AMC 電影院 (AMC) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the AMC Entertainment Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) I would now like to turn the conference over to John Merriwether. Please, go ahead, sir.

女士們、先生們，下午好，歡迎參加 AMC Entertainment 2023 年第三季財報電話會議。 （操作員指示）我現在想將會議轉交給 John Merriwether。請繼續吧，先生。

Thank you, Jenny. Good afternoon. I'd like to welcome everyone to AMC's Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Webcast. With me this afternoon is Adam Aron, our Chairman and CEO; and Sean Goodman, our Chief Financial Officer. Before I turn 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 against relying 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.

謝謝你，珍妮。午安.歡迎大家觀看 AMC 2023 年第三季財報網路廣播。今天下午和我在一起的是我們的董事長兼執行長 Adam Aron；以及我們的財務長肖恩·古德曼。在我將網路廣播交給 Adam 之前，讓我提醒大家，管理層在本次網路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有重大差異。我們最近提交的公開文件中討論了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的控製或預測能力。鑑於任何前瞻性陳述固有的不確定性，請聽眾不要依賴這些陳述。本公司不承擔因新資訊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, free cash flow, operating cash burn, operating cash generated, 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 this afternoon. 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.

在此網路廣播中，我們可能會參考非 GAAP 財務指標，例如調整後 EBITDA、固定匯率、自由現金流、營運現金消耗、營運產生的現金等。欲了解我們的非公認會計準則衡量標準與公認會計準則結果的全面對賬，請參閱今天下午早些時候在我們網站的投資者關係部分發布的收益報告。在我們準備好的發言之後，將進行問答環節。今天下午的網路廣播正在錄製中，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.

這樣，我會將電話轉給 Adam。

Thank you, John. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. It's almost impossible to contain our pride as the record-setting strength of AMC's third quarter 2023 financial results. (inaudible) of our recent record Q2 results, we set the bar even higher in Q3 for both revenue and adjusted EBITDA, these were the single best third quarter results in AMC's entire 103-year history. By definition, revenue and adjusted EBITDA beat last year's third quarter. They beat the third quarter of 2019, which was the last Q3 unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

謝謝你，約翰。大家下午好，感謝您今天加入我們。對於 AMC 2023 年第三季創紀錄的財務業績，我們幾乎無法抑制自己的自豪感。 （聽不清楚）我們最近創紀錄的第二季業績中，我們在第三季的營收和調整後EBITDA 方面設定了更高的標準，這是AMC 整個103 年歷史上最好的第三季度業績。根據定義，收入和調整後的 EBITDA 超過了去年第三季。他們擊敗了 2019 年第三季度，這是最後一個未受 COVID-19 大流行影響的第三季度。

And for that matter, they beat every third quarter results that AMC has ever reported. Once again, AMC exceeded consensus estimates and market expectations across the board, and we did so handily. AMC was literally in a different ballpark of accomplishment than many third-party observers anticipated. Sean will discuss these exceptional third quarter results in more detail during his prepared remarks.

就此而言，他們的業績超過了 AMC 公佈的所有第三季業績。 AMC 再次全面超越了共識預期和市場預期，而我們輕鬆做到了這一點。 AMC 的成就與許多第三方觀察家的預期完全不同。肖恩將在他準備好的演講中更詳細地討論這些出色的第三季業績。

But suffice it to say, AMC posting revenues exceeding $1.4 billion. adjusted EBITDA of $194 million and positive net income of $12 million is a feat that has us all smiling in Leawood, Kansas. The entire quarter was rejuvenating for AMC, and July especially was meaningful as it was the second highest grossing month in AMC's entire century-long history. Global attendance at AMC Theatres tallied more than 73.5 million guests in the third quarter of 2023, up 38.4% over the third quarter of the prior year. It set a high-water mark for quarterly attendance in the post-pandemic era.

但可以說的是，AMC 的收入超過 14 億美元。調整後 EBITDA 達到 1.94 億美元，淨利潤達到 1,200 萬美元，這項壯舉讓堪薩斯州利伍德的我們都微笑不已。整個季度對 AMC 來說都充滿活力，尤其是 7 月份意義重大，因為它是 AMC 整個百年歷史上票房第二高的月份。 2023 年第三季度，AMC 戲院的全球觀眾人數超過 7,350 萬人次，比去年第三季成長 38.4%。它為後大流行時代的季度出席人數創下了新高。

AMC's attendance in Q3 2023, was the highest since the fourth quarter of 2019. Moviegoers returned to AMC Theatres in ever-increasing numbers in the third quarter of 2023 in response to both our studio partners' efforts to increase the quantity and quality of new releases, combined with AMC's continuing commitment to enhancing the guest experience enjoyed at our theatres. This continuance of AMC's being on a glide path to recovery is notable for 3 key aspects.

AMC 2023 年第三季的上座率是自2019 年第四季以來的最高水準。由於我們的工作室合作夥伴為提高新電影的數量和品質而做出的努力，2023 年第三季重返AMC戲院的觀影人數不斷增加，再加上 AMC 不斷致力於增強觀眾在我們劇院享受的體驗。 AMC 持續走上復甦之路的原因有 3 個關鍵面向。

First, the industry-wide box office is finally showing some strength. Second, we ended the quarter with $730 million of cash, and we remain committed to ensuring that our cash reserves remain robust. And third, AMC's contribution per patron was up 30% from pre-pandemic norms. I would repeat that number for emphasis so that you all hear it and understand its significance. AMC's contribution per patron was up 30% from that of 4 years ago. As a result, AMC has demonstrated, at least for this quarter, that we can report a healthy amount of adjusted EBITDA or be free cash flow positive without a complete return of the box office to pre-pandemic levels, although pre-pandemic levels of box office would certainly be preferable.

首先，全行業票房終於顯現出一些實力。其次，本季末我們擁有 7.3 億美元的現金，我們仍然致力於確保我們的現金儲備保持強勁。第三，AMC 每位顧客的捐款比疫情前的標準增加了 30%。我會重複這個數字以強調，以便你們都能聽到並理解它的重要性。 AMC 每位顧客的捐款比 4 年前增加了 30%。因此，AMC 至少在本季度證明，我們可以報告大量調整後 EBITDA 或實現正自由現金流，而無需將票房完全恢復到大流行前的水平，儘管大流行前的水平票房肯定會更好。

As for that box office, this was an inspiring quarter that saw the North American, the so-called domestic box office surge to $2.7 billion, exceeding Q3 2022 by 38% and achieving 95% of the pre-pandemic Q3 2019's box office. This is the closest our industry has come to quarterly box office levels that were considered normal in pre-pandemic times. As for our cash, the reason that AMC Odeon has been surviving this ravaging pandemic, happily staying away from the bankruptcy courts and why big chains like Cineworld or Regal or small chains like Alamo Drafthouse or ArcLight did not, is because at AMC, we have been maniacal in building up our cash reserves. For those trying to understand how AMC successfully has been defying gravity these past 3.5 years, having ample cash on hand is the secret sauce. It is having sufficient cash reserves that has enabled AMC's resilience heretofore, and therefore, we will continue to seek equity capital when it appears smart to do so as for our vastly improved contribution per patron.

就票房而言，這是一個鼓舞人心的季度，北美（即所謂的國內票房）飆升至27 億美元，比2022 年第三季度增長了38%，達到了疫情前2019 年第三季度票房的95 %。這是我們的行業最接近大流行前時期被認為正常的季度票房水平的一次。至於我們的現金，AMC Odeon 之所以能在這場肆虐的流行病中倖存下來，並愉快地遠離破產法庭，而Cineworld 或Regal 等大型連鎖店或Alamo Drafthouse 或ArcLight 等小型連鎖店卻未能倖存下來，是因為在AMC，我們有瘋狂地建立我們的現金儲備。對於那些試圖了解 AMC 如何在過去 3.5 年裡成功克服地心引力的人來說，手頭上有充足的現金是秘訣。迄今為止，充足的現金儲備使 AMC 能夠保持彈性，因此，我們將在明智的情況下繼續尋求股權資本，以大幅提高每位顧客的貢獻。

This is the real enduring lesson of AMC's third quarter results. Yes, we benefited from Barbenheimer and from Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One, Sound of Freedom, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, among other films. But if you look at attendance rather than box office dollars, the domestic industry attendance in Q3 was actually 16% down from the third quarter of 2019 and yet, AMC was more profitable. Attendance down, profits up. This came from the cumulative impact of all the many actions we have taken, especially over the past 3.5 years to change our fate.

