An upbeat Cinemark CEO Sean Gamble sees the U.S. exhibition continuing to bounce back during a pandemic recovery, but had little to say Friday about how the sector will emerge after the Hollywood strikes are concluded and the major studios resume tentpole production and set release dates into 2024.
“At this point, we’re still in a waiting game here just to see when things ultimately conclude and then have those schedules play out and what it ultimately means for next year,” Gamble told analysts after the release of his third quarter financial results.
Asked about the state of the exhibition industry after the Writers Guild of America strike was resolved, and the SAG-AFTRA labor action looks to be headed to an elusive conclusion, a bullish Gamble said the major studios, key movie suppliers to major cinema chains, were looking to get back to a pre-pandemic footing after industry disruptions.
The Cinemark boss added conversations he has had with studio partners indicate they “continue to reinforce their intentions of rebuilding annual theatrical film output to pre-pandemic levels over the next two to three years, and we have received no indication that those plans have been altered by the strikes.”
Gamble did predict a flurry of new dating for upcoming studio tentpole releases will follow the official end of the Hollywood actors strike. “There’s generally a desire by the studios to plant their stakes in the ground on dates sooner versus later to claim those spots. There’s clearly motivation to get that information out there,” he said.
On Friday, exhibition giant Cinemark posted a third-quarter profit of $91.2 million, compared to a year-earlier loss of $23.9 million, as overall revenue jumped 35 percent compared with the year-ago period to a new third-quarter record of $875 million amid strong box office trends driven by blockbusters Barbie and Oppenheimer.
With the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon hitting cinema audiences from July, the company said that “July was Cinemark’s biggest domestic box office month of all time.”
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), another profitability metric, grew to $196.8 million, compared with $99.5 million a year ago.
For the three months to Sept. 31, admissions revenue jumped 36.7 percent to $443.8 million, while concession revenue rose 34.0 percent to $339.8 million. The exhibitor also touted a 27.9 percent improvement in overall attendance to 61.9 million patrons during the latest period.
In the U.S., Cinemark hosted 37.5 million patrons in the third quarter, compared to a year-ago 29.5 million. The average ticket price rose to $9.34 during the third quarter from $8.73 in the same period of 2022.
Said Gamble in a statement that accompanied his latest quarterly results: “Our third quarter results once again reflect the significant impact of our team’s dedication and skilled operating discipline, as well as the meaningful advancements of our strategic initiatives.”
He added: “As we assess the fundamental drivers of our industry’s and company’s long-term health and prosperity – particularly consumer behavior trends, key indicators for new release volume recovery over time, and the significant range of incremental revenue and productivity opportunities that are fully within our control – we remain highly optimistic about the future.”
