Cinemas will not reach pre-Covid turnover levels until 2023: ABN Amro

Dutch cinemas are unlikely to recover from financial losses caused by the coronavirus crisis in the foreseeable future, experts from ABN Amro predicted. The bank thinks that the industry will not return to 2019 sales levels until 2023.

Cinemas are slowly getting back on their feet partly because of the success of the new James Bond film that premiered in Dutch cinemas at the end of September, according to ABN Amro. Yet, so far this year, the industry is still well below last year's turnover at this time. The mandatory coronavirus restrictions in the first five months of 2021 caused a massive loss in revenue. ABN Amro does not believe that the sector can recover these missed opportunities in the remaining months of the year.

Another factor is that movie theaters are facing increasing competition from streaming services such as Netflix. Those kinds of services became much more popular during the lockdown periods. But ABN Amro thinks that a large portion of people still prefers to see a new film in the cinema. As an example, the bank’s analysts said young people continue going to see movies in theaters because it is a relatively inexpensive outing.

ABN Amro’s experts advised the industry to remain dynamic. This can be accomplished by investing in aspects of the business, like atmosphere and service.