這是AMC第三季業績給我們留下的真正持久的教訓。是的，我們受惠於《巴本海默》、《碟中諜4：航位推測第一部》、《自由之聲》、《法櫃奇兵》和《命運的錶盤》等電影。但如果你看上座率而不是票房收入，第三季的國內電影上座率實際上比 2019 年第三季下降了 16%，但 AMC 的利潤更高。出勤率下降，利潤上升。這是我們為改變命運而採取的所有行動的累積影響，特別是在過去的3.5年。

Those actions include: one, a focus on expense management in a challenging inflationary environment; two, the pruning of our theatre fleet by closing marginal theatres and opening successful new ones. Three, cooperatively renegotiating many theatre rents with our theatre landlords. Four, leading the industry with our having more customer-pleasing premium large format screens than any of our competitors. Five, AMC's innovative moves to sell other things, everything from Barbie Theme Pink Corvette models sold in our theatres to microwavable home popcorn sold on the shelves of Walmart.

這些行動包括：一是在充滿挑戰的通膨環境下注重費用管理；第二，透過關閉邊緣劇院和開設成功的新劇院來精簡我們的劇院隊伍。三是與我們的劇院業主合作重新談判許多劇院租金。第四，我們比任何競爭對手都擁有更多令客戶滿意的優質大尺寸螢幕，從而引領業界。第五，AMC 在銷售其他產品方面的創新舉措，從我們影院銷售的芭比主題粉紅色克爾維特模型到沃爾瑪貨架上銷售的微波爐家用爆米花。

Six, all of the many innovative marketing and pricing AMC initiatives which have caused us to achieve dramatic increases in revenues per patron, especially in our high-margin food and beverage activities as well as number seven, capitalizing on the many scale advantages and opportunities that accrue to AMC by being the largest movie theatre company in the U.S., in Europe and globally.

第六，AMC 的許多創新行銷和定價舉措使我們的每位顧客收入大幅增加，特別是在我們的高利潤食品和飲料活動中，第七，利用了許多規模優勢和機會， AMC 是美國、歐洲和全球最大的電影院公司。

Now I'll pass this webcast over to Sean to provide more details on the financial results of Q3, after which I'll return to talk about some of our ongoing initiatives and AMC's thoughts about the future. Sean?

現在，我將把這個網路廣播交給 Sean，以提供有關第三季度財務業績的更多詳細信息，之後我將返回討論我們正在進行的一些舉措以及 AMC 對未來的想法。肖恩？

Thank you, Adam, and thank you to everyone for joining us this afternoon. As Adam just said, in the third quarter, we achieved 2 notable financial milestones. One, our best revenue and adjusted EBITDA since pre-pandemic 2019; and two, the highest revenue and the highest adjusted EBITDA for any third quarter in AMC's entire 103-year history. Of course, this also means that we beat pre-pandemic Q3 2019 adjusted EBITDA, and we did this by a resounding 24%. And this is a remarkable achievement because our attendance was nearly 16% lower than in Q3 of 2019. Yet despite having 13.5 million fewer guests, we grew revenue by 6.8% or $89 million, and we grew adjusted EBITDA by 24% or $37 million.

謝謝你，亞當，也謝謝大家今天下午加入我們。正如亞當剛才所說，在第三季度，我們實現了兩個顯著的財務里程碑。一、我們自2019年大流行前以來最好的收入和調整後的EBITDA；第二，AMC 整個 103 年歷史中第三季的最高收入和最高調整後 EBITDA。當然，這也意味著我們超越了疫情前 2019 年第三季調整後的 EBITDA，而且高出 24%。這是一項了不起的成就，因為我們的出席人數比2019 年第三季減少了近16%。儘管賓客人數減少了1350 萬人，但我們的收入增長了6.8%，即8900 萬美元，調整後EBITDA 成長了24%，即3700 萬美元。

This result clearly demonstrates the success of the actions that we have taken over the last 4 years to really elevate the guest experience, optimize our theatre fleet, manage our expenses and improve our efficiency and overall profitability metrics. These results clearly illustrate our ability to deliver solid financial outcomes even when the industry box office and attendance were below pre-pandemic levels.

這一結果清楚地表明了我們在過去四年中為真正提升賓客體驗、優化我們的影院陣容、管理我們的費用以及提高我們的效率和整體盈利指標而採取的行動的成功。這些結果清楚地表明，即使行業票房和上座率低於疫情前的水平，我們也有能力提供穩健的財務成果。

With the third quarter North American box office of $2.7 billion, which is 38% above the prior year, we grew revenue by 45.2% to $1.4 billion. We grew adjusted EBITDA by $206.6 million to $193.7 million, and we grew net cash provided by operating activities by $289.5 million to a positive $65.9 million. With this quarter's results, we've now extended our unbroken string of positive adjusted EBITDA quarters to 4 and for the first time since 2018, we've generated a second consecutive quarter of positive net earnings and positive earnings per share.

第三季北美票房為 27 億美元，比去年同期成長 38%，我們的營收成長了 45.2%，達到 14 億美元。調整後的 EBITDA 成長了 2.066 億美元，達到 1.937 億美元，經營活動提供的淨現金成長了 2.895 億美元，達到 6,590 萬美元。憑藉本季度的業績，我們現已將調整後 EBITDA 連續正數季度延長至 4 個，並且自 2018 年以來首次實現連續第二個季度正淨利潤和正每股收益。

Now I'll turn to the North American business. Total revenue for the quarter increased by 41.2% compared to Q3 of 2022. This was driven by an attendance increase of 34.4%, which was helped by an increase in our market share. Admissions revenue per patron increased by 4.8% and food and beverage revenue per patron increased by 4.1%. Note that the revenue generated per patron for this quarter was 30.1% above pre-pandemic Q3 of 2019 and the contribution dollars per patron, which is defined as the revenue per patron less form exhibition and food and beverage costs was 35.9% above Q3 of 2019.

現在我將轉向北美業務。與 2022 年第三季相比，本季的總收入成長了 41.2%。這是由於參觀人數增加了 34.4%，而我們的市佔率增加也推動了這一成長。每位顧客的門票收入成長了 4.8%，每位顧客的餐飲收入成長了 4.1%。請注意，本季每位顧客產生的收入比2019 年第三季大流行前高出30.1%，每位顧客的捐款金額（定義為每位顧客扣除展覽和餐飲費用後的收入）比2019 年第三季高出35.9% 。

In the International business, on a constant currency basis, total revenue increased by approximately 50%, 5-0, compared to Q3 of 2022. This was driven by an attendance increase of 48.5%, admissions revenue per patron increase of 10.8% and food and beverage revenue per patron increase of 10.5%. Note that international revenue per patron and contribution dollars per patron for the quarter were 18.4% above pre-pandemic Q3 of 2019 as measured in constant currency.

在國際業務中，以固定匯率計算，與2022 年第三季相比，總收入增長了約50%（5-0）。這是由於出席人數增長48.5%、每位顧客的入場收入增長10.8 % 以及食品每位顧客的飲料收入成長了 10.5%。請注意，以固定匯率計算，本季每位顧客的國際收入和每位顧客的捐款金額比 2019 年第三季大流行前增加了 18.4%。

Moving to cash flow and the balance sheet. We ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $729.7 million, operating cash generated, a non-GAAP measure representing cash from operating activities after deducting capital expenditures and before both debt servicing costs and deferred rent payback was a positive $109 million, an improvement of $288 million compared to Q3 of 2022.

