Harry Potter and the theatre owner’s record profit

The group which owns the theatre behind Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has achieved a record profit for its latest financial year.
Nimax Theatres has posted a pre-tax profit of £10m for the 12 months to 29 September, 2024, new accounts filed with Companies House have revealed.
The total comes after the business reported a pre-tax profit of £7.5m for the prior year.
The results also show the group, which owns the Palace, Garrick, Duchess, Vaudeville, Apollo and Lyric theatres, increased its turnover from £32.8m to £35.5m.
A statement signed off by the board said: “Weekly trading results were consistently strong throughout much of the year.
“Much of the strong performance for the year was due to the continuation of long running shows.”
It added: “The company continued to invest in its theatres and, despite a full programme of shows playing at all the venues, managed to deliver a programme of maintenance and replacement during the year.
“Good overall demand for the Nimax shows has helped to underpin strong levels of advance bookings and cash reserves during the year.”
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child theatre success amid stage show losses
The results come after City AM reported in December that the company behind the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child stage play remained in the red amid falling sales and show closures.
The joint venture which produces the show across the world has reported a turnover of £41.3m for the year to 31 March, 2024, down from the £45.2m it achieved in the prior 12 months.
Accounts filed with Companies House also showed its pre-tax loss went from £960,026 to £876,003 over the same period.
The last time the joint venture made a pre-tax profit was the £955,945 it achieved in the year to 31 October, 2020.
Harry Potter Theatrical Productions was founded by JK Rowling and Neil Blair in 2013 to develop and produce the stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
The team works with Sonia Friedman Productions and Colin Callender’s Playground through their joint venture, HPCC Group, to produce and invest in or licence the play.