Everyman gets boost from box office hits and higher ticket prices

Upmarket cinema chain Everyman has revealed a boost in sales as average ticket prices neared £13 amid the success of box office hits such as The Devil Wears Prada 2 and Project Hail Mary.The London-listed company still said it was cautious about the outlook for the full year because of a “challenging” economic environment.Admissions across Everyman, which runs 49 cinemas in the UK, totalled 2.6 million over the six months to July 2 – up 20.5% compared with the same period last year.The average ticket price was £12.97, up 4.1% from £12.46 this time last year.People also spent an average of £11.41 on food and drink during their cinema visits, up 3% on the year before.More ticket sales and increased prices paid helped push revenues up by 23.5% year-on-year to nearly £70 million, the company said.Everyman said it captured a bigger share of the cinema market in the first half of the financial year, helped by a strong performance by films such as The Devil Wears Prada 2, Wuthering Heights, Project Hail Mary, Hamnet and Michael.Recent box office hits The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day are also expected to deliver a boost, as well as upcoming films such as Sense And Sensibility in September, The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping in November, and Dune: Part Three in December.Everyman offers a premium cinema experience with smaller theatres, sofas and an extensive food and drink menu that can be delivered to people’s seats.It has also been cashing in on things like private hire, brand partnerships and events like its “baby club”, offering morning screenings with a lower volume and softer lighting, and “silver screen” matinees for people aged 55 and over.Everyman revealed to investors in the latest update that it returned to a pre-tax profit of £1.9 million for the half-year, from a £3.4 million loss the previous year.The company warned that it was retaining “a degree of caution for the full-year outlook due to the challenging economic environment and the significance of the fourth quarter trading to the overall annual performance”.Read MoreThe chain had previously pointed to concerns across the industry about pressures on consumer spending impacting demand.