轉向現金流量和資產負債表。本季結束時，我們的現金和現金等價物為7.297 億美元，營運產生的現金為1.09 億美元，這是一項非公認會計準則衡量標準，代表扣除資本支出後、償債成本和遞延租金償還先前營運活動產生的現金，為1.09 億美元。與 2022 年第三季相比，營收為 2.88 億美元。

Capital expenditures, net of landlord contributions was $49.8 million for the quarter. This brings our year-to-date net CapEx to $137.5 million. Based on our expected CapEx spend in Q4, we now anticipate net CapEx for 2023 to be in the range of $175 million to $225 million. During the third quarter, we continued to actively manage our theatre portfolio. We added one new theatre and we closed 3. This brings the total number of locations that we have closed since the pandemic began to 156, and the total new locations opened to 57, for a net reduction of 99 locations. This portfolio rationalization, together with ongoing landlord negotiation has unequivocally resulted in a more profitable theatre portfolio.

本季資本支出（扣除房東捐款）為 4,980 萬美元。這使得我們今年迄今的淨資本支出達到 1.375 億美元。根據我們對第四季資本支出的預期，我們現在預計 2023 年的淨資本支出將在 1.75 億美元至 2.25 億美元之間。第三季度，我們繼續積極管理劇院投資組合。我們新增了 1 家影院，關閉了 3 家。這使得自疫情開始以來我們關閉的影院總數達到 156 家，新開業的影院總數達到 57 家，淨減少 99 家。這種投資組合合理化，加上正在進行的業主談判，無疑帶來了更有利可圖的劇院投資組合。

Just as an illustration of our effective rent expense management, it's worth noting that Q3 2023 rent was 5.6% below the same period in 2019 in constant currency, this despite the significant CPI increases over the last 4 years. Going forward, while we continue to invest in our business and the guest experience, our top 2 capital allocation priorities must remain, one, to ensure that we have sufficient liquidity to manage through our recovery period; and two, strengthen our balance sheet.

為了說明我們有效的租金支出管理，值得注意的是，儘管過去 4 年 CPI 大幅上漲，但以固定匯率計算，2023 年第三季租金仍比 2019 年同期低 5.6%。展望未來，在我們繼續投資於我們的業務和賓客體驗的同時，我們的兩大資本配置優先事項必須保持不變，一是確保我們有足夠的流動性來管理我們的恢復期；二是確保我們有足夠的流動性來管理我們的恢復期。第二，加強我們的資產負債表。

Now we've made considerable progress in these 2 areas. During the third quarter, we successfully raised $325.5 million of gross equity capital. We repurchased $24 million of debt at an average discount of 28%, and we also repaid a $22.3 million of deferred rate. The deferred rate balance at the end of Q3 was $74.2 million, and we plan to reduce this balance by another $20 million by the end of this year. So year-to-date, 2023 year-to-date, we have now raised $550 million of gross equity capital, we've lowered the principal value of our debt by $289 million through debt repurchases or exchanges of debt for equity, and we've repaid $83 million of deferred rent. All told, we have reduced our debt and deferred rent liabilities by $372 million thus far in 2023 and a total of $764 million since the beginning of 2022.

現在我們在這兩個領域都取得了長足的進步。第三季度，我們成功籌集了 3.255 億美元的總股本。我們以平均折扣 28% 的價格回購了 2,400 萬美元的債務，也償還了 2,230 萬美元的遞延利率。第三季末的遞延利率餘額為 7,420 萬美元，我們計劃在今年年底將這一餘額再減少 2,000 萬美元。因此，今年迄今，即 2023 年迄今，我們已籌集了 5.5 億美元的總股本，透過債務回購或債轉股，我們已將債務本金價值降低了 2.89 億美元，而且我們已償還8,300 萬美元的延期租金。總而言之，到 2023 年為止，我們已將債務和遞延租金負債減少了 3.72 億美元，自 2022 年初以來總共減少了 7.64 億美元。

In summary, our results for this quarter clearly show the positive impact of the significant enhancements that we have made and will continue to make to grow and to strengthen the business. As we navigate through this recovery phase, which may be extended by the Hollywood Strikes, our primary financial priority will be to ensure ample liquidity, while concurrently continuing to make progress reducing debt and fortifying our balance sheet. Of course, we will also continue to pursue growth initiatives opportunistically as they make sense. We believe that this approach overall would best position us to thrive in the future.

總之，我們本季的業績清楚地表明了我們已經並將繼續為發展和加強業務而做出的重大改進所產生的積極影響。當我們度過這個可能因好萊塢罷工而延長的恢復階段時，我們的首要財務重點將是確保充足的流動性，同時繼續在減少債務和強化資產負債表方面取得進展。當然，我們也將繼續機會主義地尋求有意義的成長措施。我們相信，這種方法總體上最有利於我們在未來蓬勃發展。

And now I'll hand the webcast back over to Adam.

現在我將把網路廣播交還給 Adam。

Thank you, Sean. The successes of 2023 and the third quarter, in particular, have clearly illustrated the allure and power of theatrical exhibition, movies in theatres on the giant screen. Before we move to questions from our investors and from equity analysts, I'd like to quickly update you on 6 specific topics.

謝謝你，肖恩。尤其是2023年第三季的成功，清楚地說明了院線放映、大銀幕上的電影的吸引力和力量。在回答投資者和股票分析師的問題之前，我想快速向您介紹 6 個特定主題的最新情況。

First, merchandise. You may recall that we started getting serious about merchandise sales at our theatres and on our website as a result of specific shareholder suggestions that came in from our retail investors. We embraced the idea thoroughly and quietly, it has become a pleasant success story. It was literally a nonexistent business for AMC in 2021. In 2022, we grossed about $10 million in merchandise sales. But by year-end 2023, it will be more than a $50 million revenue source for us this year. Way to go shareholders, keep those good ideas coming in.

第一，商品。您可能還記得，由於散戶提出了具體的股東建議，我們開始認真對待劇院和網站上的商品銷售。我們徹底而安靜地接受了這個想法，它已經成為一個令人愉快的成功故事。對於 2021 年的 AMC 來說，這實際上是一項不存在的業務。2022 年，我們的商品銷售總額約為 1000 萬美元。但到 2023 年底，我們今年的收入來源將超過 5,000 萬美元。股東們，幹得好，讓這些好點子不斷湧現。

Second, popcorn in the home. Our lines of ready-to-eat and microwavable AMC Perfectly Popcorn have been a huge hit. Our 6-month exclusive deal with Walmart stores at walmart.com proved to us, proved the Walmart and proved to other retailers that consumers find AMC's product offering in this area to be compelling. So in addition to continuing with Walmart, I am pleased to announce today that over the next 2 months, we will be rolling out AMC Perfectly Popcorn to Kroger Stores, including their approximately one dozen brands of supermarkets around the country and before Christmas, we expect to be placing it on the shelves of all of public supermarkets as well. And if all goes according to plan, by Black Friday of this month, the day after Thanksgiving, AMC Perfectly Popcorn will be available nationwide on amazon.com as well.

第二，家裡有爆米花。我們的即食和微波爐 AMC Perfectly 爆米花系列非常受歡迎。我們在 walmart.com 上與沃爾瑪商店簽訂的為期 6 個月的獨家協議向我們、沃爾瑪以及其他零售商證明，消費者認為 AMC 在該領域提供的產品非常引人注目。因此，除了繼續與沃爾瑪合作之外，我今天很高興地宣布，在接下來的兩個月中，我們將在克羅格商店（包括其在全國各地的大約十幾個品牌的超市）推出AMC Perfectly Popcorn，我們預計在聖誕節前也將其放置在所有公共超市的貨架上。如果一切按計劃進行，到本月黑色星期五（感恩節後的第二天），AMC Perfectly Popcorn 也將在 amazon.com 上在全國範圍內發售。

Third, given our success in branding our popcorn, in November and December, this month and next, we also will be introducing a new line of AMC conceived and branded gourmet chocolate candies called AMC (inaudible). Our first SKUs will be chocolate-covered pretzels, chocolate-covered almonds, chocolate-covered peanuts, and chocolate-covered raisins. Essentially, our learning at this company in this area is that just about anything takes a whole lot better if (inaudible) chocolate. AMC's strategy here will be to offer a top-of-the-line quality treat with some of the finest chocolate made and lots of it. Even though ours will be a gourmet line, we will sell at the same price as mass market brands.

