The show’s over. Cineworld’s (LSE: CINE) share price halved this week after it confirmed that it was closing all of its UK and US cinemas, with the loss of 45,000 jobs, says Dominic Walsh in The Times. It has now fallen by 90% this year. The closures follow the announcement that the new James Bond firm, No Time to Die, has been postponed until Easter. Cineworld claims this shows that studios “are reluctant to release new blockbusters without guarantees of suitable audiences” and without such films audiences will be unwilling to “consider coming back to theatres against the backdrop of Covid-19”.
Studio bosses should stop being so myopic, says Jim Armitage in the Evening Standard. It’s true that cinemas are closed in New York and Los Angeles, where most film moguls have their “swanky pads”. But in the rest of the world, which accounts for 80% of the global box office, as well as in many US states, “cinemas have been open for months”. While some people may be reluctant to venture out, others “would love to go if there was anything worth watching”. Studios’ “ignorant trampling of decent cinema businesses” could also end up hurting them since studies show that cinema takings “massively outperform” streaming revenues.
The real culprit
There’s certainly something ironic about a film called No Time to Die “bringing down the curtain” on one of the country’s top cinema operators, says Ben Marlow in The Daily Telegraph. Still, Cineworld’s CEO, Mooky Greidinger, has hardly helped his company’s chances of survival: the chain’s debt-fuelled expansion has left it “buckling under an $8bn (£6bn) debt mountain”. It wasn’t until June that he finally abandoned the “fantasy” that he could pull off a £1.8bn takeover of Canada’s Cineplex. Overall, Cineworld needs to raise more money quickly, or it could find itself in a jam that “Bond himself would struggle to escape from”.
MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
If Cineworld wants to borrow any more money from lenders, it will have to pay a “high price”, says Kate Burgess in the Financial Times. With the company “almost certain” to breach its loan covenants by the end of the year, it was forced to offer an interest rate of 11% on its latest tranche of debt, issued last month. Credit-ratings agency Moody’s has downgraded the group again.
With lenders wanting “nose-bleed” interest rates and UK state support “impossible”, the only other option is a rights issue, says Nils Pratley in The Guardian. However, with the company now valued at a mere £346m, it would “require the participation of... Greidinger and his trust”, which owns 20% of the shares, to raise enough money. Their capacity and inclination to inject additional funds are “unknown”. While Cineworld could benefit from a “bumper” 2021 amid the “pent-up supply” of potential blockbusters, its “path to survival in recognisable form” now seems “more uncertain than ever”.
-
Could your family be at risk of an unexpected tax bill? How to keep your loved ones in the loopMany families are out of the loop when it comes to planning the financial aspects of both retirement and inheritance
-
Rightmove: Glut of homes for sale in southern England drives asking price dropAsking prices are 0.1% lower than a year ago, according to the property website, driven by challenges in affordability-stretched London and the south
-
Small UK industrial stocks are hidden gemsOpinion Ed Wielechowski of the Odyssean Investment Trust highlights three of his favourite British small-cap industrial stocks
-
Aurora Innovation is running on empty – is it overvalued?Aurora Innovation, a maker of self-driving trucks, may have promised far more than it can deliver
-
'Ride the recovery in emerging markets': Gustavo Medeiros of Ashmore Group tells MoneyWeekInterview What's the outlook for emerging markets? Gustavo Medeiros, head of research at Ashmore Group, gives his analysis and reviews progress in developing economies
-
What is the Enterprise Investment Scheme and should you have one?The Enterprise Investment Scheme is tax-efficient and potentially lucrative. Taking a chance on the scheme could trim your family’s IHT bill, says David Prosser
-
The alcohol industry is suffering as consumers sober up – is it still worth investing in the sector?Changing consumer tastes are rocking the alcohol industry, but the best players are adapting their strategies. Buy them while their shares are still cheap
-
A strange calm in creditCorporate bond markets remain remarkably relaxed, with yields that offer little compensation for risks
-
'The City's big bet on green finance fails to pay out'Opinion Insurers and banks are backing away from “green finance”, and there is not much sign of the green boom we were promised. That’s a problem for the City
-
Why is English football thriving – and can it last?What has gone so right for English football? The national team has found its feet; the Premier League is swimming in money and profits are soaring
