Coffee Republic and other retail concessions boost CineWorld

23rd September 2008

CINEWORLD GROUP plc - Financial Report

Published: 21 August 2008
Source: www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=200808210700097693B


HIGHLIGHTS

Financial

• Group revenue up 0.9% to £137.0m (2007: £135.7m)
• EBITDA* at £21.5m (2007: £21.7m)**
• Operating profit up 19.5% to £14.1m (2007: £11.8m)**
• Operating cash flow before changes in working capital and provisions at £21.5m (2007: £19.8m)
• Net debt reduced to £125.4m from £129.6m in June 2007
• Reported EPS: 4.2p on basic earnings
• Proposed interim dividend of 3.2p per share (2007: 3.0p per share)

Operational

• Box office receipts up 1.0% at £89.6m (2007: £88.7m)
• Average ticket price per admission up 6.1% to £4.34 (2007: £4.09)
• Average retail spend per person up 5.4% to £1.73 (2007: £1.64)
• Market share remained firm throughout the half year period at 23.6% (2007: 23.9%) (source: EDI Neilsen)
• Admissions down 4.8% at 20.6m (2007: 21.7m) reflecting a lower number of blockbuster films than the previous year
• New 12 screen cinema opened at High Wycombe in March 2008
• Formation of joint venture with Odeon Cinemas Limited to drive screen advertising revenue
• Strong start to the second half of 2008.

"We achieved these results through a specific focus on the cost and mix of our offering. On the film side, the product mix was geared more to adult films which was a major factor in our average ticket price per admission improving to £4.34 (2007:£4.09). The change of both coffee and alcohol suppliers, more Ben & Jerry's kiosks installed, plus the upgrading of several of our retail areas resulted in our average retail spend per person rising to £1.73 (2007: £1.64)."

"In retail we successfully rolled out the Coffee Republic brand of freshly ground bean to cup coffee into all our retail stands and bars, thereby offering our customers a new and branded quality coffee product. We also appointed Carlsberg as our supplier for all draft beer and packaged alcohol and spirits across our estate."

New Openings Galore!

14th March 2008

This week we have great pleasure in welcoming the following new stores to our fleet; Coffee Republic Served Here at Travelodge, an exciting new trial for Coffee Republic and Travelodge situated at their City Road Hotel, in east London. Coffees and other CR favourites will be available all day, and a specially selected deli menu between 7am and 5pm.

We are also very excited to announce the opening of our first store in Dubai with the Paris Group, our third concession with the McLeish Brothers in Edinburgh and also in Scotland we have the pleasure of welcoming new franchisee Vijay Lakhanpal, who opened his doors to the public on Friday 14th March in Merchant Square, Merchant City, one of Glasgow's most prestigious locations, just minutes away from the city's busy shopping centre - with so many Coffee Republic's to choose from why not pop in and sample our delights for yourself!

www.coffeerepublic.co.uk/news

Greene King Extends Coffee Republic offer

19 January 2008

Greene King has started to rollout Coffee Republic’s “Coffee Republic Served Here” concept to a number of its pubs across the country, after a successful trial in 28 of its London-based sites.

Rooney Anand, chief executive of Greene King, told M&C Report, that the company was working with “two or three partners including Coffee Republic and Coffee Express” to add a high-quality coffee offering to a number of its pubs nationwide.

He said that the extension of the group’s coffee offer was part of its drive to give its licensees extra revenue streams in order to counter the impact of the smoking ban.

Anand said: “Not every pub will warrant a coffee offer. We are taking each site on an individual basis to see whether to introduce a coffee offer and if so what formats would work in that location.”

As reported in M&C Report in March last year, the two companies had been trialling a number of the coffee shop chain’s formats at a handful of Greene King’s pubs in central London.

December 2007 - a very busy month for Coffee Republic

9th January 2008

The Coffee Republic franchise network is continuing to expand both around the United Kingdom and abroad. In the first half of December, it opened up new outlets in Bournemouth, Uxbridge, High Wycombe, Ealing, Plymouth and Bromley.

Furthermore, Coffee Republic has also announced the opening of the first of its Scottish Concessions in partnership with McLeish Brothers Limited. On 6th December, two Scottish concessions began business within their New York Deli style outlets in the cities of Aberdeen and Dundee.

Last but most certainly not least, the franchise network’s fourth international Coffee Republic Deli opened its doors to the public in the city of Varna, Bulgaria, on 4th December.

Coffee Republic to served at CineWorld

18 December 2007

Coffee Republic products will be available in cinemas across the UK after the company signed a partnership deal with Cineworld UK.

The roll-out of the "Coffee Republic Served Here" concept to all 73 Cineworld will begin in early 2008, it was announced today.

Steven Bartlett, chief executive of Coffee Republic, said: “We are delighted to be in partnership with such a major leisure business as Cineworld UK and I believe that our two brands complement each other perfectly.

“This is a major step for us in our strategy of rolling out our 'Coffee Republic Served Here' concept with major national chains.”

The "Coffee Republic Served Here" franchise concept launched in June, with pub operator Greene King signing a deal initially covering 28 London pubs, with a view to extending.

Greene King signs Coffee Republic franchise deal

17 August 2007

Coffee Republic has signed its first “Coffee Republic Served Here” franchise agreement with brewer and pub operator Greene King.

The deal will see Coffee Republic beverages served in 28 of Greene King’s London pubs with the chain saying they hoped to “extend the partnership in the future”.

Greene King is the first partner for the Coffee Republic Served Here concept, which sees the installation of a Coffee Republic branded outlet, in an existing business.

No financial terms behind the deal were revealed.

The deal echoes an agreement Mitchells & Butlers has with Whitbread’s Costa Coffee that sees the coffee brand sold through outlets in pubs such as All Bar One.