第三，鑑於我們在11 月和12 月、本月和下個月在爆米花品牌上取得了成功，我們還將推出AMC 構思和品牌化的新系列美味巧克力糖果，稱為AMC（聽不清）。我們的第一個 SKU 是巧克力椒鹽捲餅、巧克力杏仁、巧克力花生和巧克力葡萄乾。從本質上講，我們在這家公司在這一領域的經驗是，任何東西都需要更好的（聽不清楚）巧克力。 AMC 的策略是提供頂級品質的美食，其中包括一些最優質的巧克力和大量的巧克力。儘管我們的產品線將是美食系列，但我們將以與大眾市場品牌相同的價格出售。

That's something that AMC can do, given the huge demand for candy products that exists within a movie theatre environment without a requirement for us to run up massive distribution or marketing costs. At least initially, AMC (inaudible) will only be sold at AMC Theatres. And of course, in addition to carrying our own line of AMC (inaudible), we'll continue to stock on the shelves at our theatres, the many name-brand candy products that are there today.

鑑於電影院環境中對糖果產品的巨大需求，AMC 可以做到這一點，而不需要我們承擔大量的發行或行銷成本。至少在最初階段，AMC（聽不清楚）將僅在 AMC 影院出售。當然，除了我們自己的 AMC 系列（聽不清楚）之外，我們還將繼續在我們劇院的貨架上備有當今的許多名牌糖果產品。

Fourth, I'd like to address the situation that our industry has encountered for almost 6 months now due to the writers' and actors' strikes. That's going on for almost half a year. The short-term impacts of the writers' and actors' strikes will cause additional and needless challenges for AMC in 2024. The projects will get delayed from 2024 into future periods. Without taking sides as to who is to blame for this labor stoppage or how the labor challenges should be resolved in negotiation, we strongly encourage all the parties involved to come to the negotiating table with the intent of reaching an agreement immediately. There has been and will be much collateral damage from these lengthy work stoppages. For the benefit of all involved in the movie ecosystem, AMC believes that this months' long disharmony needs to come to an end now.

第四，我想談談由於編劇和演員的罷工，我們這個行業已經經歷了近六個月的情況。這樣的情況持續了將近半年。編劇和演員罷工的短期影響將在 2024 年為 AMC 帶來額外的、不必要的挑戰。這些項目將從 2024 年推遲到未來的時期。在誰應該為這次停工負責或如何在談判中解決勞工挑戰問題上不偏不倚，我們強烈鼓勵所有相關各方坐到談判桌前，意圖立即達成協議。這些長時間的停工已經並將造成許多附帶損害。為了所有參與電影生態系統的人的利益，AMC 認為，這幾個月的長期不和諧現在需要結束。

Whether one thinks of a studio executive or of a union member in the creative community, it is ever so important that everyone in Hollywood returns to the task of creating world-class entertainment that is admired and greatly enjoyed the world over. Fifth, I'd like to quickly comment on our laser projection upgrade. It is categorically accurate to say that the future for AMC continues to get brighter, thanks to our ongoing transition to laser projectors at our theatres.

無論是工作室主管還是創意界的工會成員，好萊塢的每個人都必須回歸創造世界級娛樂的任務，這項任務受到全世界的欽佩和喜愛，這一點非常重要。第五，我想快速評論一下我們的雷射投影升級。可以肯定地說，由於我們的戲院不斷向雷射投影機過渡，AMC 的未來將繼續變得更加光明。

They increase on-screen light levels by 50% to 100%. As a result, the images on the silver screen are getting sharper and brighter as every week passes. By the end of 2023, AMC will have converted more than 37% of our auditoriums across the United States to laser projection. Not only does this deliver improved picture contrast, more vivid color and greater picture brightness for our guests, this is the biggest single green initiative ever undertaken by AMC. Laser projection is environmentally friendly because it eliminates the problem of having used Xenon bulbs and it brings a significant reduction to our energy consumption efforts as we show movies to moviegoers.

它們可將螢幕亮度提高 50% 至 100%。結果，銀幕上的圖像每週都變得更加清晰和明亮。到 2023 年底，AMC 將把全美超過 37% 的禮堂改造成雷射投影。這不僅為我們的客人提供了更好的圖像對比度、更鮮豔的色彩和更高的圖像亮度，而且這是 AMC 有史以來最大的單一綠色舉措。雷射投影是環保的，因為它消除了使用氙氣燈泡的問題，並且在我們向電影觀眾放映電影時大大減少了能源消耗。

And finally, Topic 6, which is not the only thing we've been talking about around here in the last 5 months, Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift. What can we say of our gratitude to Taylor for entrusting AMC to distribute her Eras Tour Concert Movie to some 100 countries across the planet. As you likely know, with ticket sales expected to hover around $0.25 billion, The Eras Tour is already the highest grossing concert film in history. And at the domestic box office, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour was the second highest grossing movie of all time for any and all genres to be launched during the month of October.

最後，主題 6，這並不是我們過去 5 個月在這裡談論的唯一事情，泰勒絲，泰勒絲，泰勒絲。我們該如何感謝泰勒委託 AMC 將她的 Eras 巡迴演唱會電影發行到全球約 100 個國家。如你所知，《The Eras Tour》的票房收入預計將徘徊在 2.5 億美元左右，已經成為史上票房最高的音樂會電影。在國內票房方面，《泰勒絲：時代巡迴演唱會》是 10 月上映的所有類型電影中有史以來票房第二高的電影。

That's our role as distributor. As for our role as exhibitor, AMC's market share of ticket sales sold for Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour was unusually high. So both as distributor and exhibitor, AMC benefited handsomely both reputationally and financially from our having taken on this project, and that benefit will not be a onetime thing.

這就是我們身為經銷商的角色。至於我們作為放映商的角色，AMC 在泰勒絲：時代巡演 (Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour) 的門票銷售市場份額異常高。因此，無論是作為發行商還是放映商，AMC 都從我們承接的這個專案中獲得了可觀的聲譽和財務收益，而且這種收益不會是一次性的。

As we announced just a few weeks ago, AMC Theatres Distribution is following its success with Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour with a concert film release of Beyonce's Renaissance World Tour. Renaissance, a film by Beyonce, will be released globally on December 1.

正如我們幾週前宣布的那樣，AMC 影院發行公司繼《泰勒絲：時代巡迴》大獲成功之後，又推出了碧昂絲文藝復興世界巡迴演唱會的音樂會電影。碧昂絲執導的電影《文藝復興》將於 12 月 1 日在全球上映。

We are so privileged to be working with artists like Taylor Swift and Beyonce, as they bring their creative vision to their fans, and we do so, too, in the United States and around the world. For what it is worth, in working with 2 of the most admired pop stars in the planet, we already have touched (inaudible). All of us at AMC are now (inaudible) to Swifties and are probably in The BeyHive. We are optimistic though that this will lead to much more ahead. This is not just a onetime thing in 2023.

我們非常榮幸能與泰勒絲和碧昂絲等藝術家合作，他們將自己的創意願景帶給粉絲，我們在美國和世界各地也這樣做。不管怎樣，在與地球上兩位最受尊敬的流行歌星合作時，我們已經有所觸動（聽不清楚）。我們 AMC 的所有人現在（聽不清楚）都是 Swifties，而且可能都在 The BeyHive 中。不過，我們樂觀地認為這將帶來更多的未來。這不僅僅是 2023 年的一次性事件。

We believe that we will have several more concert film products in 2024 and 2025. We intend to be working with some of the most known and most loved musical artists the world has ever known. For those of you who don't think that this will prove to be transformational for AMC, watch this space. If as and when more artists come on board, there is significant incremental profitability ahead for AMC from our going down this sizable fan-filled road. If one would think back to March of 2020, if I had to summarize our view as we sit here today, going back to a time when all theatres were shut and think about what has transpired since, you'll note that the recovery of the movie industry and of the movie theatre industry has not been a straight line.

