Cineworld Group plc was founded in 1995 and is now one of the leading cinema groups in Europe. Originally a private company, it re-registered as a public company in May 2006 and listed on the London Stock Exchange in May 2007. Currently, Cineworld Group plc is the only quoted UK cinema business.
In December 2012, the Group acquired the Picturehouse chain of cinemas consisting of 21 cinemas, and in February 2014, the combination with Cinema City completed, creating the second largest cinema business in Europe (by number of screens). The enlarged Group now has 217 sites and a total of 2,000 fully digital screens. Our portfolio includes four out of the ten highest grossing cinemas in the UK and Ireland. We pride ourselves on outstanding picture quality and atmospheric surround sound; the soft, deep-down comfort of our modern seating; the crunch of our popcorn; and, most importantly, the friendliest customer service around. All our sites are digital, and we are one of the market leaders in 3D, a format which will become increasingly important.
In 2014, Cineworld accounted for 82.9 million admissions, had revenues of £619.4 million and an Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) before exceptional items of £126.6 million.

Merger Update
RNS
RNS Number : 2822U
Office of Fair Trading
24 December 2012

Initial undertakings



The OFT has today accepted hold separate undertakings given by Cineworld Group plc and City Screen Ltd under section 71 of the Enterprise Act 2002. The undertakings are without prejudice to OFT's ongoing investigation into the completed acquisition by Cineworld Group plc of City Screen Ltd.

Trading Statement
RNS
RNS Number : 0143V
Cineworld Group plc
08 January 2013



CINEWORLD GROUP PLC
Trading Update

Cineworld Group plc ("Cineworld" or "the Group") is pleased to provide the following trading update at the commencement of the close period prior to the announcement of its preliminary results for the 52 weeks ended 27 December 2012 which is due to be made on 7 March 2013.

Revenues for the 52 weeks to 27 December 2012 (excluding Picturehouse)



% change vs. prior year





Total Revenues
+ 2.4%






Box Office
+ 3.9%

Retail
+ 0.8%

Other Income
- 7.3%



Overall we anticipate that profitability for the year will be in line with market expectations.

The UK and Ireland cinema industry enjoyed a satisfactory year in 2012. Despite the distractions from the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations, the European Football Championship and the London Olympics, industry gross box office grew by 2.8% against the previous year (Source: Rentrak/EDI). As expected, the full year was weighted towards the fourth quarter and strong admission numbers alleviated the expected slower performance during the third quarter. Included in the fourth quarter was "Skyfall" which, to date, has grossed over £100m in the UK and is the highest grossing film in the history of UK and Ireland cinema. There were also strong film performances in the quarter from the concluding film of the Twilight series "Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (part 2)" and "The Hobbit".

Cineworld's box office benefitted from a better average ticket price, up 5.0% against prior year and offset by 1.1% lower admissions. Overall box office market share in UK/Ireland was maintained at 24.7% for the year (2011: 24.8%) (Source: Rentrak/EDI).

Spend per person for the year increased by 1.9% compared with the previous year, more than offsetting reducedadmissions volume.

As previously outlined, the decline in other income for the year was due to the removal of the booking fee and comparatively lower 3D glasses sales, resulting from fewer 3D films shown in the period. Screen advertising revenues were marginally ahead as compared with the prior year.

We were pleased to open a new seven screen Cineworld cinema in Aldershot at the end of October and this and our recent acquisition of Picturehouse cinemas, on 6th December 2012, means we start 2013 with 101 cinemas and 878 screens. We have plans to open multiplex cinemas under the Cineworld brand in Wembley, Gloucester and St Neots during 2013. Picturehouse brings further opportunities for growth within a specialised sector of the cinema market under the Picturehouse brand and management. Since acquisition Picturehouse has traded in line with expectations.

There is an attractive film release programme for 2013 which includes "Les Miserables", "Star Trek", "Iron Man 3" and "The Hobbit part 2". With our plans for continued expansion, we look forward to delivering further value to shareholders in the forthcoming year.

-Ends-

Questor share tip: Cineworld offers good growth and income

With the canny purchase of an independent cinema operator in December, Cineworld added another source of growth. Yesterday’s trading update showed the group is still attractive for investors seeking both income and capital growth.

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Cineworld: Panmure Gordon moves target price from 229p to 238p and maintains a sell recommendation.

Canaccord suggests investors buy a ticket for Cineworld (LON:CINE) ahead of its preliminary results next Thursday.

While most focused on the impact of Skyfall, the latest instalment in the James Bond series, Canaccord saw the moderate pick-up in advertising as a key potential catalyst.

“If this momentum continues into 2013, with DCM (the group’s advertising JV) benefiting from the UK cinema market now being predominantly digital, then this could provide further forecast momentum not contained within our numbers,” said the broker.

The strong line-up of films so far in 2013, which has included Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained, Les Misérables and Wreck it Ralph, leads the broker to believe box office sales have been boosted by around 20-25% from 2012.

It urges investors to take advantage of the recent underperformance from the shares.

In the Mail on Sunday business section -


Cineworld set for £39m profits as viewings soar


Skyfall is likely to have been a big hit for Cineworld, which unveils full results on Thursday.James Bond's latest outing broke british box office records late last year
and will help to boost the cinema chains profits to an expected £39.2m up from £34.6min 2011.Turnover is likely to be up by 2.5% to £363.1m.
There has also been a revival in cinema advertising, the first since 2008. But investors will be keen to hear about current trading and analysts reckon its running upto 25% ahead of the same time last year. This is due to a strong showing from films such as Les Miserables and D jango Unchained. In the year ahead Cineworld is expected to enjoy an increase in turnover of up to 14% as it speeds up new cinema openings.New subscribers to its loyalty scheme are expected to have risen by 15% during the past year.

