Bahrain Cinema Company (Cineco), a market leader in the entertainment industry in the kingdom, reported a record net profit of BD35.89 million ($94.5 million) for the first six months of 2017, a major leap from BD1.4 million ($3.6 million) recorded in the same period last year.

The results were announced by the chairman of the board of Bahrain Cinema Company Dr Esam Abdulla Fakhro following the annual general meeting held on August 8.

The remarkable increase in net profit is due to the sale of 50 per cent of the assets of City Centre Cinema location for the total amount of BD19.5 million and also the resultant fair value increase due to revaluation of remaining 50 per cent of the assets of the said cinema, the company said.

The operating revenue for the first half of 2017 was BD10.58 million ($27.8 million) in comparison with BD10.08 million ($26.5 million) reported in similar period of the year 2016 registering a growth rate of 5 per cent. The quarterly net profit was BD34.34 million ($90.4 million) during the second quarter the year 2017, compared with BD980,000 (2.5 million) reported in the second quarter last year.

The earnings per share of the period ending June 30, 2017 was 567 fils as against EPS of 22 fils registered in the same period of the last year.
 
Dr. Fakhro said that this is a landmark result and informed that the Board recommended the stock dividend of 25 per cent of the paid up capital i.e., one new share will be distributed for every four shares, subject to obtaining approval from shareholders and Regulatory authorities. The Board of directors also decided to hold the extra-ordinary General Meeting on August 28, 2017 for obtaining approval from the shareholders for the issue of 16,524,690 bonus issues.

Commenting on the company’s overall performance, Dr. Fakhro said: “Our objective is to progress constantly by improving the quality of our services and the level of entertainment. We hope the financial year 2017 will end up with strong and positive note signaling the growth and prosperity.”

The chief executive officer of Bahrain Cinema Company, Ahmed Rashed, said: “Bahrain Cinema Company has shown tremendous growth in the past fifteen years. We continue to lead the market, in spite of increased competition, by owning more than half of the total number of screens in the Kingdom of Bahrain. We have very clear goals which are to further improve the company performance by implementing new strategies, adopting an enhanced business model and achieve greater results. We hope to build on this momentum and deliver superior results for all the stakeholders. I look forward to this year and I am confident that we will maximize our revenues, simultaneously enhancing the financial position of the company”.

Cineco owns and operates a total of 49 cinema screens in Bahrain and 47 screens in Qatar. - TradeArabia News Service