我們相信，我們將在 2024 年和 2025 年推出更多音樂會電影產品。我們打算與世界上一些最知名、最受歡迎的音樂藝術家合作。對於那些認為這不會為 AMC 帶來改變的人來說，請關注這個領域。如果隨著更多藝人加入，AMC 沿著這條充滿粉絲的龐大道路，將獲得顯著的獲利增量。如果有人回想起 2020 年 3 月，如果我今天坐在這裡總結我們的觀點，回到所有劇院都關閉的時代，思考此後發生的事情，你會注意到，經濟的復甦電影業和電影院業並不是一條直線。

Indeed, to the contrary, it's been a wild ride with passes and turns that no one would have predicted. Through it all though, AMC has clearly emerged as the leader of the pack, and we've done so backed by an army of enthusiastic shareholders. Looking ahead, there likely will be challenges for us to conquer still. A prolonged actors' strike and rising interest rates are not helpful. We still have significant debt to pay down or to refinance, although that's mitigated somewhat because most but not all of our current maturities do not start before 2026.

事實上，恰恰相反，這是一次瘋狂的旅程，其中充滿了沒人能預料到的經過和轉彎。儘管如此，AMC 顯然已成為該領域的領導者，我們也得到了大批熱情股東的支持。展望未來，我們可能仍將面臨挑戰。長期的演員罷工和不斷上升的利率都無濟於事。我們仍然有大量債務需要償還或再融資，儘管這種情況有所緩解，因為我們目前的大多數（但不是全部）到期日都不會在 2026 年之前開始。

But looking again at sort of the glass half empty, many of our shareholders are incensed, truly incensed, by stock market practices that they do not trust. If that's not enough, there's war in Europe and there's war in the Middle East. The list of problems we dealt with goes on and on and on. But if there ever was a time to look past the immediately foreseeable challenges of the day, for AMC, it might be right now right after reporting AMC's third quarter 2023 earnings. It was, after all, the single best third quarter for AMC in some 103 years. These were stellar results. To our shareholders listening in to this webcast, we hope you share our pride in the progress that's being made by AMC.

但再看看半空的杯子，我們的許多股東對他們不信任的股市做法感到憤怒，真正的憤怒。如果這還不夠，歐洲和中東也會發生戰爭。我們處理過的問題清單不勝枚舉。但對於 AMC 來說，如果有一個時間來審視當前可預見的挑戰，那可能就是在 AMC 公佈 2023 年第三季收益之後。畢竟，這是 AMC 近 103 年來表現最好的第三季。這些都是非常出色的結果。對於收聽本次網路廣播的股東，我們希望您能與我們一樣為 AMC 所取得的進步感到自豪。

This, after all, is your company. And we benefit in so many ways from your enthusiasm and from your passion for AMC. With that, Sean, let's now move to questions from our shareholders and industry analysts. And as a change of pace, let's start with questions from industry analysts (inaudible) and then we'll take questions from our shareholders, batting cleanup, so to speak, as we close out today's call.

畢竟，這是你的公司。我們在很多方面都受益於你們的熱情以及你們對 AMC 的熱情。肖恩，現在讓我們來回答股東和產業分析師的問題。作為節奏的改變，讓我們從行業分析師的問題開始（聽不清楚），然後我們將回答股東的問題，可以說，在我們結束今天的電話會議時，進行清理工作。

Jenny, can you provide instructions?

珍妮，你能提供指導嗎？

(Operator Instructions) Your first question is from Alicia Reese from Wedbush.

（操作員說明）您的第一個問題來自 Wedbush 的 Alicia Reese。

I have a couple of questions. First of all, I'm wondering if you could talk a little bit more quantitatively in terms of Taylor Swift in terms of the distribution versus just exhibiting this film. And same for Beyonce, if you could talk about that quantitatively, what's the benefit of distributing that in terms of market share or in terms of film rent and if not that, then a little bit more qualitatively about that, if you can.

我有一些問題。首先，我想知道你是否可以更定量地談論泰勒絲的發行與放映這部電影。對於碧昂絲來說也是如此，如果你可以定量地談論這一點，那麼從市場份額或電影租金方面分配它有什麼好處，如果不是的話，那麼如果可以的話，可以更定性地談論這一點。

Sure. Let's talk quantitatively first. We know it to the penny, I mean, literally to the penny, and it's sizable. But those are stats that we're going to unveil on the fourth quarter call, not on the third quarter call. We did very well. We're going to make a handsome profit from having facilitated what was in July only in-stadium concert tour, getting it converted to film and getting it in theatres quickly.

當然。我們先從數量上來說。我們知道這一點，我的意思是，字面上的一分錢，而且它的規模相當大。但這些統計數據將在第四季電話會議上公佈，而不是在第三季電話會議上公佈。我們做得很好。我們將透過促成七月份唯一的體育場內音樂會巡演、將其轉換成電影並迅速在影院上映來獲得可觀的利潤。

As I said, we know the numbers (inaudible) we review them almost daily with the entourage that surrounds Taylor. We're all smiling. They're smiling, we're smiling. Our market share is abnormally high of the tickets sold. And I think that, in part, is because we've been so committed to the project. It's pretty hard to pick up a newspaper anywhere in the world or to go on the Internet and look at news and not see the AMC name connected to Taylor Swift. Beyonce is right behind it. As you know, Taylor's film has grossed, in 4 weeks, it grossed $165 million domestically and about $220 million globally. It's still going in theatres. It's not stopping at 4 weeks.

正如我所說，我們知道這些數字（聽不清楚），我們幾乎每天都與泰勒周圍的隨行人員一起審查它們。我們都在微笑。他們在微笑，我們也在微笑。我們的門票銷售市佔率異常高。我認為這在一定程度上是因為我們對這個項目非常投入。在世界任何地方拿起一份報紙，或在網路上查看新聞，都很難不看到 AMC 的名字與泰勒絲 (Taylor Swift) 相關。碧昂絲就在它後面。如你所知，泰勒的電影在 4 週內就獲得了票房收入，國內票房收入為 1.65 億美元，全球票房收入約為 2.2 億美元。它仍在劇院上映。 4週後還沒停止。

There will be a weekend 5 and weekend 6, weekend 7 and weekend 8, and so the numbers will continue to grow. We don't expect that Beyonce's concert tour will be as large in theatre as was Taylor's, but we do expect it to be significant and meaningful. And both The Eras Tour and The Renaissance Tour taken together will provide a healthy bite of profitability for AMC in calendar year 2023. What's also exciting to us is not just the profitability that comes our way this year but our prospects for 2024 and 2025.

將會有第 5 週末、第 6 週末、第 7 週末和第 8 週末，因此人數將繼續增長。我們預計碧昂絲的巡迴演唱會不會像泰勒的巡迴演唱會那樣大規模，但我們確實希望它是重要且有意義的。 The Eras Tour 和 The Renaissance Tour 一起將為 AMC 在 2023 年提供可觀的盈利能力。令我們興奮的不僅是我們今年的盈利能力，還有我們對 2024 年和 2025 年的前景。

Our phone has been dancing off the hooks really since the day we announced The Eras Tour project on August 31. There are a significant number of the world's best artists who would like to explore doing things with AMC that Taylor and Beyonce Knowles-Carter just did. So again, I think our prospects are this is a moneymaking venture in 2023, and it will be a moneymaking venture for us in 2024 and beyond. I also would like to say that as much credit as AMC has received from taking the lead on this project and I might add that with the writers' and actors' strikes, there were some movies that were going to move out of the fourth quarter. So there were some holes in the calendar in the fourth quarter. It was a pleasant thing for movie theatre operators the world over to have an unanticipated gift of a Taylor Swift concert film and Beyonce Knowles-Carter concert film added to the calendar for the fourth quarter, added just literally a month or 2 in advance of the quarter commencing.

