AMC 電影院 (AMC) 2022 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the AMC Entertainment Third Quarter 2022 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Today's call is being recorded Tuesday, November 8, 2022.

您好，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 AMC Entertainment 2022 年第三季度收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）今天的通話將於 2022 年 11 月 8 日星期二進行錄音。

And now I'd like to turn the conference over to John Merriwether. Please go ahead.

現在我想把會議交給 John Merriwether。請繼續。

Thank you, Scott. Good afternoon, everyone. I'd like to welcome everyone to AMC's Third Quarter 2022 Earnings Webcast.

謝謝你，斯科特。大家下午好。我想歡迎大家參加 AMC 的 2022 年第三季度收益網絡廣播。

With me this afternoon is Adam Aron, our Chairman and CEO; and Sean Goodman, our Chief Financial Officer.

今天下午和我在一起的是我們的董事長兼首席執行官 Adam Aron；和我們的首席財務官肖恩·古德曼。

So before I turn the call and the webcast over to Adam, let me remind everyone that some of the comments made by management during this webcast may contain forward-looking statements that are based on management's current expectations. Numerous risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause actual results to differ materially from those that might be expressed today. Many of these risks and uncertainties are discussed in our most recent public filings, including our most recently filed 10-K and 10-Q. Several of the factors that will determine the company's future results are beyond the ability of the company to control or predict. In light of the uncertainties inherent in any forward-looking statements, listeners are cautioned to not place undue reliance on these statements. The company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information or future events.

因此，在我將電話和網絡廣播轉給亞當之前，讓我提醒大家，管理層在這次網絡廣播中發表的一些評論可能包含基於管理層當前預期的前瞻性陳述。許多風險、不確定性和其他因素可能導致實際結果與今天可能表達的結果大不相同。我們最近的公開文件中討論了其中許多風險和不確定性，包括我們最近提交的 10-K 和 10-Q。決定公司未來業績的幾個因素超出了公司控製或預測的能力。鑑於任何前瞻性陳述中固有的不確定性，請聽眾注意不要過分依賴這些陳述。公司不承擔因新信息或未來事件而修改或更新任何前瞻性陳述的義務。

On this webcast, we may reference non-GAAP financial measures, such as adjusted EBITDA, constant currency, operating cash burn, among others. For a full reconciliation of our non-GAAP measures to GAAP results, please see our earnings release posted in the Investor Relations section of our website earlier today.

在此網絡廣播中，我們可能會參考非 GAAP 財務指標，例如調整後的 EBITDA、固定貨幣、運營現金消耗等。有關我們的非 GAAP 措施與 GAAP 結果的全面協調，請參閱我們今天早些時候在我們網站的投資者關係部分發布的收益發布。

After our prepared remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. This afternoon's webcast is being recorded, and a replay will be available in the Investor Relations section of our website at amctheatres.com later today.

在我們準備好的發言之後，將有一個問答環節。正在錄製今天下午的網絡直播，今天晚些時候將在我們網站 amctheatres.com 的投資者關係部分提供重播。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Adam.

有了這個，我會把電話轉給亞當。

Thank you, John. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. Even with the third quarter financially being flattish, we join you on this call today brimming with confidence that the recovery of AMC Entertainment is well underway.

謝謝你，約翰。大家下午好，感謝您今天加入我們。即使第三季度的財務狀況平淡，我們今天與您一起參加這次電話會議，對 AMC Entertainment 的複蘇正在順利進行充滿信心。

AMC welcomed more than 53 million guests to our theaters around the world in Q3 of 2022, a 33% increase compared to the third quarter of 2021. On our last quarterly webcast, we were encouraged that the July industry-wide domestic box office was down only 12% from the pre-pandemic July of 2019, but we also did predict quite correctly that there would be a dearth of big movie titles being released in August and September of this year. Even so, we also were ebullient about the movies coming out in the fourth quarter of 2022 and in calendar year 2023, and that is precisely our view again today.

2022 年第三季度，AMC 在全球的影院迎來了超過 5300 萬觀眾，與 2021 年第三季度相比增長了 33%。在我們上一個季度的網絡直播中，我們受到鼓舞的是 7 月份全行業的國內票房下降僅比 2019 年 7 月大流行前的 12%，但我們也確實非常正確地預測，今年 8 月和 9 月上映的大電影將很少。即便如此，我們也對 2022 年第四季度和 2023 日曆年上映的電影充滿熱情，而這正是我們今天的觀點。

Despite a lackluster August and September, we're seeing that the industry-wide box office is already on a rebound, both domestically and globally, clawing and climbing its way back. And looking at the fourth quarter of 2022, it's worth noting that Warner Bros.' Black Adam released in mid-October had the highest domestic box office opening weekend growth of all time for any movie featuring Dwayne Johnson as the leading man. I also can confirm today that our advanced bookings at AMC and Odeon for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever are frothy and robust. We are about as certain as we can be, that the so-called Black Panther 2 will be one of the biggest movies of the year and that its ticket sales might even cause it to rise as high as the second biggest movie of 2022, behind only Top Gun: Maverick. And of course, Q4 will continue with Disney's Strange World, with James Cameron's Avatar: The Way of Water and with Damien Chazelle's Babylon.

儘管 8 月和 9 月表現平淡，但我們看到整個行業的票房已經在國內和全球範圍內出現反彈，並開始回升。看看 2022 年第四季度，值得注意的是華納兄弟。 10 月中旬上映的《黑亞當》在所有以道恩·強森為主角的電影中創下了有史以來最高的國內首映週末票房增長率。我今天還可以確認，我們在 AMC 和 Odeon 為 Black Panther：Wakanda Forever 的提前預訂是泡沫和穩健的。我們幾乎可以肯定，所謂的黑豹 2 將成為今年最大的電影之一，它的票房甚至可能會使其升至 2022 年的第二大電影，僅次於只有壯志凌雲：特立獨行。當然，第四季度將繼續迪士尼的奇異世界，詹姆斯卡梅隆的阿凡達：水之道和達米安查澤爾的巴比倫。

Anchored by a strengthening fourth quarter of 2022, let's get a better sense of this recovery by briefly going back to the beginning. Recall that when the pandemic hit the scene in early 2020, the industry-wide domestic box office, which is the basic measurement of the size of our industry, fell by more than 4/5 for the full year of 2020, leading to the lowest box office grosses since 1981. But in comparing to 2020, the domestic box office more than doubled in 2021. Our expectation for the full year of 2022 when this year is all over is that the domestic box office will have dramatically risen and increased yet again by not quite but almost by 75%. And while no one's crystal ball is perfect this far in advance, based on our analysis of the movie titles currently expected to be released in 2023, we think that next year's box office should grow yet again by between 15% and 25% and possibly by even more.

以強勁的 2022 年第四季度為基礎，讓我們通過簡單地回到起點來更好地了解這種複蘇。回想2020年初疫情來襲時，作為我們行業規模基本衡量標準的全行業國內票房在2020年全年跌幅超過4/5，跌至最低自1981年以來票房收入。但與2020年相比，2021年國內票房翻了一番以上。我們對今年結束的2022年全年的預期是國內票房將再次大幅上漲和增加不完全，但幾乎是 75%。雖然沒有人的水晶球能提前這麼多完美，但根據我們對目前預計將於 2023 年上映的電影片名的分析，我們認為明年的票房應該會再次增長 15% 到 25%，甚至可能增長更。

Our confidence in looking ahead stems not only from a growing industry-wide box office but also because of the demonstrated agility of the AMC Board and management team to skillfully navigate our way through crisis. Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have taken bold and decisive steps to ensure a recovery for AMC Entertainment by taking action after action after action, to enhance our marketing appeal and our operating profitability while at the same time brilliantly raising capital.

我們對展望未來的信心不僅來自不斷增長的全行業票房，還因為 AMC 董事會和管理團隊表現出的敏捷性，能夠巧妙地度過危機。自大流行開始以來，我們採取了大膽而果斷的措施，通過採取行動後採取行動確保AMC Entertainment的複蘇，以提高我們的營銷吸引力和運營盈利能力，同時出色地籌集資金。

Over the last 2.5 years, AMC took in some $2.2 billion of new equity proceeds and another $2.6 billion of debt financings. In addition, we were able to amicably negotiate almost $1.5 billion of further benefit from asset sales, government support and concessions from both our lenders and our theater landlords.

在過去 2.5 年中，AMC 獲得了約 22 億美元的新股本收益和另外 26 億美元的債務融資。此外，我們能夠友好地協商從資產出售、政府支持和貸款人和劇院業主的讓步中獲得近 15 億美元的進一步收益。

Accordingly, at the end of the third quarter, AMC had just under $900 million of liquidity. Having ample liquidity is a bedrock of strength. We will use ours both to continue to grow but also to continue to delever.

