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Cineworld says Covid-19 has not dented admissions
6th Mar 2020 08:05
(Sharecast News) - Following a slump in its share price a day earlier, Cineworld put out a statement on Friday in a bid to reassure investors of its performance in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, insisting it had not seen any "material" impact on movie theatre admissions.
The shares fell 13% on Thursday on concerns about how the delay of the latest Bond film and the spread of coronavirus would impact footfall. However, Cineworld said it had continued to see "good levels" of admission in all its territories.
"Although the release of the new Bond movie has been postponed to November 2020 largely due to closure of cinemas in the Asian markets, the studios have advised us that in the countries in which we operate, they currently remain committed to their release schedule for the coming months and remainder of the year," it said.
The group said there can be no certainty as to the future impact of the Covid-19 outbreak, but that it is taking measures to ensure it prepares the business "for all possible eventualities".
"Should conditions relating to COVID-19 continue or worsen, we have measures at our disposal to reduce the impact on our business including, but not limited to, capex postponement and cost reduction," it said.
Ahead of its results for the year to the end of December 2019 on 12 March, the company said it expects revenue of $4.4bn, adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $1.0bn and net debt excluding lease liabilities of $3.5bn.
The shares fell 13% on Thursday on concerns about how the delay of the latest Bond film and the spread of coronavirus would impact footfall. However, Cineworld said it had continued to see "good levels" of admission in all its territories.
"Although the release of the new Bond movie has been postponed to November 2020 largely due to closure of cinemas in the Asian markets, the studios have advised us that in the countries in which we operate, they currently remain committed to their release schedule for the coming months and remainder of the year," it said.
The group said there can be no certainty as to the future impact of the Covid-19 outbreak, but that it is taking measures to ensure it prepares the business "for all possible eventualities".
"Should conditions relating to COVID-19 continue or worsen, we have measures at our disposal to reduce the impact on our business including, but not limited to, capex postponement and cost reduction," it said.
Ahead of its results for the year to the end of December 2019 on 12 March, the company said it expects revenue of $4.4bn, adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $1.0bn and net debt excluding lease liabilities of $3.5bn.