Cinema chain Everyman has revealed improved sales and earnings despite the impact of writer and actor strikes in the latter half of 2023.
Shares in the company moved higher as it also told shareholders it expects to be boosted by a “continuously improving” film slate this year.
The UK’s fourth largest cinema chain said it expects to be supported by new releases including Wicked, Despicable Me 4, Paddington in Peru, Joker: Folie a Deux, Inside Out 2, Mufasa: The Lion King, Dune: Part II and an untitled Gladiator sequel.
It came as Everyman reported that group revenues jumped by 16.7% to £90.9 million for the year to December 28, compared with the same period last year.
Meanwhile, earnings for the year grew by 19.1% to £16.2 million.
Everyman said the growth came despite its performance in the second half of 2023 being “marginally affected” by writer and actor strikes, which caused some releases to be pushed back into 2024.
The company opened four new cinemas last year – in Marlow, Salisbury, Northallerton and Plymouth – and also acquired Tivoli venues in Bath and Cheltenham after previous owner Empire Cinemas fell into administration.
Everyman currently runs 44 venues and plans to open new cinemas in Bury St Edmunds, Durham, London Stratford and Cambridge this year.
Alex Scrimgeour, chief executive officer, said: “We have delivered robust, double-digit growth in both revenue and ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) against a challenging economic backdrop, delays to new openings and both writers’ and actors’ strikes.
“Further operational progress has been made with improvements in all key metrics, illustrating that our proposition remains as relevant as ever.
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“I would like to take this opportunity to thank our incredible venue teams and head office without whom the positive achievements of this year would not have been possible.”
Shares in Everyman were up 4.7% at 61.02p on Tuesday afternoon.
