Letter to Shareholders
Fellow Shareholder:
Regal Cinemas had another great year in 1996. We continued to
achieve substantial growth in revenues and profits for the year,
consistently exceeding analyst expectations. We again produced
among the highest profit margins of any major theatre company
in North America, while further improving one of the industry's
strongest balance sheets. Having been the tenth largest theatre
company at the end of 1994 and the eighth largest at the end of
1995, we grew to be the sixth largest at the end of 1996. We also
launched an aggressive plan to continue the Company's growth through
the construction of new multi-screen theatres expected to expand
our base of screens in operation by approximately 70% by the end
of 1998.
This letter will describe these and other accomplishments for
1996, as well as discuss our plans for the future. The Company's
success in 1996 is instructive, because, in the most important
aspects, we intend to continue implementing the same strategies
going forward that have accounted for Regal's position as one
of the fastest growing, most profitable and most innovative major
theatre companies. Regal's goals for 1997 and beyond are simple
to explain. We believe we have developed an organization that
can sustain a substantial growth rate for the foreseeable future,
defined in this context as at least the next three to five years.
As we pursue this goal, we also expect Regal to remain one of
the most profitable companies in the industry and to maintain
one of the strongest financial positions relative to its industry
peers.
Sincerely,
Michael L. Campbell
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
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