The number of visitors to the three complexes located in Luxembourg, including the Kirchberg complex pictured, has been divided by three at the end of a 2020 exercise Matic Zorman/archives

The number of visitors to the three complexes located in Luxembourg, including the Kirchberg complex pictured, has been divided by three at the end of a 2020 exercise Matic Zorman/archives

Kinepolis ended the year with a net loss of €69.1 million. But, the cinema operator, which is listed on the Brussels Stock Exchange, does not admit defeat and ensures that it has a solid financial footing, particularly after taking out a new €80 million loan at the beginning of January.

“With a cash reserve of €171 million at the beginning of this year, Kinepolis can therefore hold out for a long time to come and we can say with certainty that our company will weather this crisis,” says CEO Eddy Duquenne in a press release published Thursday morning.

To support its “happy ending” scenario, the operator highlights its positive operating result (Ebitda) of €17.2 million, its turnover of €176.3 million, whose fall (-68%) is less marked than that of visitors (-70.1%), as well as the 12% increase in attendance observed until 12 March in its network of 111 cinemas across the globe, including three in the grand duchy.

Attendance divided by three in Luxembourg

Attendance fell by 70.8% year-on-year to 290,000 visitors. In the last quarter, 40,000 visitors were counted, a drop of 85.6% compared to the same period in 2019.

Luxembourg generated 3.5% of the group's total revenues, compared with 3.2% a year earlier, or just over €6 million.

Across the network, the five most-watched films last year were “Bad Boys for Life”, “1917”, “Sonic, The Film”, “Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker” and “Tenet”. And if the release schedule is disrupted by movie theatre closures that are still a reality in many countries, Kinepolis is capitalising on confirmed releases for 2021 such as “Godzilla vs. King Kong”, “Top Gun” and the next James Bond movie “No Time to Die” to restart the machine.

Plans, but no dividend

While the group has launched this week in Luxembourg its private cinema offer, the service won’t be rolled out in Belgium. On the French side, Kinepolis plans to open a new cinema during the first quarter of 2021 at the Waves-Actisud shopping center in Moulins-lès-Metz.

It should be noted that the construction of the new complexes and the negative free cash flow inflated net financial debt by 23.1% to €513.3 million. No rebound for shareholders who will not receive any dividend at the end of this fiscal year.

This article was originally published in French on Paperjam.lu. It has been translated and edited for Delano.