8 March 2012 – final results
The group’s results for 2011 showed a modest increase in revenue to £348m (2010: £343m) whilst pre-tax profits rose by 9.9% to £33.4m (2010: £30.4m). Earnings per share rose 6.1% to 19.2p (2010: 18.1p) and the dividend for the year was raised slightly to 11.0p (2010: 10.5p). The group is now the number one operator in the combined UK/Irish market for the first time with a market share of 24.6%. The group has further expansion planned for the current year although Euro 2012 and the Olympics may have an adverse effect on attendances. The schedule of film releases for 2012 has been planned to take this into account though. With a solid yield of around 5.5% the shares are a FIRM HOLD.