因此，在第三季度末，AMC 的流動資金略低於 9 億美元。擁有充足的流動性是實力的基石。我們將利用我們的資源繼續增長，同時繼續去槓桿化。

Our smart financing activities include the recently announced refinancing just a few weeks ago of our $400 million Odeon term loan in Europe, taking the debt paid off to $144 million so far this year in total. And there is also the introduction of our preferred equity units or APEs in August. In launching them, we said that the creation of APEs was nothing less than an all defining moment in AMC's future as it gave us a new currency to help AMC to grow, to delever and to raise capital. We also said at the time to those who feared mindless delusions that we would treat our new A preferred stock -- that we would treat it as precious and we will continue to do so. So far, we have raised only $37 million of equity proceeds from the sale of APEs into the market. We have indeed been careful.

我們的明智融資活動包括幾週前最近宣布的對我們在歐洲的 4 億美元 Odeon 定期貸款的再融資，使今年迄今為止償還的債務總額達到 1.44 億美元。此外，我們還在 8 月份推出了我們的優先股或 APE。在推出它們時，我們說 APE 的創建不亞於 AMC 未來的一個決定性時刻，因為它為我們提供了一種新的貨幣來幫助 AMC 成長、去槓桿和籌集資金。我們當時還對那些擔心會產生盲目妄想的人說，我們會對待我們的新 A 優先股——我們會將其視為寶貴的，我們將繼續這樣做。到目前為止，我們僅從向市場出售 APE 中籌集了 3700 萬美元的股權收益。我們確實很小心。

As to APEs specifically, each AMC preferred equity unit was designed of essentially similar economics and voting rights as an AMC common share. But markets are markets. They act on their own accord, and they are out of our direct day-to-day control. Even so, we continue to be convinced that over time, the availability of APEs will serve their purpose for AMC Entertainment well to help AMC to grow, to delever and to raise capital.

具體到 APE，每個 AMC 優先股單位的設計具有與 AMC 普通股基本相似的經濟和投票權。但市場就是市場。它們是按自己的意願行事，並且不受我們日常的直接控制。即便如此，我們仍然堅信，隨著時間的推移，APE 的可用性將很好地服務於 AMC 娛樂的目的，幫助 AMC 發展、去槓桿和籌集資金。

Taken together, all of the actions that we've taken have allowed AMC Entertainment to successfully navigate our way through the impacts of the COVID pandemic. And by contrast, we did so while several of our competitors, both big and small, were forced into bankruptcy protection or some other form of reorganization or liquidation.

總而言之，我們採取的所有行動都使 AMC Entertainment 能夠成功應對 COVID 大流行的影響。相比之下，我們這樣做的同時，我們的幾個競爭對手，無論大小，都被迫破產保護或其他形式的重組或清算。

In 2021 and 2022, we wisely pruned our circuit by adding theaters where it made sense to do so and by aggressively shedding about 7% of our theaters. Indeed, AMC and Odeon permanently closed old or tired buildings with marginal or negative profitability that had reached the end of their productive life cycles. At the same time, though, we also have been able to grow our network by profitably adding attractive theaters, either built from scratch and appealing locations or those picked up from our competitors who may have stumbled.

在 2021 年和 2022 年，我們明智地修剪了我們的巡迴賽，在合理的情況下增加了影院，並積極削減了大約 7% 的影院。事實上，AMC 和 Odeon 永久關閉了已達到其生產生命週期終點的利潤微薄或負數的陳舊或陳舊建築。不過，與此同時，我們也能夠通過增加有吸引力的劇院來盈利，從而擴大我們的網絡，這些劇院要么是從零開始建造和吸引人的地點，要么是從我們可能跌跌撞撞的競爭對手那裡挑選出來的。

I should point out that with $900 million of quarter-ending liquidity, our eyes are keenly open to new such opportunity as it may arise, tempered only by my previous comment that preserving ample liquidity and delevering are also high priorities for us. We also have a number of bold ideas about how we can broaden our business, which I will talk about specifically later on this call.

我應該指出，憑藉 9 億美元的季度末流動性，我們對可能出現的新機會保持著敏銳的眼光，但我之前的評論只是保持充足的流動性和去槓桿化也是我們的重中之重。對於如何擴大業務，我們也有一些大膽的想法，我將在本次電話會議稍後專門討論。

So that's where we are 2.5 years into our COVID-19 journey. We're not out of the woods yet. While the box office is unmistakably on the rise, it's still falling short of pre-pandemic levels. Adding to all that, inflation has ramped up, and interest rates are marching upwards.

這就是我們進入 COVID-19 旅程 2.5 年的地方。我們還沒有走出困境。儘管票房無疑在上升，但仍低於大流行前的水平。除此之外，通貨膨脹已經加劇，利率正在上升。

In summary, though, as I said at the beginning of this webcast, we are brimming with confidence. We know what we're doing, and we will manage AMC with all of our skill and determination as we strive to rise to the challenge.

總之，正如我在本次網絡廣播開始時所說，我們充滿信心。我們知道自己在做什麼，並且在努力迎接挑戰的同時，我們將用我們所有的技能和決心來管理 AMC。

With that, I'm going to pass the call to Sean Goodman, our CFO. After that, I'll come back to talk about some key developments and answer your questions.

有了這個，我將把電話轉給我們的首席財務官 Sean Goodman。在那之後，我會回來談談一些關鍵的發展並回答你的問題。

Thank you, Adam, and thank you to everyone for joining us this afternoon. While the third quarter started off strong, August and September were as we expected, relatively quiet. Nonetheless, the quarter still saw revenue growth of 27%, and that number is 32% in constant currency when compared to the third quarter of 2021.

謝謝你，亞當，謝謝大家今天下午加入我們。雖然第三季度開局強勁，但 8 月和 9 月正如我們預期的那樣，相對平靜。儘管如此，該季度的收入仍增長了 27%，與 2021 年第三季度相比，這一數字以固定匯率計算為 32%。

Comparing Q3 2022 to the prior year's third quarter, the growth in revenue was offset by box office concentration with a resulting increase in film exhibition costs, a reduction in government assistance and inflationary cost pressures. The result for the quarter was a small consolidated adjusted EBITDA loss of $12.9 million compared to a $5.3 million loss a year ago.

將 2022 年第三季度與去年第三季度相比，收入的增長被票房集中度所抵消，導致電影放映成本增加、政府援助減少和通脹成本壓力。本季度的結果是合併調整後的 EBITDA 虧損 1290 萬美元，而一年前的虧損為 530 萬美元。

Note that our domestic adjusted EBITDA in Q3 of $1.2 million was an improvement of $31.3 million compared to the prior year. While the international business, which enjoyed meaningful government assistance in 2021, experienced an adjusted EBITDA loss of $14.1 million compared to adjusted EBITDA of $24.7 million a year ago.

請注意，我們在第三季度的國內調整後 EBITDA 為 120 萬美元，與去年相比增加了 3130 萬美元。雖然在 2021 年享受到有意義的政府援助的國際業務經歷了調整後的 EBITDA 虧損 1,410 萬美元，而一年前調整後的 EBITDA 為 2,470 萬美元。

Now let's just step back and look at our recovery over the last 9 months. Year-to-date, consolidated adjusted EBITDA is a positive $32 million compared to an adjusted EBITDA loss of $450 million for the same period a year ago. That's approaching $0.5 billion of adjusted EBITDA improvement so far this year.

現在讓我們退後一步，看看我們過去 9 個月的恢復情況。年初至今，合併調整後 EBITDA 為正 3200 萬美元，而去年同期調整後 EBITDA 虧損為 4.5 億美元。今年到目前為止，調整後的 EBITDA 改善接近 5 億美元。

As has consistently been the case in this recovery period, our per guest performance metrics remain markedly better than pre-pandemic 2019. For Q3 2022, on a consolidated basis, total revenue per patron was $18.21, approximately 21% higher than Q3 of 2019. This was driven by admissions revenue per patron growth of 12%, food and beverage revenue per patron growth of 30% and other revenue growth per patron of 48%, all compared to the third quarter of 2019.

與本恢復期的一貫情況一樣，我們的每位客人績效指標仍明顯好於 2019 年大流行前。2022 年第三季度，在綜合基礎上，每位顧客的總收入為 18.21 美元，比 2019 年第三季度高出約 21%。這是由於與 2019 年第三季度相比，每位顧客的入場收入增長了 12%，每位顧客的餐飲收入增長了 30%，每位顧客的其他收入增長了 48%。

Taking a closer look at the domestic business. Admissions revenue per patron increased by 15% compared to Q3 2019 to $10.90, and our international business achieved a 2% increase to $8.60. Normalizing for the strength of the U.S. dollar compared to 2019, international admissions revenue per patron increased by 10% in constant currency.

