COLOGNE, Germany – German multiplex group CinemaxX delivered another solid performance in 2012, boosting both admissions and revenues across its operations in Germany and Denmark, the company announced Tuesday.
Revenues at CinemaxX, which is controlled by British exhibitor Vue Entertainment, were up 6.2 percent to $277 million (€211.9 million) while admissions ticked up 4.5 percent to 16.2 million sold. The results are that much more impressive given that last year CinemaxX was competing with two major sporting events – the European Soccer Championships and the London Olympics – which kept audiences out of the movies and in front of their TV sets.
Pre-tax profits at CinemaxX, however, were down sharply, falling 16.9 percent to $33.2 million (€25.4 million), a fall the company attributed to write offs linked to increased investments in cinema technology for its theaters over the past two years.
CinemaxX was broadly optimistic in its forecast for the coming year and into 2014. But the group warned that a new pilot project initiated by the European Commission to do trial day and date releases of selected European art house films on multiple platforms represented an “extraordinary threat to (the cinema) business”.
Vue, which acquired a majority stake in CinemaxX from Herbert Kloiber‘s Tele München Group last year, is in the final stages of squeezing out the remaining minority shareholders. Vue currently holds more than 97 percent of CinemaxX and expects to take full control of the remaining shares later this year.
