Cineworld : Preliminary Results

CINEWORLD GROUP plc

Preliminary Results for the period ended 31 December 2021

Cineworld Group plc ("the Group"), a leading cinema operator in 10 countries including the United States and the United Kingdom with 751 sites and 9,189 screens globally, presents its Preliminary results for the full year ended 31 December 2021. These results are presented in US Dollars.

Cineworld has delivered a resilient performance in a very challenging market, strengthening its liquidity position and continuing to demonstrate tight control over its operating costs and cash usage. The Group is in a good position to benefit from the expected industry recovery.

Summary

• The Group's results for the year include a period of temporary closures from January to April/May 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions and limited film slate
• Strong trading in Q4 supported by a strong film slate and pent-up demand for affordable out-of-home entertainment
• Group revenue of $1,804.9m (2020: $852.3m) and Group Adjusted EBITDA of $454.9m (2020: loss of $115.1m) for the period was severely impacted by COVID-19 related closures
• Raised over $424.9m of liquidity and received $203m under the United States CARES Act tax refund
• Net debt (ex. lease liabilities) increased by $492.7m from $4,344.5m to $4,837.2m, cash and restricted cash of $354.3m at December 2021 (2020: $336.7m)
• Ontario Superior Court awarded C$1.23 billion in damages to Cineplex. The Group strongly disagrees with this judgment and has appealed the decision. The Group does not expect damages to be payable whilst any appeal is ongoing. No liability has been recognised in respect of the judgment

Outlook

• Gradual recovery of admissions and demand since re-opening, supported by strong retail sales and premium formats
• January and February impacted by Omicron and lack of major movie releases but we anticipate strong trading starting March 2022 supported by a strong and full film slate
• Decisive action taken during the pandemic to ensure Cineworld emerges well positioned to benefit from the strong movie slate in 2022 and beyond

Key Financial Information

Statutory Year ended	Statutory Year ended	2021 Reported results
31 December 2021	31 December 2020	vs.2020

Admissions

Revenue

Adjusted EBITDA(1)

Adjusted EBITDAaL(2)

Loss before tax

Adjusted loss before tax(1)

Loss after tax

Adjusted loss after tax(1)

Basic EPS

Diluted EPS

Adjusted diluted EPS(1)

95.3m	54.4m	75.2%
$1,804.9m	$852.3m	111.8%
$454.9m	($115.1m)	495.2%
$54.4m	($313.7m)	117.3%
($708.3m)	($3,007.9m)
($822.8m)	($1,326.9m)
($565.8m)	($2,651.5m)
($655.7m)	($913.2m)
(41.2c)	(193.2c)
(41.2c)	(193.2c)
(47.8c)	(66.5c)

1. Refer to Notes 2 and 5 for the full definition and reconciliation.
2. Adjusted EBITDAaL is defined as Adjusted EBITDA less payment of lease liabilities in the period.

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Alicja Kornasiewicz, Chair of Cineworld Group plc, said:

"The COVID-19 pandemic dominated the financial year and provided an enormous challenge for our business, our people and our partners. I am very proud of how the business has met these challenges, delivering to the very best of our abilities for all our stakeholders. I would like to thank our people for their loyalty and support during the closure periods and their determination and efforts to reopen our cinemas. I look forward to continuing to work with the Board, the management team and all our employees, as we return to delivering sustainable growth as the market recovers, for the benefit of all our stakeholders."

Commenting on these results, Mooky Greidinger, Chief Executive Officer of Cineworld Group plc, said:

"Whilst our 2021 results still reflect the impacts of COVID-19, particularly at the start of the financial year, we are encouraged by the recent strong trading performance throughout the final quarter. It is clear that our customers remain loyal and have missed the big screen experience as well as the sociability of watching a movie with others. Our strong final quarter performance reflects the pent-up demand for affordable out-of-home entertainment and the record breaking film slate, including "Spider-Man: No Way Home", which showcased the importance of cinematic releases. The business is well positioned to execute its strategy and capitalise on the highly anticipated movie schedule, which includes Avatar, Top Gun Maverick, Jurassic World: Dominion, Minions: The Rise of Gru, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Bullet Train, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Pixar's Lightyear, Fantastic Beast, Elvis and many more. I want to thank everyone across our team who make it possible for our customers to experience the best place to watch a movie."

Cautionary note concerning forward looking statements

Certain statements in this announcement are forward looking and so involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend upon circumstances that will occur in the future and therefore results and developments can differ materially from those anticipated. The forward looking statements reflect knowledge and information available at the date of preparation of this announcement and the Group undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements. Nothing in this announcement should be construed as a profit forecast.