仔細看看國內業務。與 2019 年第三季度相比，每位顧客的入場收入增長了 15%，達到 10.90 美元，我們的國際業務增長了 2%，達到 8.60 美元。與 2019 年相比，美元走強正常化後，每位顧客的國際門票收入按固定匯率計算增長了 10%。

From a food and beverage perspective, we continue to enjoy exceptionally strong food and beverage revenue per patron. In our domestic markets, food and beverage spend per patron in the third quarter was $7.11. That's 33% higher than average spend in pre-pandemic Q3 2019. And in the international business, food and beverage spend per patron was $4.10. That's nearly 15% higher than Q3 of 2019, and nearly 24% higher on a constant currency basis.

從食品和飲料的角度來看，我們繼續享受每位顧客帶來的異常強勁的食品和飲料收入。在我們的國內市場，第三季度每位顧客的餐飲支出為 7.11 美元。這比 2019 年第三季度大流行前的平均支出高出 33%。在國際業務中，每位顧客的食品和飲料支出為 4.10 美元。這比 2019 年第三季度高出近 15%，按固定匯率計算高出近 24%。

Finally, domestic other revenue per patron increased by 54%, and international other revenue per patron increased by 37% and 48% in constant currency.

最後，按固定匯率計算，每位顧客的國內其他收入增長了 54%，每位顧客的國際其他收入分別增長了 37% 和 48%。

Going forward, we are focused on continuing to drive strength in these key performance metrics through: one, ongoing development of our industry-leading AMC app, website and loyalty programs; two, enhancing the guest experience, including our innovative food and beverage offerings; three, providing the very best possible site and sound experiences through premium offerings such as IMAX, Dolby Cinema and AMC Prime; and four, growing revenue through diversification initiatives, such as renting out our theaters during offpeak times, marketing and promotional initiatives, all of the above to be achieved while paying very close attention to our operating efficiency.

展望未來，我們將專注於通過以下方式繼續提高這些關鍵績效指標的實力： 一、持續開發我們行業領先的 AMC 應用程序、網站和忠誠度計劃；二、提升賓客體驗，包括我們創新的餐飲產品；三、通過 IMAX、杜比影院和 AMC Prime 等優質產品提供最佳的現場和聲音體驗；第四，通過多元化舉措增加收入，例如在非高峰時段出租我們的劇院、營銷和促銷舉措，所有這些都需要在密切關注我們的運營效率的同時實現。

Note that premium format attendance represented 14.9% of domestic attendance in Q3 2022 compared to 12.6% in the third quarter of 2019. And in our international markets, premium format attendance represented 9% compared to 8.4% in the third quarter of 2019.

請注意，2022 年第三季度，高級格式的出席人數佔國內出席人數的 14.9%，而 2019 年第三季度為 12.6%。在我們的國際市場，高級格式的出席人數佔 9%，而 2019 年第三季度為 8.4%。

Let's talk about the balance sheet now. We ended the quarter with liquidity of $896 million. This is comprised of $685 million of cash and cash equivalents and $211 million of undrawn credit facilities.

現在讓我們談談資產負債表。我們在本季度結束時的流動資金為 8.96 億美元。這包括 6.85 億美元的現金和現金等價物以及 2.11 億美元的未提取信貸額度。

As anticipated and discussed during last quarter's earnings webcast, cash burn this quarter was adversely impacted by the relatively quiet box office in August and September, together with seasonal working capital requirements. Our working capital will naturally come under pressure when a relatively strong quarter is followed by a weaker quarter, and Q3 was no exception. Operating cash burn for the quarter represented cash burn before debt servicing costs and before deferred rent payback, was approximately $179.2 million. Looking ahead, we expect our cash burn to improve in Q4 with a return to positive operating cash generation.

正如上一季度收益網絡直播中預期和討論的那樣，本季度的現金消耗受到 8 月和 9 月相對平靜的票房以及季節性營運資金需求的不利影響。當一個相對強勁的季度之後是一個較弱的季度時，我們的營運資金自然會受到壓力，第三季度也不例外。本季度的經營現金消耗是指扣除償債成本和遞延租金回報之前的現金消耗，約為 1.792 億美元。展望未來，我們預計我們的現金消耗將在第四季度得到改善，並恢復正的運營現金產生。

Regarding capital allocation, our priorities remain unchanged: one, maintaining sufficient liquidity to manage through the recovery phase of our business; two, strengthening our balance sheet by extending maturities, reducing debt and reducing associated interest costs; three, investing in our business to enhance the guest experience; and four, opportunistically pursuing value enhancement initiatives, including those that lead to diversification of our business.

在資本配置方面，我們的優先事項保持不變：一是保持足夠的流動性，以應對我們業務的複蘇階段；第二，通過延長期限、減少債務和降低相關利息成本來加強我們的資產負債表；三、投資我們的業務以提升客戶體驗；第四，機會主義地追求價值提升計劃，包括那些導致我們業務多元化的計劃。

During the third quarter of 2022, we strengthened our balance sheet by repaying approximately $23 million of deferred rent, reducing our deferred rent balance to approximately $196 million. Recall that back in March 2021, this balance was more than $470 million. And over the last 18 months, we've lowered our deferred rent liability by nearly $275 million. In 2022 alone, deferred rent has been reduced by approximately $119 million. We expect to further reduce this deferred rent balance during Q4 by another approximately $50 million.

在 2022 年第三季度，我們通過償還約 2300 萬美元的遞延租金來加強我們的資產負債表，將我們的遞延租金餘額減少到約 1.96 億美元。回想一下，早在 2021 年 3 月，這筆餘額就超過 4.7 億美元。在過去 18 個月中，我們將遞延租金負債降低了近 2.75 億美元。僅在 2022 年，遞延租金就減少了約 1.19 億美元。我們預計將在第四季度將遞延租金餘額再減少約 5000 萬美元。

In addition to the reduction in deferred rent, as Adam noted, we have taken further actions during the year to extend debt maturities and reduce our debt balance. The net result is that approximately $144 million reduction in the principal amount of interest-bearing debt outstanding and an extension of debt maturities through to 2026. All told, if we include the decrease in deferred rent, we've actually reduced our debt liabilities by a total of approximately $263 million so far this year.

正如亞當所指出的那樣，除了遞延租金的減少外，我們在這一年還採取了進一步的行動來延長債務期限並減少我們的債務餘額。最終結果是，未償付息債務的本金減少了約 1.44 億美元，並將債務期限延長至 2026 年。總而言之，如果我們將遞延租金的減少包括在內，我們實際上已將債務負債減少了今年到目前為止，總計約 2.63 億美元。

CapEx, net of landlord contributions, was $44 million in the quarter. And for 2022, we continue to expect CapEx to be in the range of $150 million to $200 million.

本季度資本支出扣除房東貢獻後為 4400 萬美元。對於 2022 年，我們繼續預計資本支出將在 1.5 億美元至 2 億美元之間。

Actively managing our theater portfolio continues to be our priority. During the third quarter, we added 4 new theaters and closed 8. This brings the total number of locations closed since the pandemic began to 106 and the total new locations opened to 49 for a net reduction of 57 locations. The combined 49 new locations continue to substantially outperform the 106 closed locations and also outperform our underwriting expectations. We continuously seek opportunities to strengthen the balance sheet while simultaneously weighing the liquidity needs of our ongoing recovery, and as the steps that we have taken today show, we are ready to take action as attractive opportunities arise.

積極管理我們的劇院組合仍然是我們的首要任務。在第三季度，我們增加了 4 家新影院並關閉了 8 家。這使得自大流行開始以來關閉的場所總數達到 106 家，新開業的場所總數達到 49 家，淨減少 57 家。合併後的 49 個新地點繼續顯著優於 106 個關閉的地點，也超出了我們的承保預期。我們不斷尋求機會加強資產負債表，同時權衡我們持續復甦的流動性需求，正如我們今天採取的步驟所示，我們準備在有吸引力的機會出現時採取行動。

And with that, I'll hand the call back over to Adam to review some exciting recent announcements and provide an update on our strategic initiatives.

有了這個，我將把電話轉給亞當，審查一些令人興奮的近期公告，並提供我們戰略計劃的更新。

Thank you, Sean. Before we head to your questions, I'd like to debunk a few myths but also to address what I think is the single most important topic facing the movie theater industry of today as well as several operational, environmental and business development concepts directly on the horizon as we continue to innovate at AMC.

謝謝你，肖恩。在我們回答您的問題之前，我想揭穿一些神話，同時也解決我認為當今電影院行業面臨的一個最重要的話題，以及直接在我們在 AMC 繼續創新。

Since the pandemic first arrived, the press has been filled with 3 concerns that conventional wisdom has repeatedly insisted would be existential threats to moviegoing in theaters: fear of infection of the coronavirus disease, the rise of streaming services and the collapsing of exclusive theatrical windows.

