AMC Entertainment Squeezed By Soft Q3 Slate But CEO Adam Aron Upbeat On New Crop Of Blockbusters, Stronger Financial Position

deadline.com:

Giant theater chain AMC Entertainment saw revenue rise and losses widen slightly last quarter but CEO Adam Aron cited a stronger slate ahead and moves on debt reduction, capital raising and new projects.

Sales of $968 million for the quarter ended in September compared with $763 million for the 2021 period. Net losses were $226 million versus $224 million.

EPS was flat at 22 cents a share. Operating cash burn for the quarter was negative $179.2 million. And available liquidity at September 30 was $896 million, including $211 million of undrawn capacity under the company’s revolving credit facility.

Attendance for the quarter was about 53.2 million, with 38.3 million in the U.S., on over 10,000 screens. Operating expenses rose, passing $1 billion from just over $900 million in the year earlier quarter. “Exactly as anticipated and foreshadowed on our last quarterly earnings call, our third quarter results were impacted by a particularly soft industry-wide box office in the latter two-thirds of the 2022 third quarter, but encouragingly our overall per-patron metrics for both admissions revenue and food and beverage spending remain well above pre-pandemic levels, growing a sizable 12% and 30%, respectively, compared to the third quarter of 2019,” said CEO Adam Aron. “Our recovery continues, and we look forward with enthusiasm to a return to a more robust film slate in the fourth quarter of 2022, which has already started strong with the release of Black Adam.” Successive blockbusters include this coming weekend’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Strange World and Avatar: The Way Of Water.