IMAX Corp. on Wednesday reported a 40 percent hike in revenues to $85.1 million and profits that doubled to $10.5 million in the third quarter, and the blockbuster-laden end of the year promises things could get even better for the giant screen company.
A solid domestic and foreign driven by “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” and “Ant-Man,” a successful public stock offering in China and the fruits of an ongoing building binge contributed to the gains, according to IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond.
Theater sales and leases added $26.6 million of income to the ledger, way up from the $6.6 million in the third quarter of 2014, and Gelfond said the theater expansion would be accelerated in 2016 and 2017.
The revenue figure easily topped analyst estimates that had the company taking in $77.7 million, and the adjusted earnings per share of 17 cents topped the 16-cent projection of Wall Street had been looking for earnings of 16 cents.
“In addition to our strong third-quarter financial results, over the last few months we have accomplished several important strategic and financial objectives,” said Gelfond,
“We successfully listed shares of IMAX China on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, we bought back 1 million shares of IMAX Corporation’s stock at an average price of $34.25 and we have been installing IMAX theater systems at an accelerated pace around the globe,,” he said.
Box-office returns in the third quarter hit $190 million, $129 million of which came from overseas. The gross box office for the Toronto-based company would have been $20 million higher, but took a hit from unfavorable foreign exchange rates thanks to the strong dollar, Gelfond said.
In the quarter, the company installed 44 theaters, 34 of which were for new theater locations, and signed contracts for 35 IMAX systems, of which 33 were for new locations and two were for upgrades. The company built a dozen new full theater systems during the period, bringing its network to 1,008 systems.
That all adds up to a pretty good third quarter, and the end of the year could be even better.
“We look forward to the upcoming releases of the latest Bond installment ‘Spectre,’ the final ‘Hunger Games’ chapter and, of course, the much-anticipated ‘Star Wars,’” Gelfond said.
“We believe the combination of our network growth, heightened levels of demand for the IMAX experience and our strong balance sheet will enable us to capitalize on the upcoming fourth quarter film slate as well as the film slates of 2016 and 2017,” he said.
IMAX stock closed Wednesday up roughly half a cent to $38.16. it climbed to $38.88 in after-hours trading.