British cinema chain Everyman Media said on Wednesday that both revenues and underlying earnings had moved ahead of 2019’s pre-Covid comparatives in the six months ended 30 June.
Everyman stated revenues had increased by £11.8m to £40.7m, while group EBITDA was up £900,000 at £7.5m, a performance the group labelled as “particularly reassuring” given that 2019 was “a record year”.
The London-listed group said growth was driven by a combination of an increased number of venues, strong admissions and higher average spends, as well as also benefitting from reduced VAT in the first quarter.
As a result, Everyman said it was “confident” that the group’s full-year financial performance will be in line with market expectations.
Everyman added that it had ended the period operating 37 cinemas, having opened a five-screen venue in Edinburgh, and said its pipeline for the second half of 2022 and 2023 was “well progressed”, with a minimum of six further venues contracted to open.
Chief executive Alex Scrimgeour said: “It has been a busy six months for the group, as our exceptional venue teams entertained guests across the country. Despite well publicised headwinds we have managed to deliver record half-year sales and EBITDA. We remain confident that people’s enjoyment of cinema and specifically Everyman remains undiminished”.
As of 1310 BST, Everyman shares were up 0.94% at 110.02p.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
