FEARS over the future of Cineworld receded today after the world’s second-biggest cinema operator revealed that it had secured $450 million of fresh debt reports The Times.

A package of measures, together worth more than $750 million, includes an agreement from its banks to waive covenants until June 2022 and the extension of a $111 million revolving credit facility from next month to May 2024.

On top, it issued equity warrants to its banks and accelerated the closing of its tax year to bring forward an expected tax refund of more than $200 million to early next year.

The shares, down almost three quarters over the past year amid fears over its debt mountain, bounced 20 per cent higher, gaining 9¼p to 55¼p, as the new financing and progress on developing vaccines raised hopes over its prospects.

Mooky Greidinger, 68, chief executive of Cineworld, said that together the measures would deliver more than $750 million of extra liquidity to secure its short-term future as it reopens its venues next year and provides movie fans with “an exciting and full slate of films”.

However, the group hinted that the fresh financing did not affect the possibility of a company voluntary arrangement in its UK business as it seeks to cut rents at its 127 cinemas up and down the country, some of which could be permanently closed.

Cineworld, which started life in 1995, operates under the Cineworld and Picturehouse brands. Having listed on the stock market in 2007, it completed a transformative deal in early 2018 to buy Regal, the second largest cinema chain in the United States, for $5.8 billion. It has 778 venues in ten countries.

Having reopened its cinemas in the UK after the first lockdown, it closed them again in early October as the big film studios delayed the release of blockbusters including Wonder Woman 1984 and No Time To Die, the latest James Bond movie. It laid off the majority of its 45,000 employees in Britain and America.

As a result of the new financing arrangements, it will emerge with gross debt financing of $4.9 billion at an average interest rate of 4.5 per cent. Its lenders will receive equity warrants equating to 9.99 per cent of the company’s share capital.

The measures were announced alongside an update on further operational cost savings in which it said that, while its cinemas remained closed, it had cut its monthly cash spend by about $60 million, partly thanks to rent deferrals and new lease deals with landlords.

Cineworld, which has been working with its advisers on “multiple scenarios”, said that its “base case” scenario assumed its cinemas would reopen no later than next May, giving it sufficient financial headroom for “2021 and beyond”.

However, it cautioned that in the event of a further delay to reopening, it would have sufficient liquidity to last only for a few more months and it “may require lender support in order to deploy that liquidity”.

The company also warned investors that it would “continue to consider all options to ensure that its business remains viable” in view of uncertainty over the duration of the pandemic and its impact on operating restrictions and the pipeline of films.

It said it was “continuing discussions with landlords across the group’s estate and other key stakeholders to manage costs”, seen as a clear hint at a looming CVA.