自從我們8 月31 日宣布The Eras Tour 計畫那天起，我們的手機就一直在忙個不停。世界上有很多最優秀的藝術家都想探索與AMC 一起做泰勒和碧昂絲諾爾斯卡特剛剛做過的事。所以，我再次認為，我們的前景是，這是 2023 年的一項賺錢項目，並且在 2024 年及以後，這對我們來說也將是一項賺錢的項目。我還想說，AMC 因主導這個項目而獲得了很多讚譽，我還想補充一點，隨著編劇和演員的罷工，有些電影將在第四季度退出。所以第四季的日曆上有一些漏洞。對於世界各地的電影院經營者來說，將泰勒絲(Taylor Swift) 演唱會影片和碧昂絲諾爾斯卡特(Beyonce Knowles-Carter) 演唱會影片這件意想不到的禮物添加到第第四季度的日曆中是一件令人愉快的事情，而且僅比第四季度提前一兩個月添加。季度開始。

We could not have done this alone. And I would specifically like to give credit to so many of our competitors who also chose to play the Taylor Swift movie and the Beyonce movie. We could not have done this without the cooperation of Cinemark and Regal or of Cinepolis and Cinemax in Mexico or Cineplex in Canada. And it's also true that literally all across the globe, movie theatre chains in some 100 countries have embraced the showing of The Eras Tour and The Renaissance Tour. So this is something that is particularly good for AMC because we did it, but it's particularly good for our entire industry because literally, just about everyone in our industry is benefiting from the incremental revenue that no one would have expected to see just a few months ago.

我們無法獨自完成這件事。我要特別感謝我們的許多競爭對手，他們也選擇播放泰勒絲的電影和碧昂絲的電影。如果沒有 Cinemark 和 Regal、墨西哥的 Cinepolis 和 Cinemax 以及加拿大的 Cineplex 的合作，我們不可能做到這一點。事實上，在全球範圍內，大約 100 個國家的連鎖電影院已經開始放映《The Eras Tour》和《The Renaissance Tour》。因此，這對AMC 特別有利，因為我們做到了，而且對我們整個行業也特別有利，因為從字面上看，我們行業中的幾乎每個人都從增量收入中受益，而沒有人預計會在短短幾個月內看到這一增量收入。前​​。

As for the specifics of the question, Alicia , I promise we'll give you every number there is, but we're going to do it on the next call.

至於問題的具體細節，艾莉西亞，我保證我們會給你所有的電話號碼，但我們會在下次通話時這樣做。

Yes, that makes sense. Appreciate that. If I can ask one more. Just wondering if you can give some commentary around the premium large format screens and the impact on your market share as the biggest footprint for IMAX, Dolby and then how your proprietary PLFs are performing across your circuit right now?

是的，這是有道理的。感謝。如果我可以再問一個的話。只是想知道您是否可以就優質大尺寸螢幕以及作為 IMAX、杜比最大足跡對您的市場份額的影響發表一些評論，然後您的專有 PLF 目前在您的電路中表現如何？

Sure. So I actually think this is one of the biggest success stories of AMC. When we look at our PLFs and that's IMAX, Dolby Cinema, Prime here in the United States, iSense in Europe, they are our most successful screens. First of all, they sell first and they fill higher than regular screens. If you take a look at the box office dollars for us of a premium large-format screen, it essentially becomes the equivalent of 4 regular screens. Think about that. Every one of our PLFs on average is grossing about 4x that of a regular screen, and in the case of AMC, we have 550 of these things around the world.

當然。所以我實際上認為這是 AMC 最大的成功故事之一。當我們審視我們的 PLF 時，我們會發現 IMAX、杜比影院、美國的 Prime 和歐洲的 iSense，它們是我們最成功的銀幕。首先，它們銷售第一，而且比普通螢幕的填充率更高。如果你看一下優質大尺寸螢幕的票房收入，它基本上相當於 4 個普通螢幕。考慮一下。我們每一部 PLF 的平均票房收入約為普通銀幕的 4 倍，就 AMC 而言，我們在全球擁有 550 部這樣的影片。

No one anywhere comes close to the number of PLFs that we have. About half of all the IMAX screens in North America are AMC. 100% of all the Dolby Cinema screens in the United States are AMC. So this is just a massive success for us, and it's something that we're committed to doing. We would like to -- we not only have expanded the number of PLFs in our company, but we've improved the quality of our PLFs. So we've gone back -- I mean, almost all of our Dolby Cinemas have been installed over the last 8 years, but some of our IMAX screens are much older.

沒有人能與我們擁有的 PLF 數量相提並論。北美大約一半的 IMAX 銀幕都是 AMC 的。美國所有杜比戲院銀幕100%都是AMC。所以這對我們來說是一個巨大的成功，也是我們致力於做的事情。我們希望——我們不僅增加了公司 PLF 的數量，而且還提高了 PLF 的品質。所以我們回到過去——我的意思是，我們幾乎所有的杜比影院都是在過去 8 年裡安裝的，但我們的一些 IMAX 螢幕要老得多。

So we've gone back into our IMAX screens and reinvested in those screens with IMAX Laser and upgraded sound systems. And in both cases, both for IMAX and for Dolby, we'd like to increase the number of our locations. So the only -- and similarly, we intend to grow the number of our so-called house brand PLFs, iSense in Europe and the Prime here. We think we have 550 -- and round number is 550 of these things today, we think we could add 150 more and the only -- and where the consumer would support that level of supply of premium large-format screens. The only limiting factor and a balancing factor is cash because as Sean said, we're always balancing chasing growth initiatives on the one hand and ensuring that we have ample liquidity on the other and strengthen our balance sheet by using some of our cash to pay down debt.

因此，我們重新投入 IMAX 銀幕，並在這些銀幕上重新投資了 IMAX Laser 和升級的音響系統。在這兩種情況下，無論是 IMAX 還是杜比，我們都希望增加我們的拍攝地點數量。因此，唯一的——同樣，我們打算增加我們所謂的自有品牌 PLF、歐洲的 iSense 和這裡的 Prime 的數量。我們認為我們有 550 個——今天的數量是 550 個，我們認為我們可以再增加 150 個，也是唯一的——消費者會支持優質大尺寸螢幕的供應水平。唯一的限制因素和平衡因素是現金，因為正如肖恩所說，我們總是一方面平衡追求成長計劃，另一方面確保我們擁有充足的流動性，並透過使用部分現金支付來加強我們的資產負債表格減少債務。

So what tempers our ability to capitalize on the growth initiatives that are right there in front of our eyes is this art form of how much money do we invest in growth initiatives and how much do we invest and pay down debt and how much do we just put in the bank and save for a rainy day to bolster our cash position. And -- but there is no doubt there is enormous opportunity ahead. And we really do believe that more than any other chain in the world, AMC is home of the PLFs or the so-called premium large-format screens. And that's an advantage that we intend to sustain and improve upon in the years going forward.

因此，影響我們利用眼前成長計畫的能力的是這種藝術形式，即我們在成長計畫上投資了多少錢，我們投資和償還債務多少錢，以及我們只付多少錢。存入銀行以備不時之需，以增強我們的現金狀況。而且——但毫無疑問，前方存在著巨大的機會。我們確實相信，與世界上任何其他連鎖店相比，AMC 是 PLF 或所謂的優質大螢幕螢幕的所在地。這是我們打算在未來幾年保持和改進的優勢。

Adam, with that, should we go to some questions from our shareholders?

亞當，那我們應該回答股東的一些問題嗎？

Please let's do.

請我們做吧。

Unless there are any questions from equity analysts, but I think at this point there are questions from our shareholders. So the first question, Adam, is about alternative content, and we've spoken a lot about Taylor Swift. But the question is, can you talk more about the future opportunities? And what other sort of content are we considering to bring into our theatres?

除非股票分析師有任何疑問，但我認為目前我們的股東有疑問。亞當，第一個問題是關於替代內容，我們已經談了很多關於泰勒絲的事情。但問題是，您能多談談未來的機會嗎？我們還考慮將哪些其他類型的內容帶入我們的戲院？

Well, given that -- in one of our most important forays in the whole genre content, we just added $0.25 billion to the world's box office and 165 of that is in the United States alone. I don't think anybody has been chasing whole genre content more aggressively than AMC. Clearly, this whole genre of concert films is something that we've learned. There's a lot of demand for out there, and so we'll chase it hard. But it's not limited to concert artists.

