AMC Entertainment beats quarterly revenue estimates, announces dividend

An AMC theatre is pictured amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., January 27, 2021. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo

Aug 4 (Reuters) – AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc (AMC.N) reported second-quarter revenue marginally ahead of Wall Street estimates on Thursday, as big-ticket films such as “Top Gun: Maverick” drew crowds to movie halls, driving a surge in box-office collections at the world’s largest theater chain.

AMC also announced a special dividend in the form of preferred stock, to paid on Aug. 19. The company will issue one preferred equity unit for each of the 516.8 million class A common stock.

With COVID receding, consumers are increasingly returning to outdoor forms of leisure including going to the cinemas.

During the quarter, top-grossing releases including “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” and “Jurassic World Dominion” helped cinema chains continue their recovery after COVID-related closures halted movie screenings until at least the middle of last year.

Revenue in the quarter ending June 30 rose to $1.17 billion from $444.7 million a year earlier, inching past analysts’ estimate of $1.16 billion, according to Refinitiv data.

Reporting by Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri

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