Cineplex Swings to Quarterly Loss on Sliding Box Office

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In the first quarter, Cineplex experienced a loss instead of profit due to a decrease in ticket sales from Hollywood movies, making it a significant player in the cinema industry.

In Q1 of this year, Cineplex reported a net loss of approximately $36.6 million (equivalent to about $26.2 million USD), which is in stark contrast to the profit of CAN$5.2 million they made during the same quarter last year. Interestingly, the previous year saw them earning an impressive gain of CAN$68 million following the sale of their Player One Amusement Group business to OpenGate Capital, a private equity firm.

For this quarter, we earned CAD 264.3 million (equivalent to USD 189.7 million), which is a decrease from the previous year’s revenue of CAD 294.8 million. On the other hand, our box office revenues decreased by 18.5% to reach CAD 101.9 million (USD 73.2 million) during the same timeframe.

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The quarterly revenue was CAD 264.3 million (USD 189.7 million), down from the previous year’s figure of CAD 294.8 million. Meanwhile, our box office revenues dropped by 18.5% to reach CAD 101.9 million (USD 73.2 million) within the same timeframe.

The most significant decline in movie releases during the past quarter was particularly noticeable in March, leading to a 50% drop in box office earnings to approximately CAN$29.5 million (US$21.7 million), compared to the first quarter of 2024. The number of theater patrons decreased by 14.5% during the first quarter, amounting to 8.4 million attendees.

From the start of April up until the end of June this year, ticket sales have significantly increased, with the box office earnings in April reaching a staggering $51.3 million (or approximately $36.8 million USD). This surge can be attributed to movies such as “Sinners” and “A Minecraft Movie” being screened at Cineplex cinemas.

During the initial three months, Cineplex earned around 14.7% of its total box office income from foreign films, among which were the blockbusters Ne Zha 2 (a Chinese movie) and Chhaava (a Hindi language film).

On a recent morning conference call with analysts, CFO Gord Nelson indicated that nearly all of Cineplex’s revenue is generated within the Canadian market. As such, the company should not experience significant consequences from U.S. President Donald Trump’s global trade conflict, involving tariffs imposed on Canada.

Regarding Trump’s unexpected plan for a tariff on foreign films, CEO Ellis Jacob expressed that movie production is expected to carry on both within the US and internationally, as long as the total cost of producing each film remains acceptable.

Jacob went on to say that while he’s taken note of the recent comments, he’s not overly worried about them,” Jacob continued. After discussing with key movie suppliers, he shared his newfound confidence that Hollywood studios will carry on producing films both domestically and internationally.

Over the course of this week, I’ve come to realize that the risks involved aren’t as colossal as they initially seemed. The reason being, movie production happens all over the globe, various U.S. states included, and a significant chunk of it wraps up in California.

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2025-05-09 17:54