Cineworld's (CINE) new chief executive Mooky Greidinger says he's pleased with the company's half-year performance. True, the merger with Polish chain Cinema City International in February did hit the reported earnings. But adjust for these acquisition-related costs, as well as other one-off exceptionals, and pre-tax profits rose 46 per cent year on year to £25m.
Indeed, the newly integrated eastern European business is growing fast. Trading in the first two months of the current financial year was notably strong there, with revenues having risen 6 per cent to £69m thanks to an 8 per cent improvement in admissions. Performance in the UK & Ireland held up well, too, given the wider market's sharp decline. Market share grew to 27.9 per cent from 27.7 per cent a year earlier, while revenues were flat. Encouragingly, box-office revenue dipped just 0.5 per cent compared with the market average fall of nearly 6 per cent.
Finance director Philip Bowcock isn't worried about UK trading, either. He says there are numerous new film releases due, including the final instalment of The Hobbit and the latest Hunger Games film, which should boost revenues. And next year, a new James Bond film is due, as well as Star Wars VII.
Broker Numis Securities expects full-year pre-tax profit of £65m, giving EPS of 20.7p (from £44.7m and 20.3p in 2013).
| CINEWORLD (CINE) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 329p | MARKET VALUE: | £868m | |
| TOUCH: | 328-329p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 402p | LOW: 290p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 3.1% | PE RATIO: | 29 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 190p* | NET DEBT: | 57% | |
| Half-year to 26 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 202 | 16.5 | 8.0 | 3.7 |
| 2014 | 269 | 13.9 | 5.2 | 3.8 |
| % change | +33 | -16 | -35 | +3 |
Ex-div: 3 Sep Payment: 3 Oct *Includes intangible assets of £633m, or 240p a share | ||||
