Cineworld reports "encouraging" trading bounceback after 67% revenue drop

An international cinema chain has reported that its post-lockdown trading is “encouraging” following a two thirds drop in revenue.

Cineworld, which has venues across the UK and the US, announced that its revenue for the first half of 2020 had dropped 66.9 per cent to $712.4m from $2,151.2m in 2019.

The group also saw EBITDA drop by 93 per cent in the period, going from $758.6m in 2019 to $53m this year.

All of the chain’s sites were closed in mid-March, when the pandemic hit, and started to reopen in late June, with 217 of its 778 sites still closed.

However, the group has reported that it is seeing “steady” performance at its reopened sites.

Mooky Greidinger, CEO of Cineworld Group, commented: “Despite the difficult events of the last few months, we have been delighted by the return of global audiences to our cinemas toward the end of the first half, as well as by the positive customer feedback we have received from those that have waited patiently to see a movie on the big screen again.

“The impact of Covid-19 on our business and the wider leisure industry has been substantial, with the closures of all of our cinemas worldwide for an extended period.

“During this unprecedented time, our priority has been the safety and health of our customers and employees, while at the same time preserving cash and protecting our balance sheet.

“Our mitigating actions included reducing and deferring costs where possible; making use of government support schemes for our employees; partially delaying capital investments; and suspending our dividend.

“We have also raised an additional $360.8m of liquidity to support our business.

“Current trading has been encouraging considering the circumstances, further underpinning our belief that there remains a significant difference between watching a movie in a cinema - with high quality screens and best-in-class sounds - to watching it at home.

“As part of this, our policy regarding the theatrical window remains unchanged as an important part of our business model, and we will continue to only show movies that respect it.

“While there continues to be a lot of uncertainty, we have a dedicated and experienced team that is focused on managing business continuity while taking advantage of the strong slate currently planned for the months ahead.”