嗯，考慮到這一點——在我們對整個類型內容最重要的嘗試之一中，我們剛剛為全球票房增加了 2.5 億美元，其中 165 美元僅在美國。我認為沒有人比 AMC 更積極地追逐整個類型的內容。顯然，音樂會電影的整個類型是我們已經學到的東西。那裡有很多需求，所以我們會努力追逐它。但這不僅限於音樂會藝術家。

I continue to think that professional sports is an enormous opportunity for the movie theatre industry. If you think watching a football game on your 45-inch or 55-inch or 65-inch TV at home looks good, imagine how it looks on a 45-foot or a 55-foot or a 65-foot screen at an AMC theatre. And so I think the second thing that you'll see us chasing beyond these concert films is sports. It's been a multiyear effort to try to get the rights to do so, but it's something that we are in active pursuit of as we speak.

我仍然認為職業運動對電影院產業來說是一個巨大的機會。如果你認為在家​​裡的 45 英寸、55 英寸或 65 英寸電視上觀看足球比賽看起來不錯，請想像一下在 AMC 影院的 45 英尺、55 英尺或 65 英尺屏幕上觀看的效果如何。所以我認為除了這些音樂會電影之外，你會看到我們追逐的第二件事是體育。我們花了多年的努力才獲得這樣做的權利，但正如我們所說，這是我們積極追求的目標。

And then beyond that, there's all sorts of other content, whether it's ethnic film product like Bollywood products or some Asian language film or Hispanic language film we can bring here in the United States, those are the opportunities that we're already pursuing and our year-over-year growth are small, but our year-over growth in those segments has been quite high. We've had a partnership with (inaudible) for a long time where they bring lots of other interesting content to our screens as well. So clearly, there's an opportunity here and it's -- Taylor Swift demonstrated that it can be sizable dollars if it's done right. So it's clearly on AMC's radar screen.

除此之外，還有各種各樣的其他內容，無論是像寶萊塢產品這樣的民族電影產品，還是我們可以帶到美國的一些亞洲語言電影或西班牙語言電影，這些都是我們已經在追求的機會，也是我們的目標。同比成長很小，但我們在這些領域的年成長相當高。我們與（聽不清楚）有很長一段時間的合作關係，他們也為我們的螢幕帶來了許多其他有趣的內容。很明顯，這裡有一個機會，泰勒絲證明，如果做得好，它可以帶來可觀的收入。所以它在 AMC 的雷達屏幕上很明顯。

A lot of interest in our food and beverage offerings. And there's a question about other than popcorn, what are our other food and beverage initiatives and what plans do we have to bring other AMC food and beverage products through retail distribution channels?

對我們的食品和飲料很感興趣。還有一個問題是，除了爆米花之外，我們還有哪些其他食品和飲料舉措？我們有什麼計劃透過零售分銷管道推出其他 AMC 食品和飲料產品？

If there's one area where we can take enormous pride at AMC, it's what's happened to our F&B business in the last 3 to 4 years. Prior to the pandemic, F&B spending was about $5 a head in round numbers at AMC. And these are domestic numbers that I'm using right now. And post-pandemic, it's been about $8 a head. That increase of $3 a head is meaningful when you think that we have a very high-margin (inaudible). I often joke that we sell air and water. We sell popcorn and soft drinks. And so it's a very profitable business for us. And the fact that we've seen such an increase in the spending per patron is very beneficial to us. Other chains also have seen increases in their food and beverage capture, but I continue to believe that of the -- not the so-called dine-in -- the small dine-in theatre chains, but the mass market brands, our food and beverage capture continues to be the highest in the industry. And it's no accident.

如果有一個領域可以讓 AMC 感到無比自豪，那就是我們的餐飲業務在過去 3 到 4 年裡所發生的事情。在疫情爆發之前，AMC 的餐飲支出約為每人 5 美元。這些是我現在使用的國內號碼。疫情過後，每頭的價格約為 8 美元。當您認為我們的利潤率非常高（聽不清楚）時，每人增加 3 美元是有意義的。我常開玩笑說我們賣空氣和水。我們出售爆米花和軟性飲料。因此，這對我們來說是一項非常有利可圖的業務。事實上，我們看到每位顧客的支出如此增加，這對我們非常有利。其他連鎖店的食品和飲料收入也有所增加，但我仍然相信，不是所謂的堂食，小型連鎖劇院，而是大眾市場品牌，我們的食品和飲料飲料捕獲量繼續保持行業最高水平。這並非偶然。

We work at it, we work at getting an interesting variety of products at our dine-in theatres and on the concession shelves in our non-dine-in theatres. We've -- and there continues to be opportunity. So the thing we're doing right now, of course, on this call, I announced that we're launching AMC (inaudible) this month and next, about (inaudible) about 4 inches of chocolate on top of the pretzel. It's a lot of chocolate. It's a really good chocolate, too, and we're optimistic and so we're going to start with that in our theatres first. But just like we proved that we could take AMC Perfectly Popcorn to the home. If we see that there are big sales of AMC (inaudible) in our theatres, we might take that out to the outside world the same way we took Perfectly Popcorn to Walmart, Kroger, Publix and amazon.com.

我們致力於在我們的堂食劇院和非堂食劇院的特許貨架上提供各種有趣的產品。我們已經——而且仍然有機會。所以我們現在正在做的事情，當然，在這次電話會議上，我宣布我們將在本月和下個月推出AMC（聽不清楚），在椒鹽捲餅上放大約（聽不清楚）約4英吋的巧克力。這是很多巧克力。這也是一種非常好的巧克力，我們很樂觀，所以我們將首先在我們的劇院開始。但就像我們證明我們可以把 AMC Perfectly Popcorn 帶回家一樣。如果我們看到 AMC 的戲院銷量很高（聽不清楚），我們可能會將其傳播到外界，就像我們將 Perfectly Popcorn 帶到沃爾瑪、克羅格、Publix 和 amazon.com 一樣。

So it's been a great success story for us. and we continue to look for ways to grow further. As one last one, we're growing it further part. I think what's so fascinating to me is how successful we've been with merchandise, movie themed that's being sold at our concession stands just about every week in the year now. We're selling anywhere from 100,000 of these things a weekend to 1 million of these things a weekend. And we're selling to a handsome profit. And whether it's a (inaudible) popcorn tub for Taylor Swift's movie or Pink Corvette for Barbie movie or any other array of creative things that we've introduced over the course of the year, title by title by title by title, we're driving a lot of business now with these things, and we really keep that going in 2024 as well.

所以這對我們來說是一個巨大的成功故事。我們將繼續尋找進一步發展的途徑。作為最後一個，我們正在進一步擴展它。我認為令我著迷的是我們在商品和電影主題方面取得了多麼成功，這些商品幾乎每年都在我們的特許攤位上出售。我們每個週末銷售的商品數量從 10 萬件到 100 萬件不等。我們出售的利潤可觀。無論是泰勒絲電影中的（聽不清楚）爆米花桶還是芭比電影中的粉紅色克爾維特，還是我們在這一年中逐個推出的任何其他創意產品，我們都在推動現在這些東西有很多業務，我們也會在2024 年繼續保持這種勢頭。

So let's talk a little bit more about the operating improvements that we have done since the beginning of 2020, which are clearly evident in our results for this quarter. And the question is about those operating improvements that we've made that will really allow AMC to thrive in the future?

因此，讓我們多談談自 2020 年初以來我們所做的營運改進，這些改進在我們本季的業績中顯而易見。問題是我們所做的那些營運改善是否真的能讓 AMC 在未來蓬勃發展？

So we had no choice. We had to get more efficient. Because during the ravages of the pandemic, we had no revenues. And so we've gotten this company to be much leaner than it ever was before. The headcount in our corporate headquarters is way down. The managerial headcount in our theatres is way down. In the case of our European theatres, we've automated so many of them with automated box offices and automated food and beverage operations.

