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renew Conference Call Comments: AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron Shrugging off Covid, streaming and windows as the real issues for current screenings, saying the biggest challenge facing the industry is “above all, the need for more movies from cinema operators.”
“At this point, there’s only one topic that should be … a lot of opinions,” he said on a conference call after quarterly earnings. Studios are doing what they can to “accelerate the pace” and have “made considerable progress,” but the number of films is still down 20% to 30% from pre-pandemic levels.
Having said that, “the box office across the industry is rebounding and climbing, both domestically and globally.” He expects this weekend Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will be his biggest release the year after Top Gun: Maverick And the 2022 box office will be close to 75% of pre-pandemic levels. Next year should grow by 15% to 20%, or even more, he said.
Meanwhile, exhibitors continue to announce new programs for next year, including an upcoming AMC-branded credit card in the first quarter; AMC Perfectly Popcorn hitting grocery store shelves in the first half of the year, and recently announcing a partnership with the online meeting giant to launch a cross-market Zoom Rooms for businesses . The company is investing in new laser projectors and large-format screens, and is keeping some powder dry for more theater acquisitions.
He noted that AMC Stubs A*List’s three-movie-a-week loyalty program, which has built between 600,000 and 700,000 members, started from scratch “during Covid” and the company plans to push the program “very aggressively”. He doesn’t plan to invest in AMC On Demand. “Its usage has been low, and frankly, while it’s a good little product, I think our money is better spent elsewhere … at a time when dollars are scarce.”
“We will consider phasing out AMC On Demand or a joint venture with another party to provide the same capacity to our guests.”
Before: Major theater chain AMC Entertainment’s revenue growth and losses widened slightly last quarter, but Chief Executive Adam Aron said the outlook was stronger ahead and took action on debt reduction, financing and new projects.
Sales in the quarter ended September were $968 million, compared to $763 million in the same period in 2021. Net loss was $226 million compared to a net loss of $224 million. Earnings per share were flat at 22 cents per share.
Cash burn from operations for the quarter was negative $179.2 million. As of September 30, available liquidity was $896 million, including $211 million in unutilized capacity under the company’s revolving credit facility.
Viewership for the quarter was approximately 53.2 million, including 38.3 million in the US on more than 10,000 screens.
Operating expenses increased by $1 billion from more than $900 million in the year-ago period.
“As we anticipated and foreshadowed on our last quarterly earnings call, our third-quarter results were impacted by a particularly weak industry-wide box office in the last two-thirds of the third quarter of 2022, but encouraging Yes, our overall per-customer metrics for both quarters compared to the third quarter of 2019, enrollment revenue and food and beverage spending remained well above pre-pandemic levels, up 12% and 30%, respectively,” CEO Adam Aron said.
“Our recovery continues and we look forward with enthusiasm to returning to a stronger film lineup in the fourth quarter of 2022, with black adam. “Consecutive blockbusters include this upcoming weekend Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, strange world and Avatar: The Way of Water.
The exhibitor said it had been strengthened by recent capital markets activity, particularly debt reduction, debt refinancing and equity financing. “These actions enhance our agility and allow us to pursue strategic opportunities, such as the Zoom Rooms we recently announced at AMC, to transform our company in a post-pandemic environment. We hope that in the coming weeks and months With more business development announcements in the pipeline, AMC Entertainment will create value for all of our stakeholders as the cinema division improves,” said Aron.
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