National Cinemedia, Inc. key statistics and ratios

In fiscal 2025, National Cinemedia, Inc. had return on equity of -2.7%, an operating margin of -5.7%, debt equal to 3.2% of equity and a current ratio of 2.22. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.

Financial ratios

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal years, plus the last twelve months (LTM) when newer.

National Cinemedia, Inc.: financial ratios, annual
Fiscal year	2009Dec 2009	2010Dec 2010	2011Dec 2011	2012Dec 2012	2013Dec 2013	2014Jan 2015	2015Dec 2015	2016Dec 2016	2017Dec 2017	2018Dec 2018	2019Dec 2019	2020Dec 2020	2021Dec 2021	2022Dec 2022	2023Dec 2023	2024Dec 2024	2025Jan 2026	LTMJul 2026
Gross margin	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	93.6%	94.3%	94.7%	94.2%
Operating margin	44.2%	44.6%	44.5%	42.7%	43.6%	38.5%	33.1%	38.7%	36.1%	35.0%	36.3%	−67.5%	−59.9%	2.8%	−16.5%	−8.1%	−5.7%	−7.1%
Net margin	6.9%	6.8%	7.2%	3.0%	8.9%	3.4%	2.5%	7.4%	13.7%	6.8%	8.1%	−72.3%	−42.5%	−11.5%	426.9%	−9.3%	−4.4%	−3.1%
Free-cash-flow margin	34.1%	31.3%	34.1%	15.9%	30.9%	27.7%	20.8%	26.9%	29.9%	30.8%	29.1%	52.3%	−88.0%	−20.1%	−6.1%	22.6%	1.2%	7.9%
Return on equity	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	−5.3%	−2.7%	−2.1%
Return on assets	—	3.4%	3.8%	1.6%	4.4%	1.3%	1.1%	3.0%	5.0%	2.6%	3.2%	−6.5%	−5.7%	−3.6%	103.7%	−3.9%	−2.0%	−1.6%
Asset turnover	—	0.50	0.52	0.55	0.49	0.38	0.43	0.40	0.37	0.38	0.39	0.09	0.13	0.31	0.24	0.42	0.46	0.53
Current ratio	—	1.69	1.59	2.42	2.02	1.61	1.63	1.83	1.94	2.09	2.13	4.00	2.27	0.14	2.46	2.42	2.22	1.84
Debt to equity	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	2.3%	2.4%	3.2%	3.6%
Interest cover (operating income ÷ interest)	3.6x	4.3x	3.9x	3.4x	3.9x	2.9x	2.8x	3.2x	2.9x	2.8x	2.8x	n/m	n/m	0.1x	n/m	n/m	n/m	n/m
Effective tax rate	14.0%	13.3%	16.2%	29.0%	13.5%	13.1%	24.7%	13.2%	61.2%	22.7%	12.5%	—	—	—	0.0%	—	—	—
R&D as % of revenue	—	0.3%	0.2%	0.2%	0.4%	0.4%	0.3%	0.8%	0.8%	0.4%	0.8%	2.1%	1.5%	1.8%	1.8%	1.4%	1.3%	—
Capital spending as % of revenue	2.2%	2.4%	3.1%	2.3%	2.2%	2.2%	2.8%	2.9%	2.7%	3.2%	3.1%	8.8%	5.0%	1.2%	2.0%	2.4%	2.3%	1.7%
Free cash flow ÷ net income	497.7%	457.5%	470.8%	531.3%	347.1%	814.9%	820.4%	366.6%	218.4%	456.7%	359.0%	—	—	—	−1.4%	—	—	—
Dividends ÷ net income	105.4%	118.8%	143.8%	363.4%	119.4%	604.5%	462.8%	166.0%	100.7%	182.6%	148.5%	—	—	—	0.1%	—	—	—
Dividends and buybacks ÷ free cash flow	21.2%	26.0%	30.5%	68.4%	34.4%	74.2%	56.4%	45.3%	46.1%	40.0%	41.4%	67.7%	—	—	—	24.6%	>999%	80.7%

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal quarters.

National Cinemedia, Inc.: financial ratios, quarterly
Quarter	2024 Q3Sept 2024	2024 Q4Dec 2024	2025 Q1Mar 2025	2025 Q2Jun 2025	2025 Q3Sept 2025	2025 Q4Jan 2026	2026 Q1Apr 2026	2026 Q2Jul 2026
Gross margin	94.7%	96.4%	91.1%	93.8%	95.0%	96.1%	88.2%	93.7%
Operating margin	−12.0%	23.1%	−68.5%	−23.2%	−2.8%	25.5%	−79.1%	−21.9%
Net margin	−5.8%	28.6%	−88.0%	−20.7%	2.5%	31.4%	−84.1%	−17.0%
Free-cash-flow margin	−4.2%	32.6%	15.2%	−12.7%	−3.2%	6.5%	52.4%	−3.8%
Current ratio	2.46	2.42	2.29	1.74	1.90	2.22	1.82	1.84
Debt to equity	2.6%	2.4%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	3.2%	3.5%	3.6%

Returns use average equity or assets over the year. Return on equity is left blank when equity is negative or so small that the ratio says nothing (above ±200%); interest cover is left blank above 200 times. Price-based ratios such as P/E are on the valuation page.

Financial health

5 of 6 checks passed · July 2, 2026

What it owns · $446m

Short-term assets $112mLonger-term assets $335m

What it owes, and who funded it · $446m

Short-term liabilities $61mLonger-term liabilities $51mShareholders' equity $334m

Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $112m of assets due within a year against $61m of liabilities due within a year.
Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities $112m short-term assets against $51m of longer-dated liabilities.
More cash than debt $43m of cash against $12m of debt.
Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 4% of equity.
Debt burden no higher than five years ago Five-year comparison not available. Not assessable.
A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt $24m of operating cash flow against $12m of debt.
Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Operating income of −$18m against $700,000 of interest.

From National Cinemedia, Inc.'s latest balance sheet as filed. Checks are fixed, documented rules (methodology), counted only where the company reports the figures — a dot means the filing doesn't break the item out. Descriptions of reported data, not advice.

Moat

23 /100

Weak moat

How hard National Cinemedia's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 10 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.

Returns on capital 0 / 20

Net income has been a median 1.5% of total assets over 10 years.
Durability 10 / 20

Operating margin has been a median -6.5%; its worst year was -243.3%.
Cash conversion 12 / 20

Free cash flow was positive in 7 of 10 years, at a median 9.1% of revenue.
Discipline 9 / 20

The diluted share count rose 1099.3% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 2.8% of revenue.

AI disruption exposure: High. In this industry, the core product is information work that AI systems increasingly perform. The score above includes a 15-point deduction for that exposure (38 before it).

A rules-based reading of reported figures, not a forecast and not investment advice. How the score is built: methodology.

Compare with peers

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Figures from National Cinemedia, Inc.'s SEC filings (10-K and 10-Q), retrieved October 29, 2026. How we read and check them: methodology and data sources. Not investment advice. Back to National Cinemedia, Inc.