Good signs of growth on the silver screen, with cinema operator Cineworld posting an encouraging update this morning. The weak pound is certainly flattering the figures when it comes to overseas operations, but even adjusting for this the company is seeing growth in every major metric, helped along by a series of blockbuster film releases in the last year. Total revenues across the group rose, with the headline growth figure being a solid 7.9%.
The fashion retailer Burberry posted a quarterly trading update covering the last three months of 2017 but investors may struggle to find much worth cheering here. Headline revenues were off by £16m from the same period last year, with the UK market looking particularly weak against the upbeat performance in 2016. The company is however keen to stress that it remains in a strong ‘cash generative’ position and some significant costs will be trimmed this year, too.
Pearson, the academic publisher and former owner of the Financial Times, has seen a slew of profit warnings in recent years but today’s news from the company looks a little more upbeat. Earnings for the full year are expected to come in at the upper end of guidance and although sales in North America are still slipping, the company is successfully growing its digital offerings as it finesses pricing here. The outlook for next year is revenues falling a little again, although cost savings and the falling amount of debt may provide some reassurance.
