The board of German exhibitor CinemaxX has agreed to a "massive programme of reducing costs" which should lead to a $9.6m (DM20m) improvement in its results.

The company also said that it now plans to focus on the German market, and will only pursue expansion abroad "in co-operation with a strategic partner".

Hanno Huth, president of producer-distributor Senator Entertainment, which acquired more than 25% of CinemaxX last year, was recently quoted in business weekly Focus Money as saying that the exhibitor would be forced to close several traditional cinemas which are making losses.

At the end of last year, Senator announced an "exclusive co-operation agreement" with CinemaxX, which gave it a more formalised and hands-on involvement in the exhibitor's operations. This followed news that CinemaxX was being forced to issue a profit warning because of unexpectedly low cinema admissions in the latter part of 2000.