自從大流行首次到來以來，媒體就充滿了三個擔憂，傳統智慧一再堅持認為這將對電影院的觀影構成生存威脅：對感染冠狀病毒病的恐懼、流媒體服務的興起以及獨家影院窗口的倒塌。

On the disease risk, thanks to vaccines, medicines that deal with COVID-like -- medicines to deal with COVID like Paxlovid and the fact that so many people have antibody protection because they already experienced the COVID infection, dealing with COVID now has transitioned from pandemic to endemic. It's now more like the seasonal flu, which has been with us for more than a century since it was a killer pandemic in the early 1900s. People will still come down with COVID-19, but it's no longer the commerce-destroying thing than it was back in 2020 and 2021. Life is returning to normal. Risk 1, dealt with.

在疾病風險方面，多虧了疫苗、處理類似 COVID 的藥物——處理 COVID 的藥物（如 Paxlovid）以及許多人因為已經經歷過 COVID 感染而具有抗體保護這一事實，現在處理 COVID 已經從大流行到地方病。現在它更像是季節性流感，自從它在 1900 年代初成為致命的流行病以來，它已經存在了一個多世紀。人們仍然會感染 COVID-19，但與 2020 年和 2021 年相比，它不再是破壞商業的東西。生活正在恢復正常。風險1，處理。

On the streaming services risk, we have long said that the consumers' voracious appetite for content is big enough for movie theaters and streaming services to coexist harmoniously together. The results from Spider-Man: No Way Home last winter, from Top Gun: Maverick this past summer and from the expected big grosses this weekend from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will again remind us all that movie theaters can thrive even with the consumer having a multitude of streaming services that are choices as well.

關於流媒體服務風險，我們早就說過，消費者對內容的貪婪胃口足以讓電影院和流媒體服務和諧共存。去年冬天《蜘蛛俠：無路可歸》、去年夏天《壯志凌雲：特立獨行》和本週末《黑豹：永遠的瓦坎達》的預期大片票房的結果將再次提醒我們，電影院可以蓬勃發展，即使消費者擁有許多流媒體服務也是選擇。

As opposed to streaming services being a threat, we think they are a potential ally for AMC Entertainment. This month, for example, we're showing our first-ever Netflix movie at AMC, the sequel to Knives Out. We recently announced that we will be showing Paramount+'s smash hit Yellowstone in our theaters. Last December, we played Amazon's Being the Ricardos, which started our very own heroin, Nicole Kidman. And of course, MGM also -- and of course, Amazon also now owns MGM, whose movies appear prominently on our AMC big screens. Theaters and streamers can thrive simultaneously and can thrive together. Risk 2, dealt with.

與流媒體服務構成威脅相反，我們認為它們是 AMC 娛樂的潛在盟友。例如，本月，我們將在 AMC 放映我們的第一部 Netflix 電影，即《利刃出鞘》的續集。我們最近宣布，我們將在我們的影院放映派拉蒙+ 的紅極一時的黃石公園。去年 12 月，我們播放了亞馬遜的《Being the Ricardos》，它開始了我們自己的海洛因妮可基德曼。當然，米高梅也——當然，亞馬遜現在也擁有米高梅，米高梅的電影出現在我們 AMC 大屏幕的顯眼位置。劇院和彩帶可以同時蓬勃發展，並且可以共同繁榮。風險2，處理。

And as for the risk of collapsing windows. During the height of the pandemic, several studios experimented with going to simultaneous home and theatrical release or found themselves forced to sell out movie titles that originally were bound for theaters but which went elsewhere instead. Fortunately, for us, studios appear to realize how much boundless money they can make by taking their films to movie theaters first. While there may be an occasional exception here or there, our industry has coalesced around an exclusive 45-day window for theatrical release. Hopefully, that will turn out to be acceptable for studios and acceptable for theaters to both do well. Risk 3, dealt with.

至於倒塌窗戶的風險。在疫情最嚴重的時期，幾家製片廠嘗試同時在國內和院線上映，或者發現自己被迫賣掉了原本要在影院上映但轉而去其他地方的電影片名。幸運的是，對我們來說，製片廠似乎意識到，先把電影帶到電影院可以賺到無限的錢。雖然偶爾會出現例外情況，但我們的行業已經圍繞一個獨家的 45 天影院上映窗口合併。希望這對工作室來說是可以接受的，對於劇院來說都是可以接受的。風險3，處理。

At this point, there is only one topic that should be on the top of all minds and the tip of all tongues. It's not the coronavirus, it's not streaming, it's not windows. It is this: movie theater operators need more movies. Because of pandemic-induced production delays, the number of big movie titles being released by the major studios is still down considerably, down 20% to 30% versus pre-pandemic norms. We eagerly await more film product to show, but I also can report to you today that we are seeing considerable progress on this front.

在這一點上，只有一個話題應該放在所有人的腦海中，所有人的舌尖。這不是冠狀病毒，不是流媒體，也不是 Windows。就是這樣：電影院經營者需要更多電影。由於大流行導致的生產延遲，主要製片廠發行的大片數量仍然大幅下降，與大流行前的正常水平相比下降了 20% 至 30%。我們熱切地等待更多的電影產品展示，但我今天也可以向您報告，我們在這方面看到了相當大的進展。

Every few months, I have the opportunity to meet in person with the leaders of all the major studios in Hollywood. Over and over again, I'm hearing from them that they are doing all in their power to pick up the pace of the number of movies that they will be releasing theatrically going forward. That's the major challenge facing the movie industry right now above all else, and there can be optimism that more movie titles rather than fewer movie titles are in our future.

每隔幾個月，我就有機會親自會見好萊塢各大電影公司的領導人。我一遍又一遍地從他們那裡聽到，他們正在竭盡全力加快他們將在影院上映的電影數量的步伐。這是電影業目前最重要的挑戰，我們可以樂觀地認為，我們的未來會有更多的電影片名，而不是更少的片名。

Let's turn back to AMC initiatives. There are 7 that I'd like to address directly and update you on. One, given the financial struggles of many other companies within our industry, our eyes are wide open to opportunity that may arise for AMC. There is nothing further to report to you today on this subject, but know for sure that we are paying close attention.

讓我們回到 AMC 計劃。有 7 個我想直接解決並更新您。第一，鑑於我們行業內許多其他公司的財務困境，我們對 AMC 可能出現的機會持開放態度。今天沒有關於這個主題的進一步報告，但請確定我們正在密切關注。

Two, at our existing theaters, we're doing an enormous amount of business on our premium large-format screens. So we are doing all that we can to renovate existing screens and increase the number of IMAX, Dolby Cinema, Prime and iSense screens at our AMC and Odeon theaters.

第二，在我們現有的影院，我們在優質大屏幕上開展了大量業務。因此，我們正在盡我們所能翻新現有的銀幕，並在我們的 AMC 和 Odeon 影院增加 IMAX、杜比影院、Prime 和 iSense 銀幕的數量。

Three, we have started the multiyear installation of laser projectors broadly across thousands of auditoriums in the AMC system. They dramatically brighten and sharpen the images on our screens, thereby greatly improving the moviegoing experience for our guests. Laser projection is also the biggest single green initiative that AMC has ever launched as they decrease energy consumption and they eliminate the need to dispose of depleted halogen bulbs in landfills.

第三，我們已經開始在 AMC 系統的數千個禮堂中廣泛安裝激光投影儀，為期多年。它們極大地提亮和銳化了我們屏幕上的圖像，從而極大地改善了我們客人的觀影體驗。激光投影也是 AMC 推出的最大的單一綠色倡議，因為它們降低了能源消耗，並且無需在垃圾填埋場處理耗盡的滷素燈泡。

Four, just yesterday, we announced a truly exciting partnership with Zoom, in our view, the world's leading video communications platform, to enter into the multibillion-dollar meetings market for corporate and other meetings. With this new partnership, we are able to offer meeting organizers the best of both worlds, the spectacular communications technology of Zoom, combined with the comfort, size, scale and state-of-the-art site and sound capabilities of AMC's centrally-located theaters. These new Zoom Rooms at AMC are an all-new product that will be available in as many as 17 major cities across the United States starting sometime in 2023. Using a Zoom Room at AMC, meeting and event organizers will be able to bring together decentralized workforces or customer bases and significant numbers of people from different markets, but together at the same time for a cohesive, both virtual and in-person meeting experience. It is not a well-known fact, but already right now, AMC does about $20 million a year of meetings business, and that's limited to one movie theater at a time without the cross opportunity to link up through Zoom technology, theaters in multiple markets simultaneously. We're optimistic about the growth in revenues that we can generate from the very substantial meetings market.

