Difficult times lie ahead for AMC Theaters, the parent company of the Odeon cinema chain, as it confirms that its cash reserves are on the way down.
More not terrific news for the cinema exhibition industry, sadly. AMC Theaters, the parent company of Odeon, has admitted that it expects its “existing cash resources to be largely depleted by the end of 2020 or early 2021” in its latest update to investors.
As reported over at THR, AMC has said that once those funds are used up, the firm will “require additional sources of liquidity or increases in attendance levels” to meet its financial obligations.
The company had readjusted to deal with the pandemic-enforced shutdown in the US in particular, but the latest raft of movie delays has caused the fresh pressure on its finances.
This doesn’t mean it’s game over for AMC, and in turn for Odeon. But it does mean that it faces – as all cinemas currently do – significant challenges as it tries to keep going over at least the next six months, in the hope that some kind of normality returns thereafter. That, of course, is not guaranteed.
In the UK, Odeon is one of the chains that’s keeping its doors open, although it’s has reduced its opening hours across some of its sites.
AMC is now in the process of added negotiations with its landlords over lease and rent payments, and investigating the sale of some assets too. More as we hear it.
