At a Glance:
- Cineworld faces a $708.3 million pretax loss in 2021.
- The net debt will now be rising to $8.9 billion.
- It is estimated that blockbuster content might repay the debt for Cineworld.
Cineworld is expecting to release a blockbuster set of movies in 2022. This move is expected to help revive the British cinema from a two-year of dullness, while the mounting amount of debt remains a challenge.
Cineworld is ranked second amongst the largest cinema chain with over 9,000 screens worldwide. The cinema chain’s loss narrowed to $708 million in 2021 from $3 billion in 2020. Due to the Marvel blockbuster “Spiderman-No Way Home,” the cinema chain did manage to cut the losses.
Cineworld line up for 2022
Cineworld is now estimating that the sequels lined up for 2022 will help the cinema chain earn its reputation back.
For 2022, the sequels like James Cameron’s “Avatar-2” and Tom Cruise in “Top Gun: Maverick” are accompanied by several Marvel films.
Cineworld released a statement, “But any movie delays and further COVID-19 restrictions that could hit ticket sales pose a risk to its ability to repay credits due in June and early 2023.”
The net debt now stands at $8.9 billion at end-December, which is up from $600 million from 202. The data released by Refinity demonstrates that the credit score for Cineworld has sunk to 1—the lowest on a scale up to 100. This means the company is likely to default in the coming year.
More challenges underway
Cineworld might face a multi-million dollar fine in a dispute against Canada’s Cineplex and the delayed payments to disgruntled former shareholders of its U.S. chain Regal. World has warned it might not have enough liquidity to pay the $971 million sought by Cineplex as damages if its court appeal is unsuccessful.
World is now seeking new sources of liquidity after raising over $425 million in 2021. World currently operates in 10 countries including the U.S. and the U.K. it has admitted 95 million movie-goer in 2021—up 75% over 2020.
