Kinepolis restarted its activities in almost all countries at the beginning of the summer after it was forced to close all cinemas in mid-March as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. On 1 July, all European cinemas were open to the public again. Most cinemas in Canada were able to reopen during the course of July. The MJR complexes, Kinepolis’ cinemas in the US (Michigan), remained closed until 9 October. Earlier this week, all Belgian and French cinemas have been closed again. Also, the cinema in Granada (Spain) and 8 Canadian cinemas are currently closed, including in Ontario due to COVID-19 restrictions.
In each country, the operation of the cinemas has been subject to significant, constantly changing capacity restrictions since reopening, as well as other measures to protect the health of staff and visitors. These measures have a direct impact on cinema attendance, in addition to the indirect effect of the global market situation and the associated postponed releases of blockbusters.
Despite the lack of Hollywood content – which under normal circumstances accounts for 80% of turnover – and the drastic COVID-19 measures in all markets, visitor numbers are encouraging. The only blockbuster in the third quarter ‘Tenet’ did particularly well, and smaller titles tend to do better than in normal conditions due to the absence of competition.
In this context, Kinepolis continues to work on the planned new construction projects and on the further development of innovative ideas, in addition to a constant focus on cost control in order to limit the loss of cash in a controlled manner. Even in the event of a worldwide closure, the available financial resources are sufficient to meet all of the Group’s commitments for 12 months, without additional measures.
Key figures1 for the third quarter 2020
visitors, due to the impact of the coronavirus measures and the postponement of
international blockbusters.
with owned property and financial expenses, somewhat offset by a tax asset.
Important realisations
Successful ‘Kinepolis on Tour’ drive-in cinema campaign in Belgium.
Metz (FR) on track.
Eddy Duquenne, CEO Kinepolis Group: “This global crisis is hitting us hard both directly and indirectly, on the one hand because of the restrictive measures inside our cinemas and, on the other, because almost all blockbusters have been postponed. I remain positive about the future, as we are seeing that many movie lovers keep coming in spite of everything and feel safe inside the cinema. The fact that the studios are constantly postponing the vast majority of their films until a moment when they can secure their income, proves the importance and value of a cinema release. We are currently in pause mode, but the intermission of ‘this film’ is lasting longer than foreseen. Fortunately, Kinepolis is in good financial shape.”
See the full report here.
About Kinepolis
Kinepolis Group NV was formed in 1997 as a result of the merger of two family-run cinema groups and was listed on the stock exchange in 1998. Kinepolis offers an innovative cinema concept which serves as a pioneering model within the industry. In addition to its cinema business, the Group is also active in film distribution, event organization, screen publicity and property management. In Europe, Kinepolis Group NV has 56 cinemas spread across Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Poland. Since the acquisition of Canadian movie theatre group Landmark Cinemas and American movie theatre group MJR, Kinepolis also operates 45 cinemas in Canada and 10 in the US.
In total, Kinepolis Group currently operates 111 cinemas worldwide, with a total of 1,081 screens and almost 200,000 seats. Kinepolis employs 4,600 people, all committed to giving millions of visitors an unforgettable movie experience. More information on www.kinepolis.com/corporate.