Cineworld’s box office revenues surpassed pre-pandemic levels at its cinemas in the UK and Ireland last month as blockbusters such as No Time to Die, Dune and Venom draw film fans back to the big screen.
The world’s second-largest cinema operator, which owns the Cineworld and Picturehouse chains in the UK and Regal Theatres in the US, said box office and concession revenues at its UK and Irish operation in October reached 127% of the level in the equivalent month in 2019.
Shares in Cineworld jumped 11%, making the company the biggest riser on the FTSE 250 on Monday morning, as investors cheered the news of a recovery in the Covid-battered cinema industry.
Cineworld said the recovery was fuelled by the return to the big screen of Hollywood blockbusters including Black Widow, No Time to Die, Dune, Venom and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
Over the weekend, Daniel Craig’s final outing as the super spy 007 in No Time to Die passed £90m at box offices in the UK and Ireland, only the fifth film to go beyond that mark.
“There are real grounds for optimism in our industry,” said Mooky Greidinger, the chief executive of Cineworld. “We are thrilled to see audiences returning in significant numbers. Our partnerships with studios are as strong as ever and [there is] an incredible movie slate to come.”
The chain said film releases it expects to perform well at the box office – assuming there is no deterioration in the Covid-19 situation – include Spider-Man: No Way Home, Sing 2, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and The Matrix Resurrections.
Across its global operations at 752 sites in 10 countries, total group revenues in October reached 90% of pre-pandemic levels. Cineworld operates 127 sites in the UK.
Cineworld, which reported a record $3bn (£2.2bn) loss in 2020, said last month it managed to return to positive cashflow – “an important milestone in the company’s recovery”.
However, analysts at AJ Bell warned that Cineworld should be cautious about raising ticket prices to bolster its battered finances.
“We know the company has been trying to strip out costs but it also has inflationary pressures and oodles of debt that needs repaying,” said Russ Mould, the investment director at the broker AJ Bell.
“Now is not the time to push through big ticket price hikes. Not only are family finances under pressure from higher energy, fuel and food bills but cinema operators also need to use cheaper prices as a way of attracting anyone still on the fence about wanting to spend two hours in a confined space with a load of strangers.”
