Cineworld FY revenue jumps 12%, launches rights issue for Regal deal

Cineworld reported a jump in full-year revenue on Wednesday as it announced a fully-underwritten rights issue to raise money to part fund its acquisition of US cinema chain Regal.

In a trading update for the year to 31 December, the company said total group revenue grew 11.6%, or 7.9% a constant currency, with revenue in the UK and Ireland 5.9% higher, and Rest of World sales up 20.8%.

Growth was driven by the expansion of Cineworld's estate, improved results from the ongoing refurbishment programme and the continued rollout of its premium formats. The highest grossing films for the year in the UK were 'Beauty and the Beast', 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' and 'Dunkirk'.

Retail revenue in the period was up 15.6%, or 11.8% at constant currency, as the group opened five new Starbucks sites and three VIP sites last year, bringing the total to 29 Starbucks sites and 12 VIP sites.

The company also announced a rights issue to raise proceeds of around £1.7bn to be used to fund part of the cash consideration for its acquisition of Regal, which was announced back in December. Cineworld is offering four new ordinary shares for every one existing share at 157p, which is a 34% discount to the theoretical ex-rights price of 238.3p.