Box office hits Spectre, Jurassic World and Star Wars: The Force Awakens helped multiplex chain Cineworld sell a record 93.6m tickets in 2015.



The company, which owns more than 2,000 screens across nine countries, said its box office numbers were up 13% from 2014. Cineworld’s adjusted profit before tax rose 37.1% to £102.8m.

Revenues in the UK and Ireland rose 12.7% while central and eastern Europe and Israel recorded 11.7% growth.

Cineworld benefited from a record-breaking year at the UK and Ireland box office, with the three biggest films alone generating £245m – compared with the £100m from equivalent 2014 hits – The Lego Movie, The Inbetweeners 2 and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. The total market for 2015 was worth £1.3bn.

However, some analysts were not impressed as Cineworld lost UK market share, with box office revenues up 8%, less than the market’s 17.4% growth.

Cineworld said 2016 also has a “promising film slate”, including Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, The BFG, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Finding Dory and Captain America: Civil War.

Nigel Parson, analyst at Canaccord Genuity, disagreed, saying that the first quarter had been saved only by Deadpool, and that the film slate is weaker this year with more family films and fewer blockbusters.

Investec analyst Steve Liechti was more optimistic: “While 2016 will be more subdued given fewer mega-blockbusters, we still see good momentum and the slate plays to Cineworld’s strengths.”

Cineworld said it had finished integrating its Cinema City acquisition, the largest operator in central and eastern Europe. It also snapped up the UK arthouse cinema chain Picturehouse three years ago.Analysts believe more deals in Europe could follow.



Cineworld is pushing ahead with opening 13 new cinemas in four countries this year, with a total of 45 planned openings in the next four years. Last year, 18 cinemas were opened, including 10 in the UK, taking the total to 2,011 screens. Cineworld also refurbished the Shaftesbury Avenue cinema in central London and relaunched it as Picturehouse Central, its flagship Picturehouse cinema in the West End.

Cineworld has been adding Starbucks coffee shops in the UK, taking the total to 17, with further outlets planned. Some of its cinemas have IMAX screens or D-BOX technology.

The company introduced its first “VIP experience” in the UK in Sheffield in December, after it proved a success in Israel, Poland, Romania and Hungary. It gives customers access to a private lounge ahead of the screening with unlimited buffet food and soft drinks, and reclining seats during the screening.



Cineworld raised its dividend for 2015 by 29.6% to 17.5p a share.