Cinemark, the third-largest circuit in North America, released its 2021 yearly financials on Friday, reporting $1.51 billion in revenue—a 120 percent improvement over the prior year’s results. The circuit’s performance is slightly ahead of the recovery of the domestic box office overall, which grew by 113 percent against 2020’s final figures.
Annual admissions revenue at Cinemark comprised $780.0 million (up 118 percent), while concessions revenue comprised $561.7 million (up 143 percent). However, the company reported a total annual net loss of $-422.8 million, which nonetheless marked an improvement from its $-616.8 million net loss in 2020.
A big portion of the circuit’s recovery came in the fourth quarter, when it welcomed 48 million across its theaters in the United States and Latin America. Q4 figures represented a 54 percent improvement over the prior quarter in 2021. The circuit finished the year on a strong note thanks to the success of Sony’s Spider-Man No Way Home, which became the highest-grossing title of all-time at Cinemark and helped the chain generate positive cash flow across its global circuit over Q4 2021.
Cinemark is planning on further improving its financial performance in 2022 off the strength of a more consistent studio slate and the circuit’s investment on premium amenities. Recliner seating is currently available at approximately two-thirds of its domestic theaters, and the circuit counts on nearly 300 premium large format XD and IMAX auditoriums worldwide. Cinemark also offers D-BOX immersive seating across 250 of its theaters, and provides enhanced food and beverage menu items throughout 75 percent of its global circuit.
“The theatrical exhibition industry, and our company, made huge strides recovering from the ongoing effects of the pandemic throughout 2021, culminating in an exceptional fourth quarter,” stated Sean Gamble, Cinemark’s President & CEO, in a press release. “During the quarter, Cinemark surpassed North American industry box office performance by more than 700 basis points when comparing results against 4Q19. Our Latin American admissions also over-indexed their corresponding industry benchmarks by a similar degree.”
Gamble continued, “Over 48 million guests visited our Cinemark theaters in the fourth quarter, demonstrating an enduring consumer demand to experience great films in an immersive, shared, cinematic environment. This rebound in attendance generated positive results in cash flow from operations, net income and Adjusted EBITDA across our entire global organization for the first time since the onset of COVID-19 – all significant milestones in our recovery.”
Gamble concluded, “We are highly encouraged by recent favorable developments in the state of the virus, government restrictions and associated consumer sentiment regarding moviegoing. Furthermore, we are greatly looking forward to a robust slate in 2022 that includes a long list of highly anticipated franchises, as well as a broad range of diverse films, providing varied offerings for all audiences.”
Cinemark ranked third on Boxoffice PRO‘s Giants of Exhibition 2021 list of North America’s largest cinema circuits, with 4,517 screens at 331 locations.
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