Paul Mescal in ‘Gladiator II’. Photo: Paramount
Paul Mescal’s Gladiator II and Disney’s Inside Out 2 were two of the box office hits that helped the Irish arm of the Odeon movie group to increase revenues by 1pc from €29.65m to €30.04m last year.
New accounts filed by United Cinemas International (Ireland) Ltd show that despite the slight lift in revenues, pre-tax losses increased by 70pc from €4.7m in 2023 to €8.06m last year.
A large contributor to the increase in pre-tax losses was the firm’s interest payments rising from €1.9m to €3.24m in 2024.
The group’s operating losses increased by 73pc from €2.79m to €4.82m last year after taking into account non-cash depreciation charges accounting for €3.1m.
The firm’s main costs were made up of cost of sales of €9m and distribution and administrative expenses of €25.84m
The directors said that at the start of 2024, the film industry was affected by the Writers’ Guild strike in the US, leading to delays in several major film releases.
The firm operates 11 cinemas here containing 77 screens. The directors state that cinema attendances across the sector here last year totalled 11.8 million, compared with 11.5 million in 2023 – an increase of 300,000.
“Cinema remains relatively inexpensive compared to other out-of-home leisure options,” the directors note.
“Indeed, in the post-pandemic period, audiences have returned to cinemas in large numbers when new films have been released, and they continue to do so despite these cost-of-living pressures.”
The 2024 annual report of the Irish Film Classification Office (IFCO) published earlier this year showed that Disney’s Inside Out 2 was the biggest box office hit of 2024 here as it generated €6.2m at the Irish box office.
Paul Mescal’s Gladiator II ranked fifth with box office revenues of €3.67m.
The directors for United Cinemas say the average ticket price at Odeon movie theatres last year was €8.24.
This fell from €8.90 in 2023. The average food-and-beverage spend was €5.77 compared with €5.90 in 2023.
A breakdown shows that box office revenues declined from €16.43m to €16.32m and this was offset by retail revenues increasing from €10.67m to €11.42m.
Lease costs last year totalled €5.14m while profits were also hit by a €533,000 onerous lease commitment.
At the end of December last, the firm had a shareholders’ deficit of €37m. The firm’s cash funds last year increased from €2.64m to €4.15m.
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