Advertisers are returning to Cineplex theatres along with its audiences, both of which are helping the company recover from two years of cinema closures.

As Cineplex’s theatres reopened across Canada, attendance increased from 700,000 in Q1 2021 to 6.7 million in 2022, leading to a 452% increase in total revenue.

Total revenues in the media division alone grew by 71.3% to $15.55 million, though that is still just under half of the revenue it earned in Q1 2020. The surge was driven by 334.4% growth in in-cinema ad revenue as audiences returned to theatres. Revenue from Cineplex’s place-based digital media network was flat, growing by 1.7% year-over-year.

High-profile releases like The Batman and Spider-Man: No Way Home helped box office revenue come in at just under $80 million, with food service and concession revenue hitting $68.4 million.

Box office revenue per patron also hit $12 in Q1, an all-time high for the company. In addition to audience increases, the company attributed to price increases in some markets, additional VIP cinema location and more patrons seeking out VIP and other premium experiences for their return to theatres. Concession revenue per patron also hit a new record of $8.82.

The company still ended the quarter with a $42.2 million loss, though that is less than half of the loss it experience in the same quarter last year. The loss was largely due to increased expenses related to theatre reopenings. That included a significant increase in the cost of its films and food services, as well as other expenses like rent, payroll and operating expenses for theatres and amusement locations, such as The Rec Room and Playdium.

Marketing spending also increased, including $3 million in costs related to issuing Scene+ loyalty points. Other marketing costs increased by 21.9%.

Cineplex also had a roughly $300,000 charge related to ongoing litigation related to the terminated Cineworld transaction. In December, the Ontario Superior Court came to a decision in the heated legal battle between the two theatre chains, awarding Cineplex damages of $1.24 billion CAD. Cineplex had claimed Cineworld acted in bad faith in delaying and eventually terminating an acquisition deal, while Cineworld filed a counter-claim saying it was in the right to terminate the deal due to breaches on the part of Cineplex.

In its own Q1 results last month, Cineworld reiterated its intention to file an appeal to the decision, a process it expects to extend beyond the end of June.