Details for analyst presentation

The results presentation is accessible via a listen-onlydial-in facility and the presentation slides can be viewed online. The appropriate details are stated below:

Date:	17 March 2022
Time:	09:30am
Webcast link:	https://secure.emincote.com/client/cineworld/cineworld018/
Contacts
Cineworld Group plc:		Finsbury:
Israel Greidinger	[phone]	James Leviton	[phone]
Nisan Cohen	[e-mail]	Ed Treadwell	[e-mail]
Manuela Van Dessel

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CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER'S REVIEW

Whilst our cinemas were partially closed during the period under review, we were very excited to start reopening from 2nd April 2021 and finished opening across our territories by June. Looking at our performance since early June, it is clear that our customers have missed the big screen experience as well as the social event of watching a movie with others. In addition, our latest refurbishments and new cinemas are being embraced with great enthusiasm.

Our results still carry the effect of COVID-19 and related lack of product but we are encouraged by the upcoming line-up of big releases in 2022. This will include Avatar, Top Gun Maverick, Jurassic World: Dominion, Minions: The Rise of Gru, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Bullet Train, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Pixar's Lightyear, Fantastic Beast, Elvis and many more. Nonetheless, we will need to remain alert to any new COVID-related developments - currently, it appears that cases are slowly decreasing in our territories and we may be entering the endemic phase of this pandemic.

2021 performance

Our 2021 results reflect the recovery from the pandemic's impact on our business. Our revenue in 2021 increased by 111.8% to $1,804.9m as the pandemic continued to impact our revenues and, throughout the year, lockdowns and restrictions were imposed and relaxed across our markets.

Throughout 2021, we continued to minimise and control our expenses, including resizing the cost base and increasing levels of labour flexibility. These actions, along with continued contract renegotiations, focus on procurement, as well as general cost control, minimised our cash burn during the cinema closures and increased our margins in H2 2021. Adjusted EBITDA increased by 495.2% to $454.9m and margin was 25.2%.

Our high quality cinema estate is well placed to recover from the impact of the pandemic and take advantage of growth opportunities underpinned by the four tenets of our strategy and culture: to give the best cinema experience to our customers; to be leaders in technology; to expand and enhance our estate; and to drive up value.

Our financial strategy continues to be focused on cash flow generation and ensuring the business has sufficient liquidity. However, we also remain focused on our long-term objective of debt reduction through cash flow generation and cost optimisation. In 2021, we raised over $424.9m of liquidity and received $203m under the United States CARES Act tax refund. Our net debt (ex. lease liabilities) increased by $492.7m from $4,344.5m to $4,837.2m. Further details of our underlying and statutory earnings for the period are set out in the Financial Review on pages 5 to 11.

Strategy

Our strategy has always been focused on our customers, and we remain committed to giving them the best experience combined with the most COVID-safe environment. As for the cinematic experience itself, we continue to offer our customers big screens, stadium seating accompanied by the great technology of our special formats, IMAX, 4DX, Screen-X, SuperScreen, RPX and more, as well as upgrading to the use of laser projectors. These special formats provide our customer with an enhanced experience, incremental revenues for the group and are the first viewing to sell-out.

Across the business we closed 25 underperforming sites in the period, refurbished 7 cinemas and opened 10 new sites, which have been welcomed by our customers with great enthusiasm. Most of these projects were under construction prior to the onset of COVID-19, and the decision to continue with these projects during COVID-19 paid off. While our development plans slowed somewhat, we believe that we will be able to progress again soon and when appropriate to do so.

Industry fundamentals and respect for the theatrical window

The main topic in focus throughout the pandemic was the length of the theatrical window. In light of COVID-19, the studios tried various experiments which led to a shortening of the theatrical window and is dependent on the theatrical revenue potential of each movie. In 2022, we anticipate movies will be released with windows that are anywhere between 20 to 60 days and subject to each movie's potential. The influence of high-quality pirated copies of movies from PVOD day and date releases can also significantly affect a movie's total revenue not only in cinemas but also in ancillary markets.

As the most affordable out-of-home entertainment option, we believe that cinemas will continue to be the main driver of the industry, as they have been for so many decades despite the arrivals of new technologies, such as TV, Video, DVD and others.

