Lower ticket sales hurt Regal
Movie theater chain Regal Entertainment Group said Thursday that fourth-quarter profit fell 16% as holiday movies such as “Night at the Museum” drew lower box-office sales than movies released in the year-earlier period.
Net income dropped to $29.2 million, or 19 cents a share, from $35.1 million, or 23 cents, a year earlier, Knoxville, Tenn.-based Regal said. Sales fell 2.3% to $652.7 million.
Regal, controlled by Denver-based billionaire Philip Anschutz, struggled in a quarter that also included “Happy Feet” and “Casino Royale.”
None of the films’ sales matched “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” or “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” a year earlier.
Regal shares fell 16 cents to $22.58.
Profit excluding one-time items was 20 cents, missing the 21-cent average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
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