According to the owners of Event Cinemas and Birch, Carroll and Coyle, blockbuster Hollywood films that are must-see cinema events, such as the Fast and the Furious franchise, and Godzilla vs Kong, have helped the struggling sector avoid collapsing, but the continued recovery of the sector hinges on how quickly we can roll out vaccines and leave lockdown.
Event Hospitality and Entertainment reported losses of $48m for the 2021 financial year, which marks a 15.7 per cent improvement on a disastrous $56.9m loss fro the year prior.
Global cinema closures, delayed major releases, and the burgeoning at-home entertainment market were all contributing factors to the fall of Australian cinemas. The national box office take was down 46.6 per cent in the financial year ending June.
Revenue for Event (minus government subsidies) was down 45.4 per cent during this time, to $540.7 million.
Nevertheless, shares rose 4.2 per cent to $13 – perhaps a sign that investors feared much worse news from the cinema giant.
“Our swift response to Covid-19 delivered strong results in the circumstance,” said Event chief executive Jane Hastings.
“It is clear that when government restrictions are lifted, demand returns.”
