Blockbusters including Jurassic World and a move to scrap online booking fees helped Odeon and UCI Cinemas more than double earnings as the business attracted more film-goers in the first half of 2015.
The group, which has 113 cinemas in the UK, said half-year bookings leapt 13.8 per cent year-on-year to 42.9 million thanks to the strong line-up of summer releases, which also included Fast & Furious 7 and Avengers: Age of Ultron, as well as Mad Max: Fury Road, Pitch Perfect 2 and Minions.
Odeon also said sales were boosted after it axed online booking fees in the UK in April, as well as introducing more flexible pricing depending on demand and increasing staff training to improve customer service.
A 17.7 per cent leap in first half revenues helped Odeon's underlying earnings surge to £37.3m, up from £18.4m a year earlier.
But a lacklustre summer and early autumn release schedule has seen the third quarter get off to a slower start, as Odeon said trading was not as strong as it was in the half-year.
It is hoping this will be offset by an impressive film slate towards the end of the year, with the hotly anticipated new Star Wars film, The Force Awakens due to hit the screens, as well as the second part of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay and the latest Bond film Spectre.
Odeon, which is backed by private equity and has 243 cinemas across Europe as a whole, said its rise in paid attendance outstripped the 7.3 per cent increase seen across the wider industry, while its market share edged up to 19.2 per cent from 18.1 per cent a year ago.
Paul Donovan, Odeon group chief executive, said: "It has been a fantastic year so far for cinema, and it is particularly pleasing that we are outperforming the market and gaining market share because our guests are enjoying the changes we are making."
Private equity firm Terra Firma, which owns Odeon, reportedly plans to put the cinema group on the sale block later this year, having mothballed a £1 billion sale at the end of 2013.
The stronger first half performance is expected to boost chances of finding a buyer.
Odeon's figures also revealed the group swung out of the red on a bottom line basis, with pre-tax profits of £14.5m against a previous loss of £39.9m.
The cost of its hefty debt mountain has weighed on Odeon's bottom line, but the results showed net debt dropping to £435.4m from £466.7m a year earlier.
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