As of Mar 02, 2013, the consensus forecast amongst 9 polled investment analysts covering Cineworld Group plc advises that the company will outperform the market. This has been the consensus forecast since the sentiment of investment analysts deteriorated on Dec 09, 2011. The previous consensus forecast advised investors to purchase equity in Cineworld Group plc.

Cineworld Group PLC (CINE:LSE) set a new 52-week high during Tuesday's trading session when it reached 282.98. Over this period, the share price is up 40.88%.

Final results 7 March

Cineworld Group: Canaccord Genuity shifts target price from 350p to 360p, while its buy recommendation is reiterated. Investec moves target price from 295p to 310p and retains a buy rating.

Final Results


Other key highlights for Cineworld Cinemas (excluding Picturehouse)



· Cineworld Cinemas' box office market share of 24.7% (2011: 24.8%) in UK and Ireland (Rentrak/EDI).

· Cineworld Cinemas' box office up 3.9% at £251.6m against 2011;

· Admissions 1.0% lower than 2011 at 47.8m;

· Average ticket price per admission up 5.0% to £5.26 (2011: £5.01) with higher average retail spend per person at £1.72 (2011: £1.69);

· Acquisition of the Picturehouse Group of cinemas on 6 December for £47.3m;

· Opening of a new seven screen cinema at Aldershot;

· Digital conversion fully completed during summer 2012;

· IMAX screens increased to eight cinemas








http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4550490

Cineworld shares up as increases 2012 pre-tax profit
8:46 am by Giles GwinnettShares rose 0.44% to 283p

Chief executive of Cineworld (LON:CINE) Stephen Wiener said he was "delighted" with the group's progress in 2012 - which led to a 15.3% increase in pre-tax profit.

The sterling performance prompted Britain's second largest cinema chain to propose a 7.3% increase to full-year dividend to 11.8 pence (2011:11p).

Revenues for the 52 weeks to December 27 came in at £358.7mln compared to £348mln in 2011.

Wiener said 2012 had been a "busy year", the culmination of which was the acquisition of Picturehouse.

"The new year has started well and in line with our expectations. There is an attractive release schedule for the year which we expect to play well with our differentiated programming strategy. In addition, there is little in the way of major events to distract cinema goers.

"We remain on track to open four new cinemas: a nine screen cinema in Wembley, a six screen cinema in St Neot's, a new ten screen cinema replacing our existing cinema in Gloucester and we have reached an agreement to take over the IMAX cinema at the Glasgow Science Centre. Together with the strong film schedule these will help maintain our strong market position and underpin growth in 2013," he said.

Shares rose 0.44% to 283p.

Strong buying today.

As of Mar 09, 2013, the consensus forecast amongst 9 polled investment analysts covering Cineworld Group plc advises that the company will outperform the market. This has been the consensus forecast since the sentiment of investment analysts deteriorated on Dec 09, 2011. The previous consensus forecast advised investors to purchase equity in Cineworld Group plc.

A strong buy in this weeks IC -




Cineworld(CINE) has built an impressive growth record and the cinema operator's solid progress looks set to continue. Despite this, its shares trade on an ordinary rating that does little to reflect the company's virtues. That makes its shares an attractive prospect for buy-and-hold investors who want a decent slug of income.

cont. from the last post - from the perspective of income, the yield which is 4.4% based on 2013's likely payout, is nice. Yet Cineworld has a record of raising the payout by about 5% a year (2012 payout rose 7% and that makes the income play really tempting.Broker Numis also reckons that Cineworlds EPS will grow by almost 9% compound for the three years to 2015.And, given the confidence that investors can take from the company's track record and the defensive characteristics of cinema attendance, the rating of 12 times 2013's forecast earnings looks undemanding.
Over the three year period Numeris thinks that net debt as a multiple of cash profits will drop from 1.9 times to just 1.0 times. Four new Cineworld cinemas are planned this year and another 21 should be added by the end of 2017. That compares with a current estate of 80 Cineworld outlets and 21 Picturehouse cinemas.



As of Mar 15, 2013, the consensus forecast amongst 9 polled investment analysts covering Cineworld Group plc advises that the company will outperform the market. This has been the consensus forecast since the sentiment of investment analysts deteriorated on Dec 09, 2011. The previous consensus forecast advised investors to purchase equity in Cineworld Group plc.

Cineworld Group: N+1 Singer initiates with a target price of 327p and a buy recommendation.

Consumer sector bouncing back; N+1 Singer picks its winners
1:02 pm by John Harrington "We are somewhat encouraged by various consumer related indicators showing signs of stability. Hence from a macro perspective we believe that ... 2013 is likely to be a more favourable year for ‘growth’ stocks given a broadly stable economic climate in the UK," Singer said.

The consumer sector is notoriously cyclical, and lead economic indicators are pointing to a return to fashion for consumer facing companies, N+1 Singer argues.

The recent sector rally adds weight to this thesis but also means that the broker’s inaugural report on the sector is a bit on the late side; nevertheless, N+1 Singer has highlighted some players it thinks should still prosper over the medium-term.

Its top picks in the sector are: Cineworld (LON:CINE); Greene King (LON:GNK); Marston’s (LON:MARS); Cranswick (LON:CWK), CVS (LON:CVS); and Goal Soccer Centres (LON:GOAL).

At cinemas operator Cineworld (target price, or TP, of 327p), the broker feels "Cineworld is evolving from a defensive income stock to one with improving growth attributes."





http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/55130/consumer-sector-bouncing-back-n1-singer-picks-its-winners-55130.html

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