所以我們別無選擇。我們必須提高效率。因為在疫情肆虐期間，我們沒有任何收入。因此，我們使這家公司比以前更加精簡。我們公司總部的員工人數大幅減少。我們劇院的管理人員數量大幅減少。就我們的歐洲劇院而言，我們已經實現了許多劇院的自動化，包括自動化售票處和自動化餐飲營運。

We're starting to bring the automated food and beverage kiosk back into the United States as well. We had to get more efficient, and we did get more efficient. You in your prepared remarks talked about the progress we made with landlords where we renegotiated our rents downwards to the tune of tens of millions of dollars of benefits a year. Also, we've just gotten more efficient in terms of what's in our fleet.

我們也開始將自動化食品和飲料亭帶回美國。我們必須提高效率，我們確實提高了效率。您在準備好的發言中談到了我們與房東的進展，我們重新談判了租金，降低了每年數千萬美元的福利。此外，我們的機隊也變得更有效率。

As you said, we've closed about 150 marginal theatres that were either marginally profitable or not -- or money-losers and replaced them with 50 theatres that are enormous successes. The 50 theatres that we opened are grossing far more than the 150 theatres that we closed and yet our operating expenses, by definition, are 1/3 of what they were to operate triple the theatre count. So just in area after area after area, this company has gotten more leaner and more efficient and that's something that drove these third quarter results, which are so good. If you look at -- the number is hard, you'll still see attendance was off 16% compared to 2019. And if attendance is up 16%, that's 16% fewer bodies that you can sell food and beverage to. And yet with attendance down 16%, we still are far more profitable in 2023 than we were in 2019. That's the direct result of becoming more efficient. And that efficiency that we realized is a permanent efficiency. So that's going to be something that's going to continue in our numbers going forward.

正如你所說，我們關閉了大約 150 家利潤微薄或虧損的邊緣劇院，並用 50 家取得巨大成功的劇院取而代之。我們新開的 50 家影院的票房收入遠遠超過我們關閉的 150 家影院，但根據定義，我們的營運費用只有影院數量三倍的營運費用的 1/3。因此，在一個又一個領域，該公司變得更加精簡和高效，這推動了第三季的業績，非常好。如果你看一下這個數字，你仍然會發現與 2019 年相比，出席人數下降了 16%。如果出席人數上升 16%，那麼你可以向其出售食品和飲料的機構就會減少 16%。然而，儘管出席人數下降了 16%，但我們在 2023 年的利潤仍遠高於 2019 年。這是提高效率的直接結果。我們實現的這種效率是永久性的效率。因此，這將是我們未來的數字中繼續存在的事情。

Yes. And there's a final question, which I think relates very much to what we just discussed about the operations, but just about use of technology to really enhance the customer experience. And you mentioned some of that about the kiosks. And I guess there's other things that we're doing on using technology as well, right?

是的。最後一個問題，我認為這與我們剛剛討論的營運問題密切相關，但只是關於使用技術來真正增強客戶體驗。您提到了有關資訊亭的一些內容。我想我們還在利用科技做其他事情，對吧？

We joke that we can't (inaudible) this company without programming in the computer first. But you would think this is a pretty simple business. You have a building, you turn on the lights, you have a projector, you shine a picture on a wall, maybe you had people with a cup of Coca-Cola or popcorn on their way in the door. And yet it's surprisingly intricate and complicated. And one of the reasons for that is literally everything that goes on in our theatres is automated in some shape or fashion. And we've used technology to our advantage.

我們開玩笑說，如果不先在電腦中進行編程，我們就無法（聽不清楚）這家公司。但你可能會認為這是一件非常簡單的事。你有一棟大樓，你打開燈，你有一台投影儀，你把一幅畫照在牆上，也許有人拿著一杯可口可樂或爆米花進門。然而，它的複雜性卻令人驚訝。原因之一是，我們劇院中發生的一切實際上都是以某種形式或方式自動化的。我們利用科技來發揮我們的優勢。

We have a loyalty program, Stubs A-List where we track the purchase history of our best customers and reward them for it. The reason we can pull that off is because our tech is so good. Very quietly during the pandemic, we put mobile order on our website and smartphone app so that literally every guest who buys a ticket online has the opportunity to prebuy their AMC food and beverage. And our experience is we're selling more food and beverage products to the people who are using mobile order.

我們有一個忠誠度計劃 Stubs A-List，我們可以追蹤最佳客戶的購買歷史並獎勵他們。我們之所以能夠做到這一點，是因為我們的技術非常好。在大流行期間，我們悄悄地在我們的網站和智慧型手機應用程式上提供行動訂單，以便每位在線購票的客人都有機會預先購買 AMC 食品和飲料。我們的經驗是，我們正在向使用行動訂單的人銷售更多的食品和飲料產品。

Again, that couldn't happen but for our tech. The way we distribute movies to theatres. Christopher Nolan still likes 70-millimeter film, but everybody else and even Chris Nolan, everybody else sends their movies to our theatres digitally via satellite and they receive it on a computer server. That's a direct result of our tech. So I do believe that from a technological standpoint, we're pretty sophisticated as an operator today, and we're committed to continuing to invest in technology both to benefit the guests to make the experience better, to make ourselves more efficient, which means we can squeeze out more profitability on the same revenues and also to stay ahead of the curve in an era where all things seem to be affected by tech.

再說一次，如果沒有我們的技術，這不可能發生。我們向戲院發行電影的方式。克里斯多福諾蘭仍然喜歡 70 毫米膠片，但其他人，甚至克里斯諾蘭，其他人都透過衛星將他們的電影以數位方式發送到我們的影院，然後在電腦伺服器上接收。這是我們技術的直接結果。所以我確實相信，從技術的角度來看，我們今天作為一家運營商相當成熟，我們致力於繼續投資技術，既讓客人受益，讓體驗更好，也讓我們自己更有效率，這意味著我們可以在相同的收入下獲得更多的利潤，並在所有事物似乎都受到科技影響的時代中保持領先地位。

Terrific. That concludes the questions from investors.

了不起。投資者的問題到此結束。

So let me end the call simply by saying this, it doesn't get any better than the third quarter of 2023. We beat market expectations by about 50%. It was a profitable quarter when people were expecting a loss. Revenues were booming. But it wasn't just the revenue growth that caused our success. It was also our management of expenses, the combination of which led to a very successful quarter. We do have -- it would be helpful if Hollywood could end the actors' strike. It will be helpful if we don't see movies move from '24 to '25. But as I sit here today, I think we're enormously optimistic and confident in the future of the movie business.

因此，在結束通話時，我只想說，情況並沒有比 2023 年第三季更好。我們超出了市場預期約 50%。這是一個獲利的季度，而人們卻預期會出現虧損。收入蓬勃發展。但我們的成功不僅僅是收入成長。這也是我們對費用的管理，這兩者的結合帶來了一個非常成功的季度。我們確實有——如果好萊塢能夠結束演員罷工，那將會很有幫助。如果我們沒有看到電影從 24 世紀轉移到 25 世紀，那將會很有幫助。但當我今天坐在這裡時，我認為我們對電影業的未來非常樂觀和充滿信心。

AMC is the leader of it. We do and we do well. And the third quarter of 2023 reminds us that when all things are aligned, this can be a very profitable industry. With that, thank you, one and all, for listening. If you haven't seen Taylor Swift movie yet, go see it. If you haven't bought a ticket yet for Beyonce's movie, go buy one. And we'll happily see you as Christmas movies come out at our theatres in just a few weeks' time. There are a lot of big movies coming. Movie theatres are going to be bustling in December of 2023 and beyond. Happy holidays to one and all, and we'll talk to you next quarter.

AMC是其中的領導者。我們做到了，而且做得很好。 2023 年第三季提醒我們，當所有事情都協調一致時，這可能是一個非常有利可圖的行業。在此，感謝大家的聆聽。如果你還沒看過泰勒絲的電影，那就去看吧。如果您還沒買碧昂絲電影的票，那就去買一張吧。聖誕電影幾週後將在我們的戲院上映，我們將很高興見到您。還有很多大電影即將上映。 2023 年 12 月及以後，電影院將會非常熱鬧。祝大家節日快樂，我們將在下個季度與您交談。

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, the conference has now ended. Thank you all for joining. You may all disconnect.

謝謝。女士們、先生們，會議現已結束。感謝大家的加入。你們都可以斷開連線。