Cineplex

On 6 July 2020 the Group confirmed that Cineplex had initiated proceedings against it in relation to its termination on 12 June 2020 of the Arrangement Agreement relating to its proposed acquisition of Cineplex (the "Acquisition"). The proceedings alleged that the Group breached its obligations under the Arrangement Agreement and/or duty of good faith and claimed damages of up to C$2.18 billion less the value of Cineplex shares retained by Cineplex shareholders.

The Group defended these proceedings on the basis that it had terminated the Arrangement Agreement because Cineplex breached a number of its covenants and counter-claimed against Cineplex for damages and losses suffered as a result of these breaches and the Acquisition not proceeding, including the Group's financing costs, advisory fees and other costs.

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has now handed down its judgment. It granted Cineplex's claim, dismissed the Group's counter-claim and awarded Cineplex damages of C$1.23 billion for lost synergies to Cineplex and C$5.5 million for lost transaction costs. The Group strongly disagrees with this judgment and has appealed the decision. Cineplex has submitted a cross-appeal to Cineworld's own appeal.

The Group does not expect damages to be payable whilst any appeal is ongoing. No liability has been recognised in respect of the judgement.

Outlook

Trading since our cinemas reopened has been encouraging and increasingly improving, and our customers have been expressing their appreciation for our high quality offering and team. We expect this progress to continue as COVID-19 reduces in significance. The strong film slate gives us great confidence in our ability to continue to rebound strongly, with a clear focus on driving growth which will be underpinned by our team of great people.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact our global operations, we are encouraged by our return to trading, the continued recovery seen across our industry and the return to profitability and cash flow generation in Q4 2021. The success of Spiderman - No Way Home which is now the 6th biggest movie of all time globally and 3rd biggest movie in the US while Omicron was emerging across the globe demonstrates the love and loyalty to the big screen. Having said that, we acknowledge the uncertainty and have highlighted certain matters with regard to them within our going concern statement in this document.

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I would like to conclude by expressing my deep appreciation and gratitude to all the members of the Cineworld team as we continue our commitment to be THE BEST PLACE TO WATCH A MOVIE.

Moshe (Mooky) Greidinger

Chief Executive Officer

17 March 2022

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CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER'S REVIEW

	Year ended	Year ended	Year ended
	31 December	31 December	31 December
	2021	2020	2019
Admissions	95.3m	54.4m	275.0m
	$m	$m	$m
Box office	955.7	448.6	2,536.1
Retail	552.3	232.2	1,240.3
Other Income	296.9	171.5	593.3
Total revenue	1,804.9	852.3	4,369.7

Cineworld Group plc (the "Group") results are presented for the year ended 31 December 2021 and reflect the trading and financial position of the US, UK and Ireland ("UK&I") and the Rest of the World ("ROW") reporting segments. The impact of COVID-19 continued to affect the Group's operations and performance into 2021, however, the Group was successful in reopening its full estate and saw its most successful months since the outbreak of the pandemic in the fourth quarter of the year. The results presented reflect the period of closure in the first two quarters of the year, the reopening of cinemas during the summer and then the return to trading at levels approaching those seen prior to the pandemic in the fourth quarter, with the return of major film releases. Whilst the Group is now looking to continue its recovery with its full estate operating, the removal of restrictions imposed due to COVID-19 and a full film release schedule approaching, material uncertainty around its ability to continue as a going concern remains (as set out in Note 1 to the Financial Statements).

Total admissions increased by 75.2% year on year to 95.3m, reflecting the length of closures required due to COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021 respectively and film content available in each year. Total revenue for the year ended 31 December 2021 was $1,804.9m, an increase of 111.8% on the prior year.

The principal revenue stream for the Group is box office revenue, which made up 53.0% (2020: 52.6%) of total revenue. Box office revenue is a function of the number of admissions and the ticket price per admission, less sales tax. Admissions (one of the Group's Key Performance Indicators) depend on the number, timing and popularity of the movies the Group is able to show in its cinemas. In addition, the Group operates membership schemes which provide customers with access to screenings in exchange for subscriptions fees, and this revenue is reported within box office.

The Group's second most significant revenue stream is from retail sales of food and drink for consumption within cinemas, which made up 30.6% (2020: 27.2%) of total revenue. Retail revenue across the Group is driven by admissions trends within each operating territory.

Other Income represents 16.4% (2020: 20.1%) of total Group revenue. Other Income is made up of all income other than box office and retail, predominantly revenue from advertisements shown on screen prior to film screenings and revenue from booking fees associated with the purchase of tickets online. The Group also generates distribution revenue in the UK and ROW, which is included within Other Income.

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