Cinema operators hope for Bond boost after Covid-19 impact

Two rival cinema operators sustained sharp drops in revenue last year due to the impact of Covid-19.

As cinema owners eagerly anticipate the opening of the new James Bond film, No Time to Die, this Thursday to kick-start a busy number of months, new accounts for two firms underlined the severe Covid-19 impact on the business over the past 18 months.

Accounts for the Paul and Mark Anderson led Omniplex (Cork) Ltd showed that revenues more than halved from €16.79 million to €7.65 million in the 12 months to the end of October last.

The company – which operates cinemas in Cork, Tralee, Longford, Waterford, Carlow, Sligo, Monaghan and Drogheda – recorded an 82.5 per cent drop in pre-tax profit from €4.38 million to €767,478 last year.

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The accounts also showed the importance of cinema shop income to the business model.

Last year, shop receipts at Omniplex (Cork) Ltd of €2.23 million accounted for 29 per cent of revenues. Box office receipts of €5.1 million generated 67 per cent of income while “screen advertising and other income” made up the remaining €281,532 in revenues.

The profit last year takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €1.15 million.

Staff costs

Numbers employed remained at 140 while staff costs reduced from €2.17 million to €1 million as the accounts confirmed that staff endured lay-offs and reduced hours during the year.

At the end of October last, the company had accumulated profits of €28.6 million and a note attached to the accounts stated the directors believe the company is well positioned to return to full trading capacity once the period of uncertainty passes.

Separate accounts for the Paul Ward and Mary Ward led Dublin Cinema Group showed that revenues declined by 67 per cent from €2.99 million to €1.02 million.

The business recorded a loss of €162,839 for the 12 months to the end of October last as accumulated profits reduced from €61.039 million to €60.876 million.

A note attached to the accounts stated that the company has recommenced to trade and the directors expect a return to normalised trading in a short time frame.