03-11-2010

Helios Plans Major Expansion in Poland

By Katarzyna Grynienko

    One of the biggest Polish cinema chains, Centrum Filmowe Helios, announced expansions plans that include opening 17 new cinemas in Poland by the end of 2014.

    In August 2010, the company announced plans to open seven multiplex cinemas by 2013. Another ten multiplexes were recently added to the list, with an extended timeframe. "If all the new shopping centers planned by our partners are completed on time, Helios will open 17 new, big room cinemas with 96 screens and almost 21,000 seats" said Helios chairman Tomasz Jagiełło.

    The ten newly planned cinemas will be located in ten diverse Polish cities including Warsaw, Szczecin, and Lublin as well as smaller towns. They will be equipped with state of the art sound system and digital projectors, including 3D technology. Helios also plans to increase the number of digital projectors in its already existing movie theaters, with as many as 133 new ones installed in the next three years.

    Centrum Filmowe Helios (www.heliosnet.pl) was established in 1993 and is one of the biggest multiplex cinema chains in Poland. The company has a 24% share of the total multiplex cinema market in the country, and includes the Kinoplex chain, which was merged into Helios in 2007. In September 2010, a majority stake in Helios was bought by Agora (www.agora.pl), one of the biggest media companies in Poland. Currently Agora holds 84.44 % of the company stock, which was bought for 26.2 million EUR. In the first half of 2010 Helios reported revenues of 93.2 million PLN (27.3 million EUR), an 8.4% increase over 2009.