Cineworld Group plc – Preliminary Results

Cineworld Group plc (“the Group”) is pleased to announce its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2018. This preliminary financial information includes the results of Regal Entertainment Group (“Regal”) following the completion of its acquisition on the 28 February 2018. These results are presented in US dollars.

Financial Highlights (unaudited)

·   Pro-forma⁽¹⁾ Admissions of 308.4m up 2.6%; 

·   Pro-forma⁽¹⁾ Revenue up 7.2%

o  US Pro-forma⁽¹⁾ revenue growth of 8.6%;

o  UK & Ireland revenue growth of 3.3%; and,

o  ROW⁽⁴⁾ revenue growth of 3.6%.

·   Pro-forma Adjusted EBITDA⁽²⁾ up +9.4%

·   Adjusted diluted EPS of 27.2 cents, up 20.4%

·   Revenue on a statutory basis of $4,119.1m, up 259.1%

·   Profit Before Tax on a statutory basis of $349.0m up by 125.0%

·   The Group maintained its dividend pay-out ratio for another year, with full year dividend of 15 cents⁽⁵⁾ up 17.6%

·   Since the completion of the acquisition of Regal, Net debt reduced to $3,733.2m and Adjusted Net debt⁽⁶⁾ of $3,935.2m, which is equal to 3.7x Pro-forma⁽¹⁾ Adjusted EBITDA

Operational Highlights

·      Completion of the Regal acquisition on 28 February 2018, with integration plans progressing well, and the integration benefits being greater than originally expected and delivered at a faster pace with expected run-rate synergies of $150m in 2019;

·   13 new sites (108 screens) opened during the year, taking the Group to 9,518 screens at 31 December 2018;

·   Significant new agreements signed with IMAX (55 screens), 4DX (80 screens) and ScreenX (100 screens); and

·   Refurbishment programme progressing well across the estate, creating high quality, next generation cinemas with the latest audio and visual technology.

Anthony Bloom, Chairman of Cineworld Group plc, said:

“2018 was a transformative year for Cineworld Group. The acquisition of Regal on 28 February made us into a global operator and the second largest cinema chain in the world. By the end of 2018, the Group was operating 9,518 screens in 790 sites across 10 countries. This significant achievement would have been difficult to imagine when we began operations in 1996. It is particularly pleasing to report that over the past 10 years the Company's shares on the London Stock Exchange have generated +847% total shareholder return.

On behalf of the Board I would like to express sincere thanks to our highly professional Executive Management team and all of our employees for their dedication and hard work both in ensuring the successful completion of the Regal acquisition and in achieving the gratifying results now presented; their efforts are a credit to the Group.

Looking to 2019 and beyond, it is clear to me that it will be another exciting time for the Group. Our well diversified cinema estate, along with continued investment in the UK and ROW circuits and our development plans for the US leave us well placed to take advantage of multiple opportunities to generate cashflow and grow earnings.”

Dividends

The Board has proposed a final dividend of 10.15c per share, reflecting the satisfactory performance for the year, the anticipated strong cash flow generation and the strength of the Balance Sheet. The interim dividend of 4.85c per share was paid in October 2018. The record date for the final dividend is 14 June 2019 and the payment date will be 5 July 2019.

Going forward, the Board is proposing to pay four interim dividends for each financial year. Payments in relation to the first three quarters of the year will be equal to 25% of the full year dividend of the prior year, with the final interim payment reflective of the Group's full year earnings performance and resulting in a full year dividend payment aligned with the Group's pay-out ratio.

Details of the first, second and third interim dividend payment for the year ended 31 December 2019 are set out below:

Q1

Q2

Q3

The Group plans to announce a final dividend alongside its full year results for the year ending 31 December 2019 in March 2020.