Knoxville, Tenn. – Regal Entertainment Group, the nation’s biggest movie theater operator, said Tuesday that fourth-quarter profit surged 43 percent, as acquisitions it made last year bolstered revenue.
Its shares rose 2 percent in early trading.
For the quarter ended Dec. 29, 2005, the operator of Regal Cinemas, United Artists Theaters and Edwards Theaters reported net income of $35.1 million, or 23 cents per share, versus a prior-year profit of $24.5 million, or 17 cents per share. Excluding restructuring expenses, Regal would have reported adjusted earnings of 24 cents per share.
Revenue rose 4 percent to $668.2 million.
Denver billionaire and Qwest Communications founder Philip Anschutz formed Regal in 2001. The company moved its headquarters from the Denver area to Knoxville in 2005, but National CineMedia LLC, Regal’s joint venture with AMC Entertainment Inc., is still based in Colorado.
Even with high-grossing films such as “King Kong,” “The Chronicles of Narnia” and the latest Harry Potter sequel playing in theaters over the holidays, the results fell shy of Wall Street forecasts. Analysts were looking for a profit of 25 cents per share, the average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial, on projected sales of $684.9 million.
Regal also declared a dividend of 30 cents per class A and B common share, payable on March 17 to stockholders of record on March 9. The company completed its acquisition of 21 theaters from Eastern Federal Corp. in July 2005.
Regal shares gained 39 cents to $18.78 in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
