Cineplex has sold its online namesake store to CosmoBlue Canada, a subsidiary of Geneva-based CosmoBlue Media.

The sale of the Cineplex Store closed for “nominal proceeds” on Jan. 1, the company disclosed in its Q4 and full-year earnings report on Tuesday (Feb. 11). The store is an e-commerce platform where customers can buy or rent films and series. It is also available on smartphones via the App Store and Google Play.

Cineplex COO Dan McGrath told Playback Daily the decision to sell was made when “strategic buyer” CosmoBlue expressed interest.

“The store has been a great offering for many years to allow our guests to enjoy movies at home, but as streaming offerings have grown, it was now a good time for us to sell this business,” said McGrath. “Store customers will continue to be able to access their libraries and transact on the store as they have in the past.”

The store will keep its name for an interim period up to one year before it fully transitions to CosmoBlue later in 2025. CosmoBlue launched its Canadian theatrical distribution operations in September 2024.

Cineplex reported a 15.1% revenue growth in its Q4 2024 results, totalling $362.7 million for the three-month period, ending Dec. 31, 2024, compared to $315 million in the prior Q4.

The company’s full-year revenue was approximately $1.33 billion, down 4.2% from $1.39 billion in fiscal 2023. Cineplex also reported $40.3 million in adjusted EBITDAaL (including after lease expenses) in the quarter, an increase of 66.6% compared to the prior year.

The quarterly revenue increase was attributed to a 25.7% growth in media revenues, due to its expanded digital-out-of-home network and cinema advertising business. The company’s non-project revenues — meaning media advertising, sales and IT support — saw a year-over-year increase of 39.3% to $37.4 million.

The year-end revenue decline was attributed to a 10.3% decrease in theatre attendance as a result of the disruption in the theatrical calendar caused by the 2023 writers’ and actors’ strikes. Annual box office revenues stood at $562.2 million, down 6.3% from $599.9 million, while box office revenues per person stood at $13.09 in 2024 — a 4.5% increase from $12.53 in 2023. Food revenues were down 4.5% at $406.8 million.

“I want to reinforce that we are optimistic the momentum of our business will continue into 2025 with what’s shaping up to be a strong year for the film slate,” said Cineplex president and CEO Ellis Jacob during the earnings call. “Our diverse media portfolio will drive a unique value to advertisers, unparalleled consumer attention, capitalizing on the robust film slate, including our international titles.”

As of the end of December 2024, the Scene+ program had more than 15 million members, while the CineClub program had more than 180,000 subscribers.

Jacob touched on the company’s notice of appeal to overturn the Competition Tribunal’s $38.9 million fine for its online booking fees in October 2024.

“Why do we disagree with the Tribunal’s decision? We have modified our website,” he said during the call. “We remain confident that our fee was always presented in a clear and prominent manner and fully complied with the spirit and letter of the law.”

CFO Gord Nelson added during the call that the company does not believe the threat of U.S. tariffs will have a material impact on the business.

Image courtesy of Cineplex