Cinema chain Cineworld has said the spread of coronavirus will not impact on the release dates of other movie blockbusters despite the new Bond adventure being delayed, and stressed it is still expecting to announce profits of more than US$1billion.
The company, which has 786 venues and 9,494 screens in the UK, said the postponing of the Bond movie No Time to Die, from March until November, was due to the closure of cinemas in the Far East, and it was not expecting to have to change the release dates of forthcoming releases.
The list of eagerly awaited movies due to hit the screens in the next few months include A Quiet Place: Part 2, Mulan, Fast and Furious 9, Wonder Woman 1984, Black Widow, Minions 2 and Ghostbusters: Afterlife.
Cineworld Group Plc, in a statement to the stock market, said the COVID-19 pandemic had yet to have any effect on audience numbers.
The company, which opened eight UK sites in 2019 including its in Plymouth’s £53million The Barcode city centre leisure complex, said it is expecting its audited accounts for its worldwide business to reveal revenues of US$4.369billion and profit of US$1.032billion.
But the company did not rule out taking action to slash capital expenditure and cut costs if the COVID-19 virus has more of an impact.
The company said: “Given the impact that COVID-19 is having on the broader markets, we feel it is important to update our shareholders on current trading.
“Thus far, we have not observed any material impact on our movie theatre admissions due to COVID-19. Following an increase in admissions in the first two months of the year against the same period in the previous year, we continue to see good levels of admissions in all our territories, despite the reported spread of COVID-19.
“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.
“There can be no certainty as to the future impact of COVID-19. We are however taking measures to ensure that we prepare our 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 (capital expenditure) postponement and cost reduction.”
Cineworld has 555 cinemas in the USA and others across eastern Europe and even in Israel. In total it operates in 10 nations, making it the second biggest exhibitor in the world.
