AMC Reports a Loss of $100 Million in the Third Quarter

Movie theater operator AMC reported third quarter results this week that revealed a loss of $100.4 million for the quarter.

The Kansas-based company reported a loss of 82 cents on a per share basis. Adjusted for one-time gains and costs, the losses amounted to 74 cents a share. Analysts on average had been expecting a loss of just 49 ents a share. Revenue at $1.22 billion was in line however with expectations.

The results fell short of Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for a loss of 49 cents per share.

CEO Adam M. Aron said on the earnings call, “Company-wide, we achieved the highest third quarter attendance ever for global AMC driven primarily by an 8.6% surge in attendance at our U.S. theaters. Despite U.S. and European admissions revenue that was essentially flat year-over-year for the quarter, food and beverage revenue globally was up 6.5%, other revenues globally were up 33.5%. This all led to our reporting ahead of consensus adjusted EBITDA for the quarter of $142.4 million. That figure was significantly ahead of our internal expectations going into the quarter.

He added, “And when combined with our stellar first half results, nine month year-to-date adjusted EBITDA for all of AMC now stands at $665.1 million, which is up a dramatic 24.5% over the first nine months of 2017. $665.1 million of adjusted EBITDA this year so far versus $534.3 million of adjusted EBITDA last year so far, that’s an increase of $130.8 million. Can I repeat that figure for emphasis? AMC’s adjusted EBITDA is running more than $130 million ahead of last year for the same nine month time period. Accordingly, we can now say with high confidence that from an adjusted EBITDA standpoint, full-year 2018 will be a record year for AMC, the best ever in AMC’s 98-year history exhibiting movies.”

Disclaimer: We have no position in AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AMC) and have not been compensated for this article.