Cineworld made a $708m (£537m) loss last year as Covid closures continued to hurt the world’s second-biggest cinema chain, despite revenues more than doubling led by the latest James Bond and Spider-Man films.
The London-listed company, which owns the Cineworld and Picturehouse chains in the UK and Regal in the US, narrowed losses from the record $3bn reported in 2020 as the Covid pandemic threatened its survival.
Cineworld reported a more than doubling of revenues from $852m to $1.8bn year-on-year thanks to the easing of Covid restrictions, and hesitancy among film fans receding, as admission numbers jumped 75% from 54m in 2020 to 95.3m in 2021.
Daniel Craig’s No Time to Die, his last outing as James Bond, provided the UK and Ireland with its best October, with revenues up 127% on pre-pandemic levels, while globally Cineworld reported revenues at 88% of 2019 levels in December, thanks to the success of Spider-Man: No Way Home.
“While our 2021 results still reflect the impacts of Covid-19, particularly at the start of the financial year, we are encouraged by the recent strong trading performance throughout the final quarter,” said Mooky Greidinger, the chief executive of Cineworld.
“It is clear that our customers remain loyal and have missed the big screen experience as well as the sociability of watching a movie with others.”
However, Cineworld is still burdened with a $4.8bn debt pile, which increased by $493m last year. The company warned there was “uncertainty” about whether it might breach its payment banking covenants in June.
Cineworld believes it will be able to make all payments as long as the recovery in admission numbers remains stable and there are “no further lockdowns or operating restrictions in 2022”.