四，就在昨天，我們宣布與世界領先的視頻通信平台 Zoom 建立真正令人興奮的合作夥伴關係，以進入價值數十億美元的公司會議和其他會議市場。通過這一新的合作夥伴關係，我們能夠為會議組織者提供兩全其美的體驗，即 Zoom 出色的通信技術，以及 AMC 位於市中心的舒適性、規模、規模和最先進的場地和完善的功能劇院。 AMC 的這些新 Zoom Rooms 是一款全新產品，將於 2023 年某個時候在美國多達 17 個主要城市推出。使用 AMC 的 Zoom Room，會議和活動組織者將能夠將分散的員工或客戶群以及來自不同市場的大量人員，但同時在一起提供有凝聚力的虛擬和麵對面會議體驗。這不是眾所周知的事實，但現在，AMC 每年的會議業務約為 2000 萬美元，而且僅限於一次電影院，沒有交叉機會通過 Zoom 技術連接多個市場的電影院同時。我們對龐大的會議市場帶來的收入增長持樂觀態度。

Additionally, we are in the final throes of development of an AMC-branded credit card. So Item 5 on my list of 7, I am pleased to tell you today that we firmly expect that our new AMC-branded credit card will be launched in the first quarter of 2023, if not sooner. We could not be more excited about the progress we've made in getting to this point. Full details to come when we launch.

此外，我們正處於開發 AMC 品牌信用卡的最後陣痛中。因此，在我的 7 項清單中的第 5 項，我今天很高興地告訴您，我們堅信我們的新 AMC 品牌信用卡將在 2023 年第一季度推出，如果不是更早的話。我們對在這一點上取得的進展感到非常興奮。我們發佈時會提供完整的詳細信息。

Six, much also has been written about AMC's coming entry into the multibillion-dollar popcorn market. Our food and beverage and marketing teams have made great strides in product development, in packaging and in our distribution plans. I fully expect that in partnership with a major national retailer, AMC Perfectly Popcorn will be on the shelves at grocery stores around the United States in the first half of 2023. Our AMC brand has credible resonance amongst consumers of popcorn, and we can't wait to see the smiles on our faces as you get to see AMC Popcorn in a store near you.

第六，關於 AMC 即將進入價值數十億美元的爆米花市場的文章也很多。我們的食品飲料和營銷團隊在產品開發、包裝和分銷計劃方面取得了長足的進步。我完全期待與一家主要的全國零售商合作，AMC Perfectly Popcorn 將於 2023 年上半年在美國各地的雜貨店上架。我們的 AMC 品牌在爆米花消費者中產生了可信的共鳴，我們不能當您在您附近的商店看到 AMC Popcorn 時，等待看到我們臉上的笑容。

And lastly, update #7, let's briefly tell you about developments recently at Hycroft Mining. Just last week, Hycroft reported the second round of results from its drilling exploration program, the biggest such exploration program on the Hycroft Mining site in Northern Nevada in nearly a decade. As was the case when the first round of exploration results were announced, Hycroft uncovered more gold and more silver in them thar hills. And a vital importance, Hycroft has been finding ore deposits that are of significantly higher grade.

最後，更新#7，讓我們簡要介紹一下 Hycroft Mining 最近的發展情況。就在上週，Hycroft 報告了其鑽井勘探計劃的第二輪結果，這是近十年來內華達州北部 Hycroft 礦區最大的此類勘探計劃。與宣布第一輪勘探結果時的情況一樣，Hycroft 在山丘中發現了更多的黃金和白銀。至關重要的是，Hycroft 一直在尋找品位明顯更高的礦床。

We made the Hycroft investment, recognizing the vast potential of the Hycroft asset if the company were appropriately capitalized. The results to date are extremely encouraging. I have to admit to being amused how receptive our shareholders were to our investment in Hycroft, and by contrast, how astounded Wall Street professionals were to that same announcement. Accordingly, while there's no certainty in life, nothing would give me more pleasure someday well down the road than to report to you the degree to which we can monetize our Hycroft investment, hopefully, in eye-popping numbers.

我們進行了 Hycroft 投資，認識到如果公司資本充足，Hycroft 資產的巨大潛力。迄今為止的結果非常令人鼓舞。我不得不承認，我們的股東對我們對 Hycroft 的投資是多麼樂於接受，而相比之下，華爾街專業人士對同樣的公告是多麼震驚，我不得不承認這很有趣。因此，雖然生活中沒有確定性，但在未來的某一天，沒有什麼比向您報告我們可以將我們的 Hycroft 投資貨幣化的程度更讓我高興的了，希望能以令人瞠目結舌的數字。

In closing, we at AMC very much appreciate the support that we continue to get from our passionate shareholder base. And let me say personally that it's been a particular honor for me to meet with many of our shareholders one-on-one at the movie screenings I've personally been hosting around the country. And as of next week across the globe, as my 11th such screening will be for the movie of the hour, the much anticipated Black Panther: Wakanda Forever at the Odeon Luxe Holloway Cinema in London this coming Monday night, November 14.

最後，我們 AMC 非常感謝我們繼續從熱情的股東群中獲得支持。讓我個人說，在我親自在全國舉辦的電影放映會上與我們的許多股東一對一會面對我來說是一種特別的榮幸。從下週開始，我將在全球範圍內進行第 11 次這樣的放映，這部電影將於 11 月 14 日星期一晚上在倫敦 Odeon Luxe Holloway 電影院舉行，這是備受期待的黑豹：永遠的瓦坎達。

Sean, let's now move to questions, both from our shareholders and from industry analysts.

肖恩，現在讓我們轉向來自股東和行業分析師的問題。

Let's start with questions from our shareholders. Thank you to them for submitting their questions. I've grouped the questions into 3 categories. So the first category, Adam, is innovations. And the first question there is, where do you see AMC expanding in the future? And what categories of innovations are in the pipeline to enhance the business?

讓我們從股東的問題開始。感謝他們提交他們的問題。我將這些問題分為 3 類。所以第一類，亞當，是創新。第一個問題是，您認為 AMC 未來會在哪裡擴張？哪些類別的創新正在醞釀中以增強業務？

So these items were sort of addressed in my earlier prepared remarks. Number one, within our existing theaters, the amount of business that we do in our premium large format screens is significant. Sometimes on our opening weekends, even though our premium format screens represent only 10% of our auditoriums, sometimes they're producing as much as 50% of the gross of our films across the network. So it makes sense for us to increase the number of premium format -- large format screens in our system. And that, we are doing. We're going to introduce more IMAX screens, more Dolby Cinema screens, more iSense screens and more Prime screens. So that's happening.

所以這些項目在我之前準備的評論中得到了解決。第一，在我們現有的影院中，我們在優質大畫幅屏幕上的業務量非常可觀。有時在我們的開幕週末，即使我們的高級格式屏幕僅占我們禮堂的 10%，但有時他們在整個網絡上製作了多達 50% 的電影總票數。所以對我們來說增加優質格式的數量是有意義的——我們系統中的大格式屏幕。我們正在這樣做。我們將推出更多 IMAX 銀幕、更多杜比影院銀幕、更多 iSense 銀幕和更多 Prime 銀幕。所以這正在發生。

Second, in terms of innovation, again, I mentioned it in my prepared remarks, but I can't say enough how big it is that we're deploying about $0.25 billion of resource to introduce laser projection in about half of our auditoriums. This is a technical term, but the so-called light levels inside a movie theater with laser projection as contrasted with a halogen bulb, it goes up by between 50% and 100%. It means the pictures on the screen are sharper, they're brighter, and therefore, the movie watching experience is that much better. We're always going to want to create an environment in our theaters that makes the consumer want to get off their couch at home and come out to a theater. And brighter, sharper pictures, especially doing so in an environmentally-friendly way, is a good way to do that.

其次，在創新方面，我在準備好的發言中再次提到了這一點，但我不能說我們正在部署大約 2.5 億美元的資源在我們大約一半的禮堂中引入激光投影的規模有多大。這是一個技術術語，但與鹵素燈泡相比，使用激光投影的電影院內的所謂光水平會提高 50% 到 100%。這意味著屏幕上的圖像更清晰，更亮，因此，觀看電影的體驗要好得多。我們總是希望在我們的影院中創造一種環境，讓消費者想要從家裡的沙發上下來，來到影院。更明亮、更清晰的照片，尤其是以環保的方式，是實現這一目標的好方法。

And then the third major item of innovation for AMC is what we've been doing away from our theaters. Things like the branded credit card; things like Perfectly Popcorn; things like Zoom Rooms, which is in our theaters, but away from movie watching per se, these are all areas where we think AMC will shine going forward.

然後，AMC 的第三個主要創新項目是我們在影院之外一直在做的事情。品牌信用卡之類的東西；完美爆米花之類的東西；像 Zoom Rooms 之類的東西，它在我們的影院中，但除了看電影本身之外，這些都是我們認為 AMC 將在未來大放異彩的領域。

And it's not exactly innovation, but you talked in your remarks about how we closed 100-plus marginal theaters and opened 50 new ones, and the 50 new ones are -- make a lot more money than the 100 that we closed. I do continue to think that as the rest of the industry stumbled financially, we're going to see increased opportunity to grow our network and take advantage of our various strengths.

