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Bahrain Cinema Company (Cineco) has scrapped its new 13-screen cinema project after seeing revenues decimated by the coronavirus pandemic.
The company, which owns and operates cinemas and restaurants in the Gulf state, said the health outbreak has impacted “severely” the entertainment and food industry.
In 2019, Cineco signed a lease agreement with developer Eagle Hills Diyar for the establishment of a 3,750-square-metre multi-screen cinema in Marassi Galleria, a shopping destination slated to open this year. Cineco had expected to generate annual revenues of 170,000 dinars ($448,000) from the new entertainment project.
“However, after COVID-19 pandemic, we have doubts about the expected numbers, thereby cancelled the new project,” the company told Bahrain Bourse in a statement.
Lease agreement
The company said it had negotiated with the landlord to amend the lease agreement for the new cinema, but both parties could not agree on the new terms.
“Thereby, both our company and the landlord agreed to amicably terminate the lease agreement,” Cineco said.
The company reported a net loss of 14.13 million dinars for 2020, compared to a net profit of 4.23 million dinars in 2019.
In a previous statement, Cineco said the pandemic “has undoubtedly pushed” the company’s “operational and financial capabilities to the limit”.
“The financial position of the Group has seen a setback in the year 2020 due to the spread of the coronavirus disease around the world which has deeply affected the entertainment and food industry,” it said.
(Reporting by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Seban Scaria)
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