Cinema operator Cineworld, which last month bought the art-house chain Picturehouse in a £47.3 million deal, today said releases such as The Hobbit and the latest instalment in the James Bond franchise helped full-year revenues grow by 2.4 per cent.
In a trading update, the group said sales for the year to 27 December were skewed towards the fourth quarter, which benefited from a strong showing for Skyfall – the film, starring Daniel Craig, is the highest grossing film in UK history and has so far taken in more than £100m.
Picturehouse, which runs 21 cinemas including the Cameo in Edinburgh and Aberdeen’s Belmont, is trading in line with expectations and Cineworld said the acquisition “brings further opportunities for growth within a specialised sector of the cinema market”.
Chief financial officer Philip Bowcock said: “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.”
Cineworld is due to release its full-year results on 7 March.