Cinemark Sales Soar as Theatergoers Return

Attendance at theaters was still choppy, as the Omicron surge posed challenges at the beginning of the year. It also caused a shift in film releases that theaters like Cinemark rely on, according to Chief Executive

Sean Gamble.

Cinemark said that box-office momentum picked up in the second half of the quarter, however, as Covid cases once again fell in the U.S.

Mr. Gamble said the box-office recovery is improving, and the company is optimistic about the slate of films scheduled for release this year.

Shares of Cinemark rose 1% in premarket trading to $15.25 a share. The stock is down about 6% so far this year.

Overall for the three months ended March 31, the company posted a first-quarter loss of $74 million, compared with $208.3 million a year earlier. The loss came as Cinemark grappled with higher costs on everything from film rentals and advertising to labor and concession supplies.

The per-share loss for the quarter was 62 cents, compared with a loss of $1.75 a year earlier, the company said. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had been expecting a loss of 63 cents a share.

Revenue hit $460.5 million, compared with $114.4 million last year.  Analysts had been expecting revenue of $447.3 million.

Admissions sales rose 320% to $235.8 million, while concession sales soared almost 380%.

Attendance for the quarter was 33.1 million, while the average ticket price fell slightly to $7.12 and concession revenue per person rose modestly to $5.23, the company said.

Write to Will Feuer at [email protected]