Ymagis Group today reported its consolidated financial results for the fourth quarter and for the full year 2019. The Group’s revenue in the fourth quarter confirms the trends seen in the first nine months of 2019:
The dynamism of CinemaNext (+22% at €28.8m) buoyed by the progressive deployment of equipment renewal contracts signed at the start of the year
The contained decline of revenue generated by Eclair (-6% at €13.5m) primarily due to the post-production and restoration activities (-42% at €0.9m) that have closed or are in the process of being of being sold
The ongoing expected drop in virtual print fee revenue (-74% at €3.5m).
VPF activity continued to decline as anticipated due to the scheduled recoupments, with a drop of 44% (at €28.8m) during 2019 and -74% during Q4 at €3.5m. VPF now amounts to only 18% of the annual revenue and 8% of the quarterly revenue.
Annual sales for CinemaNext increased by 21%, standing at €75.0m. Growth remained strong during Q4 (+22% at €28.8m), due in part to the ramp-up of the equipment renewal contracts signed at the start of 2019 with exhibitors such as the Austrian circuit Cineplexx, France’s Megarama and the Omniplex chain in Ireland. Sales, excluding equipment renewals, remained sustained with new equipment and installation contracts for cinema new builds.
Revenue for Eclair fell slightly over the course of the year (-3% at €50.8m) due to the divestment of the post-production and restoration activities (-37% at €4,6m). This was partially offset by the good performance of the distribution & preservation business (+5% at €25.0m). Revenue for localization activities was stable at €21.2m for the year.
Revenue for Eclair Cinema SAS, whose sale to the company L'Image Retrouvée was announced in September 2019, remains consolidated in the post-production & restoration activity, standing at €4.2m for 2019, a drop of -43% as compared to 2018 (€7.3m). The company’s continuation plan was presented by the purchaser to the Commercial Court of Nanterre, which should deliver its conclusions before February 26. Subject to the decision of the Court, Ymagis expects to complete the sale of this company to L’Image Retrouvée shortly.
The new activities continued to gain strength, despite the end of the EclairGame activities, with annual revenue increasing two-fold to €1.2m. Deployment of virtual reality activities continued at a rate adapted to the Group’s current financial resources. Three new Illucity centers were opened at the end of 2019 in Marseille (directly operated) and in Athens and Liège (in partnership). A new site is scheduled to open in Brest in late March 2020.
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