Archived article
Please note that tax, investment, pension and ISA rules can change and the information and any views contained in this article may now be inaccurate.
Cinema group Cineworld Group swung to a first-half loss after shutting its cinemas amid global government lockdowns.
The company estimated that it should be able to operate within the level of its current facilities for at least 12 months from the approval date of its half-year results, released today, but the covenants were forecast to be breached at 30 December 2020, 30 June 2021 and 31 December 2021. The company, however, expected that waivers would be obtained.
'If Governments were to strengthen restrictions on social gathering, which may therefore oblige us to close our estate again or further push back movie releases, it would have a negative impact on our financial performance and likely require the need to raise additional liquidity,' the company said.
For the 6 month period ended 30 June 2020, the company reported a pre-tax loss of $1.6 billion, compared with a profit of $117.4 million year-on-year as revenue fell 66.9% to $712m.
Performance was hurt by global coronavirus lockdowns that forced it to shutter its cinemas between mid-March to late June/August 2020.
The ocmpany said 561 of its 778 sites had reopened, but 200 theatres in the US, 6 in the UK and 11 in Israel remained closed.