Cineworld profits on the fast track (From The Northern Echo)

Cineworld profits on the fast track

8:31am Thursday 2nd July 2009 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
• Comments(0)

BLOCKBUSTER movies including Slumdog Millionaire, X-Men and Transformers drove halfyear box office sales up by 17.9 per cent at Cineworld, the group said yesterday.

The UK’s second biggest cinema chain reported back on a “healthy” first-half thanks to the strong line-up of films, with director Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire becoming the unexpected hit of the year so far, grossing more than £31m for the industry in the UK and Ireland.

Cineworld said trading in its core business was ahead of forecasts, but said this was partially offset by a “softening” in advertising income and higher utility bills. Other income dropped 26.3 per cent amid advertising market pressures and after it renegotiated a contract early last year with Carlton Screen Advertising – the business later sold by ITV to a joint venture between Cineworld and rival Odeon –which saw it lose a minimum guarantee.