UPDATED at 11AM PT: Cinemark will release its first-quarter earnings and address Wall Street analysts on an earnings call on June 3, in what will likely be a closely monitored status report on movie theaters’ attempt to reopen.
Earlier this month, the No. 3 U.S. theater chain had postponed its earnings report, as had top exhibitor AMC Entertainment, as it dealt with the full force of COVID-19 closures.
Cinemark execs in April said they anticipated being able to reopen in most markets by July 1, booking repertory titles ahead of the July 17 opening of Warner Bros.’ Tenet. With many states entering advanced stages of reopening in recent days and live sports plotting a return, theaters are the next logical sector to turn the lights back on. But lingering effects of lockdowns, especially in New York, are likely to complicate a bounce-back effort.
PREVIOUSLY: Cinemark Holdings, the nation’s third-largest exhibitor, will delay reporting its financials for the quarter ended in March. It said in an SEC filing Friday that it plans to report by June 11.
The company said it was impossible to get the numbers and paperwork ready in time given the enormous disruption to its business caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
“Among measures we have taken to endure the impact of the pandemic, we have furloughed 50% of our headquarter employees and reduced the work hours of the remaining employees due to a 50% pay reduction. Additionally, we have temporarily closed our corporate headquarters and issued a work from home policy for the safety of our employees and their families, following protective actions taken by state and local governments to control the spread of the pandemic,” the company said in the filing. “The above measures have in turn caused a delay in the preparation of our First Quarter Form 10-Q. We are working on a remote basis to complete and file the First Quarter Form 10-Q as expeditiously as possible under the circumstances.”
The SEC is letting companies delay filing although not many large players in media and entertainment have done it. A major exception is AMC Entertainment, which said last month it would delay both its proxy and its first-quarter filings until June.
The exhibition business, which is receiving zero revenue with all theaters shuttered, has been the hardest hit of any sector in entertainment.