Highlights
Combination with Cinema City Holding B.V. ("Cinema City") completed on 28 February 2014;
Group revenue growth of 52.2% on a statutory basis and 1.7% on a pro forma basis;
UK & Ireland revenue growth of 1.8% on 52 week v 52 week basis, maintaining market share of 27.1% (2013: 27.0%) (Source: Rentrak);
CEE & Israel revenue growth of 1.4% on a pro forma basis;
EBITDA growth of 75.1% on a statutory basis and 7.4% on a pro forma basis;
Profit before tax of £67.3m is stated after non-recurring costs and amortisation of £7.7m resulting in adjusted profit before tax of £75.0m, growth of 72.8%;
Profit after tax of £54.5m is stated after tax adjusted non-recurring costs and amortisation of £6.7m resulting in adjusted profit after tax of £61.2m, growth of 95.5%;
Adjusted diluted EPS growth of 31.2%;
Full year dividend increased by 33.7% to 13.5p on a rights adjusted basis;
Net cash generated from operating activities of £86.1m, representing growth of 54.9%;
As reported at the end of H1, annualised synergies from Cinema City combination now expected to be £5m; £2m target already surpassed.
Commenting on these results, Mooky Greidinger, Chief Executive Officer of Cineworld Group plc, said:
"We are pleased to announce solid results for the year and strong cash generation following the successful combination of Cineworld and Cinema City. The combination has resulted in the creation of the second largest cinema chain in Europe, with 203 sites and 1,875 screens by the end of 2014. As a Group, we have outperformed the market and continued to grow revenues despite a year which saw a decline in global admissions. During the year we have continued to expand our estate by opening four new cinemas (St Neots and Telford in the UK and Ploiesti and Targu Jiu in Romania) adding 29 screens. Our strong performance, solid balance sheet and increased profitability have enabled us to propose a dividend of 13.5p per share which represents growth of 33.7%.
2015 has the makings of a strong year with great titles to look forward to including the new Bond film "Spectre", the fourth and final Hunger Games movie "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2" and the latest Star Wars film "Star Wars: Episode VII". In the meantime, the current year has started strongly with titles such as "Taken 3" performing well. "Fifty Shades of Grey", which opened in February 2015, went beyond our expectations and helped us to achieve record levels of weekend admissions for the Group. We are contracted to open a further 10 cinemas in the UK and 10 in CEE & Israel during the year. Of these sites, 19 new sites are currently under construction. Overall, the strength of the film line up in the current year, coupled with our good pipeline of new sites across our international estate, gives us confidence that we are on track with our plans for 2015."
