3D films boost Odeon and narrow losses

CINEMA chain Odeon has lifted the curtain on a return to the black in 2010 after higher-margin 3D films swelled the company’s box office takings.

The group swung to an operating profit of £26 million in 2010, boosted by the release of films including Step Up 3D, Toy Story 3 and Yogi Bear, compared with a loss of £24.5m in 2009.

But interest payments of £65.6m dragged the company down to a pre-tax loss of £38.7m, which had been narrowed from £84.4m, according to accounts premiered at Companies House.

Heavy snow was blamed for a fall in turnover to £649.6m from £640.9m at the group, which trades as Odeon in the UK, Cinesa in Spain and UCI in Austria, Germany, Italy and Portugal.

The firm – which is owned by corporate financier Guy Hands’s Terra Firma investment vehicle – said that, when it offered customers the choice of watching films in 2D or 3D, 80 per cent chose to see them in 3D.

Its comments on the popularity of 3D films echo those made by Aim-quoted rival Cineworld, which posted a 0.3 per cent rise in 2010 pre-tax profits to £30.4m on the back of a 4.8 per cent rise in 2010 turnover to £342.8m.