AMC Entertainment reports narrower-than-expected loss as moviegoers head back

AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc., the largest U.S. movie theater chain, on Monday reported a narrower-than-expected loss for the second quarter as moviegoers head back to theaters.

According to an AMC press release, the theater chain reported a net loss of 344 million U.S. dollars, or 71 cents per share, in the quarter ended June 30, 2021, down from the 561.2-million-dollars in losses, or 5.38 dollars per share during the same period last year.

The company's total revenue in the most recent financial quarter increased to 444.7 million dollars from 18.9 million dollars a year ago.

As of June 30, 2021, AMC operated 593 domestic theatres representing 100 percent of its domestic theatres and 335 international theatres representing approximately 95 percent of its international theatres, said the company, adding that the majority of international theatre operations were suspended for the first two months of the second quarter and did not reopen until early June.

AMC and other major U.S. theater chains have suffered financial hardship since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company had to suspend operations at all of its domestic and international theaters between Feb. 23 and March 17 last year in response to COVID-19 safety concerns.

Adam Aron, CEO and president of AMC, noted the second quarter of 2021 was "transformational" for the 101-year-old company.

"Thanks to increased vaccination counts in the countries we serve, we started to see rising movie going demand, and we safely welcomed more than 22 million guests back to our theatres across the globe during the course of the second quarter," said Aron, noting that new blockbuster films released during the quarter drove successive new pandemic-era box office records.

Aron added that "AMC's journey through this pandemic is not finished, and we are not yet out of the woods. However, while there are no guarantees as to what the future will bring in a still infection-impacted world, one can look ahead and envision a happy Hollywood ending to this story."

Founded in 1920, AMC is now the largest movie exhibition company in the world.