這不完全是創新，但你在評論中談到了我們如何關閉 100 多家邊緣影院並開設 50 家新影院，而這 50 家新影院——比我們關閉的 100 家賺的錢多得多。我確實繼續認為，隨著該行業的其他部門在財務上陷入困境，我們將看到更多的機會來發展我們的網絡並利用我們的各種優勢。

Next question here, Adam, is a request for an update on AMC On Demand.

Adam，下一個問題是關於 AMC On Demand 的更新請求。

AMC On Demand, which we introduced several years ago before the pandemic, has always had kind of low usage. And candidly, while it's a good little product, I think our money is better directed elsewhere. And so the money that we have been investing to grow AMC Theatres On Demand is money, I think that instead, we ought to be putting in -- the placing a significant number of branded credit cards or taking popcorn to the home popcorn market.

我們幾年前在大流行之前推出的 AMC On Demand 的使用率一直很低。坦率地說，雖然它是一個很好的小產品，但我認為我們的錢最好用在其他地方。因此，我們一直在投資發展 AMC Theatres On Demand 的資金就是金錢，我認為相反，我們應該投入 - 放置大量品牌信用卡或將爆米花帶入家庭爆米花市場。

So I think that as we look to 2023, we're going to look to either phase out AMC Theatres On Demand or alternatively joint venture with another party to offer that same capability to our guests, but not only -- but not necessarily to investment spend to build it up ourselves. So I mean it takes me to the point that at a time when dollars are precious because the recovery of the movie industry has taken a considerable time.

所以我認為，當我們展望 2023 年時，我們將尋求逐步淘汰 AMC Theatre On Demand，或者與另一方合資，為我們的客人提供同樣的能力，但不僅是——但不一定是投資花自己建立它。所以我的意思是，我的意思是，在美元很寶貴的時候，因為電影業的複蘇需要相當長的時間。

You and I agree, Sean, that we need to be laser-focused on making sure that every dollar counts. Cut every dollar of expenditure, increase every possible dollar of revenue, back to best ideas, walk away from the ideas that may be intriguing but may be of lower grade priority.

你和我都同意，肖恩，我們需要專注於確保每一美元都很重要。削減每一美元的支出，增加每一美元的收入，回到最好的想法，遠離那些可能很有趣但可能是低年級優先級的想法。

Two questions -- thanks, Adam. Two questions here that you did mention in your prepared remarks, but people are asking when can they expect to see AMC-branded popcorn on the shelves. And what is the long-term potential of the partnership with Zoom? So maybe you want to add a little bit more color.

兩個問題——謝謝，亞當。您在準備好的評論中確實提到了兩個問題，但人們在問他們什麼時候可以在貨架上看到 AMC 品牌的爆米花。與 Zoom 合作的長期潛力是什麼？所以也許你想添加更多的顏色。

Sure. Sean and I have been at many a taste testing of one recipe after another for our ready-to-eat popcorn and our microwaveable popcorn that's going to hit shelves in the first half of 2023. We've seen the packaging, which I think is beautiful. We've had numerous conversations with major national retailers and are getting really favorable response. People want to carry this product on their shelves. You're going to see it in the first half of 2023. I'm supposed to caveat everything because you never know what can go wrong, but my firm expectations is on the shelves first half of the year.

當然。肖恩和我已經對我們的即食爆米花和將於 2023 年上半年上架的微波爐爆米花的一個又一個食譜進行了多次口味測試。我們已經看到了包裝，我認為這是美麗的。我們已經與主要的全國零售商進行了多次對話，並得到了非常好的回應。人們想把這個產品放在貨架上。你將在 2023 年上半年看到它。我應該警告一切，因為你永遠不知道會出什麼問題，但我堅定的期望是在今年上半年上架。

As for Zoom, I was in the hotel industry for a good chunk of my career. The meetings market is a multibillion-dollar market. And for any of you who've gone to a hotel for a meeting and sat in their ballrooms or in their breakout rooms, their chairs are not comfortable. When you compare the comfort of an AMC signature recliner seat to what you might get at a hotel, we beat them.

至於 Zoom，我職業生涯的大部分時間都在酒店行業工作。會議市場是一個價值數十億美元的市場。對於去酒店開會並坐在舞廳或分組討論室的任何人來說，他們的椅子都不舒服。當您將 AMC 標誌性躺椅的舒適度與您在酒店可能獲得的舒適度進行比較時，我們擊敗了他們。

Traditionally, we've only been offered to offer meetings at our theater as a stand-alone entity. Now thanks to our partnership with Zoom, we're going to be able to link up theaters in city after city, so that people who want to have a nationwide meeting and setting that up to get everyone to fly on a plane and go to a convention city can do so simultaneously at our theaters.

傳統上，我們只被提議在我們的劇院作為一個獨立的實體提供會議。現在，由於我們與 Zoom 的合作，我們將能夠在一個城市又一個城市連接劇院，以便那些想要舉行全國性會議的人，並進行設置，讓每個人都坐飛機去一個會議城可以在我們的劇院同時進行。

And I saw some reaction to the press announcement yesterday at Zoom. Why would people go to a theater? Why don't they just sign in on Zoom? Because like Zoom is an amazing thing. As you know, we -- like we've run our whole company on Zoom for like 2.5 years now.

昨天在 Zoom 上，我看到了對新聞公告的一些反應。人們為什麼要去劇院？他們為什麼不直接在 Zoom 上登錄？因為像 Zoom 是一件了不起的事情。如您所知，我們 - 就像我們在 Zoom 上經營我們的整個公司一樣已有 2.5 年了。

But the answer is when you've got 50 or 100 people in a city and you got those 50 or 100 people in a dozen different cities, it's not the same thing to have 500 or 1,000 little mini pictures on a Zoom screen, where everybody is alone either at their desks in the office or maybe at home or somewhere else, signing into Zoom one by one by one by one. This gives us the best of both worlds because people can still gather in a medium-sized group in a city and be hooked up through really sophisticated Zoom technology in another city or in another city, in another city, and another city because we could hook up multiple cities with no problem.

但答案是，如果一個城市有 50 或 100 人，而這 50 或 100 人分佈在十幾個不同的城市，那麼在 Zoom 屏幕上放 500 或 1000 張小迷你圖片就不是一回事了無論是在辦公室的辦公桌前，還是在家里或其他地方，都獨自一人，一一登錄 Zoom。這為我們提供了兩全其美的優勢，因為人們仍然可以在一個城市中以中等規模的群體聚集，並通過非常複雜的 Zoom 技術在另一個城市或另一個城市、另一個城市和另一個城市被連接起來，因為我們可以連接上多個城市都沒問題。

And I got to tell you, this idea was the idea of the CEO of Zoom, who literally called us up and wanted to share with us his idea how Zoom could make AMC Theatres a compelling entry in the meetings market. And the second we heard the idea, we were all for it, and we think the financial opportunity is big. Remember, we already do $20 million a year on meetings business, and that's without the ability to link city after city at the same time. So don't give a specific goal, but hopefully, the revenue opportunity is large.

我得告訴你，這個想法是 Zoom 首席執行官的想法，他真的打電話給我們，想與我們分享他的想法，即 Zoom 如何使 AMC 影院成為會議市場的一個引人注目的入口。我們聽到這個想法的那一刻，我們都支持它，我們認為金融機會很大。請記住，我們每年已經在會議業務上賺了 2000 萬美元，而這還沒有能力同時連接一個又一個城市。所以不要給出具體的目標，但希望收入機會很大。

Thanks, Adam. So a question about our operations, especially looking into 2023 in the current environment. The question is we're all seeing the impact of inflation on our daily lives. How is this impacting AMC?

謝謝，亞當。所以一個關於我們運營的問題，特別是在當前環境下展望 2023 年。問題是我們都看到了通貨膨脹對我們日常生活的影響。這對 AMC 有何影響？

So for those of you who are under the age of 35 on this call, you probably don't even remember what inflation is. But for those of us who are old enough to remember Jimmy Carter when he was President of United States, we lived through inflationary periods, and they stress the system because costs rise. And if you want to know how much they raised costs, just look at what the national inflation rate is. That tends to be the cost that everything goes up in the country.

