Every man wants an Everyman: group forecasts booming profits
The Everyman cinema forecasted higher profits yesterday, thanks to a strong “appetite” for high-end cinemas and a flurry of box office hits.
The AIM-listed media group said it would report revenues of at least £46.3m and earnings before interest and taxes, of at least £7m.
This echoes Cineworld’s booming results last week, which showed that in the UK and Ireland, box office and concession revenue was up 127 per cent, compared to 2019 figures.
The Everyman cinema group, which is known for its plush and high-end environment, praises the array of box office hits that have supported the return to the big screens in recent months, including Dune, Ghostbusters, and the most recent James Bond movie.
As of this weekend No Time To Die is the #4 highest-grossing film of all-time in the UK (£94.5m), having overtaken Avatar (£94.0m – unadjusted for inflation). It is also expected to beat Spectre (£95.2m) for third place in the next week.
Rob Mitchell, Director of Theatrical Insights at Gower Street Analytics, said: “What Bond has done is bring people back who weren’t already back to our cinemas. The figures really come down to the quality of the products that are coming into the market at the moment.”
For context, analysts look at recovery level relative to the lowest-grossing play-week of the two pre-pandemic years. In the UK, this was a week in July 2018 where England played quarter and semi-final matches in the 2018 World Cup. In that week, cinemas only grossed £11.7m.
In 2020, no box office play-week post-lockdown reached this base line figure, demonstrating the slow level of growth. In contrast, Mitchell said the 2021 box office has had a much more rapid return, with Bond’s opening as the highest-grossing play-week of this year, taking in a whopping £36.5m.
With the quality of movie lists key to cinema revenue, Mitchell pointed out how Cineworld actually closed its branches when the Bond film was delayed last October, way before lockdown measures were imposed again.Phil Clapp, chief executive of the UK Cinema Association, suggested that safety is also a key factor to getting the public back to cinemas, especially when it comes to older audiences. This is an area he said the UK performs well in.