The Hobbit and Skyfall help Cineworld bounce back

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2013/jan/08/the-hobbit-skyfall-cineworld-cinema

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Skyfall's record-breaking £100m-plus UK box-office take and Peter Jackson's The Hobbit helped Cineworld to bounce back from a weak summer in the final three months of last year, fuelling a 3.9% year-on-year rise in ticket sales revenue for 2012.

Cineworld said that it managed to shake off a poor summer, when box-office figures were down as people stayed at home to watch major events including the Queen's diamond jubilee celebrations, the Euro 2012 football championship and the London Olympics.

However, UK cinema ticket sales took off in the final quarter of the year with the release of the latest James Bond film, Skyfall, on 26 October. Daniel Craig's latest outing as agent 007 has become the highest grossing film in the history of UK cinema, taking more than £100m.

The Hobbit and Robert Pattison and Kristen Stewart's last outing in Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (part 2) were also highlighted as strong performers in the festive season.

Cineworld, which runs 80 cinema multiplexes nationwide, said that total revenues rose 2.4% year on year in the 12 months to 27 December, as box-office sales rose 3.9% thanks to ticket prices rising by 5% year-on-year.

However, movie admissions fell by 1.1% year-on-year, although cinema advertising revenues were "marginally ahead" compared to 2011.

The company said that across the UK industry, box-office takings grew by 2.8% year-on-year. Cineworld reports its full-year results on 7 March.

In December, Cineworld acquired arthouse cinema chain Picturehouse, owner of 21 movie theatres including the Ritzy cinema in south London and the Phoenix in Oxford, in a deal worth £47.3m.

The company said the Picturehouse acquisition and opening of a number of new Cineworld multiplexs increases its operation to 101 venues with 878 screens across the UK.

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