AMC院线集团赚钱出新招

    本周早些时候，全美第二大院线集团AMC娱乐控股集团公司（AMC Entertainment）股票重新上市，这是自2000年互联网泡沫巅峰以来，美国股市IPO最大丰收年的收官之作。

    尽管股票募集规模无法与Twitter或希尔顿（Hilton）相媲美，但是投资者坚信，这家院线集团已经成功破解了电影业缺失的环节——餐饮。

    无论上述尝试最终是否能够成功，AMC公司正在进行着其他竞争者没有尝试过的事情，尤其是在院线行业面临票房收入不断下滑的背景下。这家总部设在堪萨斯州利伍德的院线连锁店通过销售餐饮和高端食品来增加每位电影观众的人均消费。AMC娱乐控股集团公司拥有343家影院的4,950块银幕，是紧随帝王娱乐集团（Regal Entertainment）之后的全美第二大院线集团。

    上周三，AMC公司在纽约股市以每股18美元发行了1,840万股，募集到了3.32亿美元。它的发行价处于18到20美元预估股价区间的底部。首个交易日股价上涨90美分，以18.9美元报收——考虑到这家公司上市前在市场营销方面的投入（允许忠实拥趸按照与大投资者同等的价格购买股票），这点成绩只能算是过得去，绝算不上骄人。周五时，这只股价再次上涨，报收19.68美元。

    很显然，投资者相信AMC公司颇具盈利能力，但是首次公开募股的表现也显示出投资者十分谨慎。截至9月30日的9个月里，这家公司报告利润8,480万美元，一洗上一年度亏损430万美元的颓势。但是，它的增长有些缓慢。同一时期里，AMC公司新增了3家影院25块银幕，但也关闭了4家影院的29块银幕。

    AMC集团首席执行官格里•洛佩兹表示，首次公开募股得来的资金主要用于偿还公司债务——截至9月30日，它的债务依然高达21.9亿美元。AMC公司还计划投资进行影院升级，通过影院内餐饮来增加收入中高端因素，比如在它加利福利亚州马里纳戴尔瑞新开的影院，观众可以坐在影院全皮靠背沙发中，尽情享用美食和饮料，包括啤酒和葡萄酒。

    总部设在纽约、研究私人持股公司的研究机构Privco Media资深分析师艾德利安•洛扎多指出，AMC公司的这些策略旨在吸引更多观众走出舒适的小家，来影院看电影。但是，这些举措并没有增加票房的销售额，不过是增加影院拥趸们的消费额。AMC公司还计划安装更宽敞、更舒适的座椅，意味着影院里容纳的座位数量将更少。洛扎多说：“这个举措的确很大胆。”

    AMC公司2004年被私人持有，在周三首次公开募股之前，也曾有过几次重新上市的尝试。2006年，由于部分投资者希望收回投资，公司一度计划公开募股，募集7.5亿美元。但因为投资者不太接受17美元的股价而最终作罢。2007年9月，它以按比例缩减发行量的方式再次尝试公开发行股票，但因遭遇金融危机而再次搁浅。2012年，第三次尝试公开发行股票的努力，但又因中国最大的娱乐集团万达（Wanda）以26亿美元收购该院线连锁集团而搁置。

    事实上，AMC公司至今一直在挣扎。尽管投资者对它的前景十分乐观，但是电影观众对新举措是否买账仍不明朗。（财富中文网）

    译者：邓婕

    AMC Entertainment, the nation's second-largest movie theater chain, returned to the public market earlier this week, closing off what has become the best year for IPOs since the peak of the dotcom bubble in 2000.

    The public offering wasn't nearly as big as Twitter's (TWTR) or Hilton's (HLT), but investors nonetheless made a decent bet that the chain has deciphered what's missing at the movies: dinner.

    Whether that's actually the case is up for grabs, but AMC is doing what competitors aren't at a time when declining ticket sales have weighed on theaters industrywide. The Leawood, Kan.-based chain is looking to generate more revenue per patron through the sale of dinner and higher-end food options -- something smaller independent theaters have tried. With interests in 343 theaters with 4,950 screens, it is the second-biggest theater operator in the U.S., next to Regal Entertainment.

    In its debut on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday, AMC (AMC) raised $332 million, selling 18.4 million shares at $18 a share. That share price came in at the low end of its expected price range of $18 to $20 a share. The stock closed 90 cents higher at $18.90 on its first day of trading -- a decent but not spectacular pop, considering the heavy marketing AMC did in the months leading to its IPO. (It offered some loyal movie goers a chance to buy shares at the same price big investors pay). On Friday, the stock closed higher, at $19.68 a share.

    It's clear investors believe that AMC could be more profitable, but the IPO also signals that they're cautious, too. The company reported a profit of $84.8 million during the nine months ended Sept. 30, reversing a $43 million loss from a year ago. However, growth is somewhat slow. AMC opened three theaters with 25 screens but closed four with 29 screens during that same time period.

    AMC Chief Executive Gerry Lopez has said the proceeds from the IPO will be used primarily to pay down the company's debt -- $2.19 billion as of Sept. 30. AMC also plans to invest in theater upgrades, adding more upscale elements to its venues with in-theater dinning options, similar to its recently opened location in Marina Del Ray, Calif., where patrons can order food and drinks, including beer and wine, while sitting in reclining leather seats.

    The strategy could be viewed as AMC's attempt to lure more patrons to the theater and away from watching movies in the comfort of their homes. However, the strategy isn't so much a way to increase ticket sales as it is to get already hooked movie goers to spend more, says Adriana Lozado, senior analyst at Privco Media, a New York-based research firm that tracks privately held companies. AMC is also planning to install bigger and comfier seats, which also means fewer seats in each theater. "It's a pretty bold move," Lozado says.

    Before Wednesday's IPO, AMC had made several attempts to reenter the public market after going private in 2004. It filed for a $750 million IPO in 2006 as investors looked to recoup some of their investments in the company. But AMC withdrew that offering after investors balked at the $17-a-share asking price. The company tried again in September 2007 with a scaled-back stock offering, but withdrew the plan that year as the financial crisis unraveled. And in 2012, the chain put aside plans for an IPO before Wanda, China's largest entertainment group, agreed to buy AMC for $2.6 billion.

    Indeed, it has been a struggle at AMC. And while investors seem optimistic, it's far from clear if moviegoers will buy into its new approach.