因此，對於參加這次電話會議的 35 歲以下的人，您可能甚至不記得什麼是通貨膨脹。但是對於我們這些年紀大到還記得吉米卡特擔任美國總統的人來說，我們經歷了通貨膨脹時期，他們因為成本上升而對系統施加壓力。如果你想知道他們提高了多少成本，只要看看全國通貨膨脹率是多少。這往往是該國一切都上漲的成本。

What's -- so in terms of a starting point, when you hear inflation statistics being reported nationally, you should assume that AMC's costs are going to go up by a similar amount. Having said that, what is very unusual in AMC's case is that because the box office is on a path of recovery, the volumes that we're seeing in our theaters, the volumes of customers that we're serving is rising dramatically. And as a result, we pick up operating efficiencies and increased operating productivity because the number of guests coming into our theaters is coming down, essentially because we're spreading our fixed costs over more people. So we're in the enviable circumstance that we've got a mitigating offset to inflation. The increasing productivity that comes from being able to spread our fixed cost over a larger customer base is offsetting a big chunk of the inflationary costs that would otherwise not be mitigated without this increasing volume of customers for productivity gains.

是什麼 - 所以就起點而言，當您聽到全國報告的通貨膨脹統計數據時，您應該假設 AMC 的成本將上漲類似的數量。話雖如此，在 AMC 的案例中非常不尋常的是，由於票房正在復蘇，我們在影院看到的數量，我們所服務的客戶數量正在急劇上升。結果，我們提高了運營效率並提高了運營效率，因為進入我們影院的客人數量正在下降，主要是因為我們將固定成本分攤給更多人。因此，我們處於令人羨慕的環境中，我們已經對通貨膨脹進行了緩解。能夠將我們的固定成本分攤到更大的客戶群中所帶來的生產力提高正在抵消通脹成本的很大一部分，否則如果沒有不斷增加的客戶數量來提高生產力，這些成本將無法緩解。

And then the next section here is a couple of questions about the stock. And the first one here is, please explain why you believe the stock has gone down and why management has been generally silent on this matter.

然後下一部分是關於股票的幾個問題。這裡的第一個問題是，請解釋您為什麼認為股票下跌以及為什麼管理層對此事通常保持沉默。

So this is the biggest question of the day, isn't it? Let me start by saying I am a major AMC shareholder. It is an enormous part of my net worth, and I venture to guess that I personally own more shares than anyone listening on this call today. So I assure you that just as you watch the share price, I watch the share price.

所以這是今天最大的問題，不是嗎？首先讓我說我是 AMC 的主要股東。這是我淨資產的很大一部分，我冒昧地猜測我個人擁有的股份比今天聽這個電話的任何人都多。所以我向你保證，就像你看股價一樣，我也在看股價。

Having said that, in terms of decline, there are a lot of factors. These aren't the only reasons why the share price has fallen. But look around at what's happened in the United States and, for that matter, the planet over the past several months. There's a war going on in Ukraine, which is not good for global stability. It's caused the surge in energy prices. It's caused dramatic inflation, which, in turn, has caused the Fed to commit to raising interest rates. These are all factors that have affected the market overall.

話雖如此，在下降方面，有很多因素。這些並不是股價下跌的唯一原因。但是看看過去幾個月在美國發生的事情，以及地球上發生的事情。烏克蘭正在發生戰爭，這不利於全球穩定。這導致了能源價格的飆升。它導致了劇烈的通貨膨脹，進而導緻美聯儲承諾提高利率。這些都是影響整體市場的因素。

In the case of the movie theater industry, in early September, Cineworld also declared for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, which also created a certain amount of agita around the movie theater industry and our share price.

就電影院行業而言，9月初，Cineworld也宣布進行第11章破產保護，這也對電影院行業和我們的股價產生了一定的影響。

It also does depend on what your time frame is, of course. Because while the share price is lower than it was in, let's say, June of 2021, it's still a lot more than it was in January of 2021.

當然，這也取決於您的時間範圍。因為雖然股價低於 2021 年 6 月的水平，但仍比 2021 年 1 月高很多。

But what I just said is about all you'll ever hear me say about our share price because you asked sort of like why is management silent on this subject. There are things called securities laws in the United States. And if you're the CEO of a public company, it is much better for you to be talking about the state of the business than the state of the share price. And I know this is frustrating to some of you who would like me to comment all the time. But prudence says that our focus and our public focus should be what we're doing to bring back the health of the business over the short, medium and long term, and that's what we should be talking about. And so that, in fact, is what we have been talking about.

但我剛才所說的是關於你會聽到我談論我們股價的所有內容，因為你問的有點像為什麼管理層在這個問題上保持沉默。美國有一種叫做證券法的東西。如果你是一家上市公司的首席執行官，談論業務狀況比談論股價狀況要好得多。我知道這對你們中的一些人來說是令人沮喪的，他們希望我一直發表評論。但謹慎表示，我們的關注點和公眾關注點應該是我們正在做的事情，以在短期、中期和長期內恢復業務的健康，這就是我們應該談論的內容。事實上，這就是我們一直在談論的。

We said earlier in the year that you should never interpret silence as inaction or indifference. We are aware this subject is very important to you and to all of us as significant shareholders of the company. Having said that, our focus and our public commentary is usually constrained to what's in the best interest of the business, what's the future of the business, what are the risks [and errors] of the business, and that's what drives our public commentary.

我們在今年早些時候說過，你永遠不應該將沉默解釋為不作為或冷漠。我們知道這個主題對您和作為公司重要股東的我們所有人都非常重要。話雖如此，我們的關注點和公眾評論通常僅限於對企業的最大利益、企業的未來、企業的風險 [和錯誤] 有什麼影響，而這正是推動我們公開評論的動力。

Then there's a follow-up here, which is asking, can we reverse split the APE shares?

那麼這裡有一個後續，就是問，我們可以反向拆分APE的股份嗎？

It's something that's legal to do. But interestingly, an action like that would require a shareholder vote, which should remind us all since there are many shareholders on this call.

這是合法的事情。但有趣的是，這樣的行動需要股東投票，這應該提醒我們所有人，因為這次電話會議有很多股東。

This is your company. Day to day, we run it. We do our best on your behalf. But on major topics of governance a shareholder vote is required. And that would be one, for example, that we would have to take out to the shareholders for their opinion and their consideration and ultimately their decision.

這是你的公司。日復一日，我們運行它。我們代表您盡最大努力。但在治理的主要議題上，需要股東投票。例如，這將是一個我們必須向股東提出的意見和考慮，並最終決定他們的決定。

Great. And then a question on disclosure here. Someone is asking, will you provide information on the number of shareholders and the number of shares that have been directly registered with the transfer agent, Computershare?

偉大的。然後是關於此處披露的問題。有人問，能否提供股東人數和直接在過戶代理Computershare登記的股份數量的信息？

So for those of you who don't know what direct registration of shares is, our transfer agent is Computershare. And most of you hold stock through brokerages. Some of you own stock that's directly registered with the company through our transfer agent. A primary benefit, I suppose, for you when you register your shares directly with the transfer agent is that transfer agents do not allow for shorting of shares, whereas most brokerage firms do. And so what we've heard from some of you is that to make sure that your shares cannot be shorted, you want to register them directly with the company and a transfer agent, which is you're right as an owner of a public security.

因此，對於那些不知道什麼是直接註冊股份的人，我們的轉讓代理是 Computershare。你們中的大多數人通過經紀公司持有股票。你們中的一些人擁有通過我們的轉讓代理直接在公司註冊的股票。我想，當您直接向轉讓代理註冊股票時，對您來說，主要好處是轉讓代理不允許做空股票，而大多數經紀公司則允許。所以我們從你們中聽到的是，為了確保你的股票不會被賣空，你想直接向公司和轉讓代理人登記，這是你作為公共安全所有者的權利.

We haven't given any guidance to any of you to do that or not do that. It's entirely your call. I should point out, it's a small number of people who have done it. As best I can tell, it's around 15,000 or so of our millions of shareholders who decided to directly register shares. I think they've registered in the neighborhood of 10 million shares or APEs with our registrar.

我們沒有給你們任何人做或不做的任何指導。這完全是你的電話。我應該指出，這樣做的人很少。據我所知，在我們數百萬股東中，大約有 15,000 人決定直接註冊股票。我認為他們已經在我們的註冊商處註冊了大約 1000 萬股股票或 APE。

And what -- we've decided that this is a number, that is one of these numbers that we should publicly release. So when we file our 10-Q for the third quarter, we're going to announce in the Q what the number of directly registered shares is.

還有什麼 - 我們已經決定這是一個數字，這是我們應該公開發布的這些數字之一。因此，當我們提交第三季度的 10-Q 時，我們將在 Q 中宣布直接註冊股票的數量。

Excellent. And then the last question that I have here, and then we can go into questions from analysts is, do you have any comments regarding the acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk?

出色的。然後我在這裡的最後一個問題，然後我們可以進入分析師的問題是，你對 Elon Musk 收購 Twitter 有任何評論嗎？

That's quite a question. So the funniest comment that I heard on Twitter in the past 2 years was the 2 great meme stocks are AMC and GameStop, and then there's Musk. And the guy who runs AMC is Adam Aron that begins with an A, and Ryan Cohen that begins with the C runs GameStop. And of course, there Elon Musk. And somebody strung together that AMC was Aaron, Musk and Cohen. Quite something to behold.

