year.
Revenues jumped from $528.7m to £1.86 billion in the period, while pre-tax profits were 164% higher at $160.2m.
Chief executive Mooky Greidinger said he had spent a lot of time in the US since the takeover and was pleased with how the integration of Regal into the Cineworld family had gone.
He said he was also confident in the second half prospects for the group, whose Scottish cinemas include a Dundee outlet, as a number of blockbuster films are due for release.
He said: “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 management’s expectations.”
Shares closed up 10.71% at 306p. The AA is on track to meet full-year expectations as the breakdown recovery and car insurance firm brushed aside this year’s unseasonable weather.
The group is to report trading earnings of between £335 million and £345m this financial year.
The performance came despite the AA flagging March’s Beast from the East snow storms and the recent heatwave as a factor in 1.91m breakdowns in the first half of the year, an 8% increase.
“This resulted in increased costs of third-party garaging to supplement our own patrol availability which was partially offset by the additional revenue generated from our pay-for-use B2B contracts,” the firm said.
AA’S paid membership base declined by 1% in the period to 3.25m. However, the group’s insurance division saw 7% growth in motor policies to 659,000 and reported “good progress” in stabilising the decline of its home policies.