Carmike Cinemas, Inc., a leading entertainment, digital cinema and 3-D motion picture exhibitor, today reported results for the three-month period ended March 31, 2015, as summarized below.

“The success of Carmike’s recent growth and operating initiatives continue to yield positive operating results for our circuit. We achieved records across a number of key financial metrics which reflect continued progress against our strategies to identify and complete value-building theatre acquisitions and the ongoing success of our theatre-level initiatives, combined with a healthy U.S. box office environment. On a per screen basis, our first quarter admissions revenues grew approximately 5% which outperformed the overall industry growth by approximately 180 basis points. While average ticket prices remained flat versus the comparable 2014 period, first quarter attendance growth of nearly 14% generated a 16% rise in operating revenues, resulting in adjusted EBITDA and theatre level cash flow growth of nearly 38% and 28%, respectively,” stated David Passman, Carmike Cinemas’ President and Chief Executive Officer.

“Our first quarter box office successes have carried over to the concession stand. Carmike’s 19% increase in total concessions and other revenues and greater than 4% rise in concessions and other spending per patron highlight the benefits of our focus on delivering a diverse range of food and beverage offerings at attractive price points as well as first class in-theatre dining services. In the 2015 first quarter, we further extended our food and beverage platform by generating record-level concessions and other spending per patron of $4.72, marking 21 consecutive reporting periods of year-over-year concessions and other per patron spending growth while maintaining attractive gross margins.

“Consistent with our food and beverage initiatives and strategies to expand in-theatre dining offerings, during the first quarter we opened our first two full-complex casual dining locations in Bloomington, IL and Richmond, VA, and we plan to open a third location in Athens, GA later this quarter. Our new dine-in locations are receiving positive responses from the local communities and meeting our performance expectations. We remain confident that these investments will benefit mid- and long-term operating results. We are actively evaluating other markets where we believe this concept can deliver attractive returns. In addition to our new dine-in locations, we also opened two additional theatres in Florida during the period.

“In summary, Carmike is executing well against its theatre-level initiatives and is well positioned to participate in additional industry consolidation opportunities, which we believe support our goal of enhancing long-term shareholder value. We are actively executing strategies to identify acquisition and organic growth prospects that expand our theatre circuit and leverage our scale across attractive, complementary markets while strengthening our platform for sustainable growth. With a strong balance sheet including over $90 million in cash, an untapped credit facility and outstanding debt levels that remain well within our target leverage range, we have the financial flexibility and capacity to fund our expansion plans. The year is off to a great start, and we remain optimistic that the favorable operating environment will continue as the year unfolds,” concluded Mr. Passman.

Carmike Cinemas’ Chief Financial Officer Richard B. Hare stated, “Carmike achieved solid top-line growth in Q1 2015, with admissions revenue and concessions and other revenue increasing over the prior year period by 14.1% and 18.9%, respectively. Q1 2015 average admissions per patron was in-line with the prior year at $7.20 while on average guests spent a record-level $11.92 per visit in the quarter, representing a 1.8% increase in combined per patron spending compared to the prior year.

“Carmike’s Q1 2015 film exhibition costs as a percentage of admissions revenues were 55.4%, versus 54.2% in Q1 2014, reflecting a higher concentration of strong performing titles. Concession costs as a percentage of concessions and other revenue decreased by 60 basis points to 11.0%, as a result of lower commodity prices and volume-based vendor rebates.

“As expected, our three theatre-level expense categories increased during the first quarter of 2015, primarily reflecting Carmike’s expanded circuit due to recent acquisitions and new theatre openings. Salaries and benefits rose $2.2 million to $23.7 million, theatre occupancy costs increased $3.1 million to $23.4 million, and other theatre operating costs were $32.0 million, compared to $29.4 million in the first quarter of 2014. General and administrative expenses were $10.0 million for Q1 2015, including $2.7 million of non-cash share-based compensation expense and $1.7 million of M&A related costs. Quarterly interest expense declined $0.4 million to $12.7 million in Q1 2015, due primarily to the maturing of certain legacy capital leases and long-term financing obligations.

“Adjusted EBITDA increased 38.1% to $29.8 million and theatre level cash flow rose 28.3% to $35.5 million due to a combination of Carmike’s strong top-line growth, higher attendance levels, results-focused operating disciplines, and expanded scale. Reflecting cash of $92.9 million at March 31, 2015, we ended the quarter with $354.8 million of net debt, compared with $352.0 million at December 31, 2014. Our capital allocation strategy continues to focus on deploying cash to expand our theatre circuit through accretive acquisitions and new locations through build-to-suit arrangements,” concluded Mr. Hare.