Cineworld reports surge in revenue thanks to films like Beauty and the Beast and Dunkirk

Beauty and the Beast, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and Dunkirk together grossed £197.4m

Late last year Cineworld agreed a deal to buy Regal, creating the world’s second biggest cinema group

Cineworld has reported a surge in revenue for the full year, thanks to the success of films like Beauty and the Beast and Dunkirk.

The company, which last year snapped up US cinema chain Regal, said on Thursday that revenues had risen by 11.6 per cent in the year to the end of December to £890.7m. Pre-tax profit leaped by 22.7 per cent to £120.5m.

The group said that the box office performance in 2017 had been “underpinned by a strong film slate”. Beauty and the Beast, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and Dunkirk together grossed £197.4m. The top three films in 2016 – Star Wars: Rogue One, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and Bridget Jones's Baby – grossed £149.4m.

Overall, box office sales grew by 6.4 per cent to £553.7m. Retail sales rose by 11.1 per cent to £220.4m.

Looking to the coming months, Cineworld said that it was “pleased with the performance of the group through the opening weeks of the year” and encouraged by the film releases lined up for the year, including Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Avengers: Infinity War, The Incredibles 2, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, Solo: A Star Wars Story, and Deadpool 2.

Late last year Cineworld agreed a deal to buy Regal, creating the world’s second biggest cinema group. Combined, the new company will have more than 9,500 screens across 10 countries.