這真是個問題。因此，過去 2 年我在 Twitter 上聽到的最有趣的評論是 AMC 和 GameStop 這兩個偉大的 meme 股票，然後是馬斯克。運行 AMC 的人是以 A 開頭的 Adam Aron 和以 C 開頭的 Ryan Cohen 運行 GameStop。當然，還有埃隆馬斯克。有人說 AMC 是 Aaron、Musk 和 Cohen。很值得一看。

But Mr. Musk is just taking control of Twitter, and I have no comment really one way or another whether he will do a fabulous job owning and running Twitter or not. But what I can tell you is that the asset that he bought, meaning Twitter, this is the most incredible communications tool that I've ever seen. And if you just look back over the last, what is it now, 1.5 years that I've actively been tweeting with our shareholder base, we've been able to convey hundreds and hundreds of important messages to you all about what's going on in our company, and I've been able to read literally hundreds of thousands of inbound comments back to us.

但馬斯克先生只是控制了 Twitter，我無法評論他是否會在擁有和運營 Twitter 方面做得非常出色。但我可以告訴你的是，他購買的資產，也就是 Twitter，這是我見過的最不可思議的通訊工具。如果你回顧過去，現在是什麼，1.5 年來我一直在積極地與我們的股東群發推文，我們已經能夠向你傳達數百條關於正在發生的事情的重要信息我們的公司，我已經能夠閱讀數十萬條入站評論給我們。

I spend about an hour a day on Twitter mostly reading what you have to say, and I learned so much about what's on your mind. And of course, Twitter also gives us the opportunity not only to learn by listening from you but also to share information with you and share news with you. And so I continue to be astounded by how impactful and powerful Twitter is as a communications vehicle, and I hope that Elon Musk does good things with Twitter because it's a very valuable national asset if it's run well.

我每天在 Twitter 上花費大約一個小時，主要是閱讀你要說的話，我學到了很多關於你的想法的東西。當然，Twitter 也為我們提供了機會，不僅可以通過傾聽您的意見來學習，還可以與您分享信息並與您分享新聞。因此，我繼續對 Twitter 作為一種溝通工具的影響力和強大程度感到震驚，我希望 Elon Musk 在 Twitter 上做一些好事，因為如果它運行良好，它是一項非常寶貴的國家資產。

With that, I guess, Scott, the operator, can you see if there are any questions from our industry analysts who are on the call?

有了這個，我想，接線員斯科特，你能看看我們在電話中的行業分析師是否有任何問題？

Absolutely. (Operator Instructions) And we have a question from the line of Jim Goss with Barrington Research.

絕對地。 （操作員說明）我們有一個來自 Barrington Research 的 Jim Goss 的問題。

I thought I'd ask you about the Stubs A-List. It's been sort of not relevant for the past couple of years as the content and everything has been under pressure. But I wonder if you might talk about whether you have a plan to revive it, make it more relevant as the amount and mix of content improves. And where it might stand right now? What is your starting point?

我想我會問你關於 Stubs A-List 的事。在過去的幾年裡，它有點不相關，因為內容和一切都承受著壓力。但我想知道您是否可以談論您是否有計劃重振它，使其隨著內容數量和組合的改進而變得更加相關。它現在可能站在哪裡？你的出發點是什麼？

Sure. The A-List was -- for those of you who aren't totally familiar, A-List is our subscription program, up to 3 movies a week for a fixed price of between $20 and $25 a month, basically. When we launched the program in June of '18, it instantly took off, and it popped up to as much as 15% of our total moviegoing in the United States.

當然。 A-List 是——對於那些不完全熟悉的人，A-List 是我們的訂閱計劃，每週最多 3 部電影，每月固定價格在 20 美元到 25 美元之間，基本上。當我們在 18 年 6 月推出該計劃時，它立即起飛，占我們在美國總觀影人數的 15% 之多。

And we have a similar program, by the way, in London called Limitless at our -- and in Germany at our Odeon theaters in the U.K. and our UCI theaters in Germany. In Europe, the Limitless program has grown considerably.

順便說一句，我們在倫敦也有一個類似的項目，叫做 Limitless，在我們的 - 在德國，我們在英國的 Odeon 劇院和我們在德國的 UCI 劇院。在歐洲，Limitless 計劃已大幅增長。

And back in the height of the pandemic when our theaters are all closed, obviously, there was nobody paying us $25 a month to go see 3 movies a week because all our theaters were shut. So we put AMC A-List on pause in the United States and cranked it up last year. The good news is we're already back to between 600,000 and 700,000 A-Listers, up from 0 during the pause. And again, we're seeing, depending on the title, 10% to 15% of our total moviegoing is coming from A-List members.

回到疫情最嚴重的時候，我們的影院都關門了，顯然，沒有人每月付給我們 25 美元去每週看 3 部電影，因為我們所有的影院都關門了。因此，我們在美國暫停了 AMC A-List，並於去年對其進行了升級。好消息是我們已經回到了 600,000 到 700,000 名 A-Listers 之間，而在暫停期間為 0。再一次，我們看到，根據標題，我們總觀影人數的 10% 到 15% 來自 A-List 成員。

So the A-List numbers have continued to rise from the second that we unpaused the program. If you look at A-Listers as a percentage of our total moviegoers, it's kind of on par with where it was prior to the shutdown, and we intend to be very aggressive going forward to continue to attract people to the program.

因此，從我們取消暫停節目的那一刻起，A-List 的人數就一直在上升。如果您將 A-Listers 視為我們電影觀眾總數的百分比，它與關閉之前的水平相當，我們打算非常積極地繼續吸引人們參加該計劃。

Okay. The one I might ask...

好的。我可能會問的那個...

Yes, sure. Go ahead, Jim.

是的，當然。來吧，吉姆。

Now I was thinking with alternative content. You've tried -- you've had an opportunity to try a number of things for the same reason, the areas have been under pressure. I'm wondering if there are any things you've shown on your screens that you think have some promise to be more than just better than nothing else.

現在我正在考慮替代內容。你已經嘗試過——出於同樣的原因，你有機會嘗試了很多事情，這些領域一直處於壓力之下。我想知道您是否在屏幕上顯示了任何您認為有一定承諾的東西，它們不僅僅是比沒有更好。

Yes is the answer to your question. So we had good success with the concerts that we showed, whether they were live or taped. We had good success with WWE and UFC events, and we've experimented with some professional sporting events. For all those things, concerts, the various sporting events, we need to secure what are called rights, broadcast rights, from the leagues or the owner of the IP. And in all cases, we were encouraged by the results, and so we will be on a path to try to negotiate rights with the various IP holders so that we can grow our alternative content going forward.

是的，是您問題的答案。因此，我們展示的音樂會取得了巨大的成功，無論是現場直播還是錄音。我們在 WWE 和 UFC 賽事上取得了很好的成功，我們也嘗試過一些職業體育賽事。對於所有這些事情，音樂會，各種體育賽事，我們需要從聯盟或 IP 所有者那裡獲得所謂的權利，廣播權。在所有情況下，我們都對結果感到鼓舞，因此我們將嘗試與各種 IP 持有者協商權利，以便我們能夠在未來發展我們的替代內容。

Operator, am I correct, Scott, that we are done with questions today?

接線員，我說得對嗎，斯科特，我們今天的問題已經結束了？

That's correct. There are no further questions at this time.

這是正確的。目前沒有其他問題。

Great. So to all of you who joined us today, thank you. I think I'd like to close the call with 2 thoughts. I said in my opening remarks that we're brimming with confidence as we look at the recovery path that AMC is on. That's the first comment.

偉大的。所以今天加入我們的所有人，謝謝你們。我想我想以 2 個想法結束通話。我在開場白中說，當我們看到 AMC 正在走的複蘇道路時，我們充滿信心。這是第一條評論。

The second comment is to keep us continuing to be encouraged and brimming with confidence. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. It's going to be a big weekend in the movie theater business, and we're excited to be talking to you today just ahead of this new very big movie being released theatrically.

第二條評論是讓我們繼續受到鼓勵和充滿信心。黑豹：永遠的瓦坎達。黑豹：永遠的瓦坎達。黑豹：永遠的瓦坎達。這將是電影院行業的一個重要周末，我們很高興今天能在這部新的非常大的電影上映之前與您交談。

Thank you for joining us. We look forward to talking to you again next quarter.

感謝您加入我們。我們期待下個季度再次與您交談。

That concludes the call for today. We thank you for your participation and ask that you please disconnect your line.

今天的呼籲到此結束。我們感謝您的參與，並請您斷開您的線路。