AMC 電影院 (AMC) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the AMC Entertainment Holdings Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Earnings Webcast. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

您好，歡迎收看 AMC Entertainment Holdings 2023 年第四季和全年財報網路廣播。 （操作員指示）謹此提醒，本次會議正在錄製中。

It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, John Merriwether, Vice President, Capital Markets and Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin.

現在我很高興向您介紹主持人，資本市場和投資者關係副總裁 John Merriwether。謝謝。你可以開始了。

Thank you, Diego. Good afternoon. I'd like to welcome everyone to AMC's Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Earnings Webcast. With me this afternoon is Adam Aron, our Chairman and CEO; and Sean Goodman, our Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝你，迭戈。午安.歡迎大家觀看 AMC 2023 年第四季和全年財報網路廣播。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。

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.

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。

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.

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, non-GAAP operating cash burn and 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.

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、非 GAAP 營運現金消耗和營運現金產生等。如需了解我們的非公認會計準則衡量指標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。

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

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。這樣，我會將電話轉給 Adam。

Thank you, John. Good afternoon, and thank you, everyone, for joining us today. 2023 marked another year of strong operational and financial gains for AMC Entertainment, affirming the success of our strategic recovery efforts, as the industry continues to rebound from the lingering effects of the pandemic.

謝謝你，約翰。下午好，謝謝大家今天加入我們。 2023 年是 AMC Entertainment 又取得強勁營運和財務收益的一年，證實了我們戰略復甦努力的成功，該行業繼續從大流行的揮之不去的影響中反彈。

Our determination, innovation and agility allowed us to adapt to a rapidly changing and unpredictable box office in calendar year 2023. And once again, it allowed AMC to defy Wall Street's expectations, beating FactSet and Refinitiv consensus estimates in Q4 and for full year 2023 for revenue, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income and adjusted earnings per share. As a result of our actions, global attendance at AMC theaters in 2023 tallied nearly 240 million guests, up 19% over the prior year and marking the highest annual attendance in the post-pandemic era for AMC.

我們的決心、創新和敏捷性使我們能夠適應2023 年快速變化且不可預測的票房。這使AMC 再次超越了華爾街的預期，在第四季度和2023 年全年的票房收入超過了FactSet 和Refinitiv 的一致預期。收入、調整後 EBITDA、調整後淨利潤和調整後每股收益。由於我們的行動，2023年AMC影院的全球觀眾人數接近2.4億人次，比上年增長19%，創下AMC後疫情時代最高的年度上座人數。

When you couple our 2023 attendance growth with our all-time record-setting admissions revenue and our all-time record-setting food and beverage revenues per patron, AMC's annual revenues grew by 23%, exceeding $4.8 billion in 2023, and our adjusted EBITDA improved by $379 million to $426 million in 2023. It was the highest level for adjusted EBITDA in 4 years, the highest revenues for AMC in 4 years. And in fact, our adjusted EBITDA was up more than 9x what it was just a year earlier in calendar year 2022.

如果將2023 年的觀眾人數增長與創紀錄的入場收入和創紀錄的每位顧客餐飲收入結合起來，AMC 的年收入增長了23%，到2023 年將超過48 億美元，而我們調整後的EBITDA 2023 年成長 3.79 億美元，達到 4.26 億美元。這是 4 年來調整後 EBITDA 的最高水平，也是 AMC 4 年來最高的收入。事實上，2022 年曆年我們調整後的 EBITDA 比一年前增加了 9 倍以上。

Unquestionably, our positive recovery trajectory continued in 2023. Not enough, but we hope to eventually wind up in the year ahead or the years ahead, but encouraging progress again was made. We're also proud that when you look at the magnitude of our revenue and adjusted EBITDA increases, AMC is out signing several of our largest and most important key competitors in the U.S. and in Europe.

毫無疑問，我們的積極復甦軌跡在 2023 年仍在繼續。這還不夠，但我們希望最終能在未來一年或未來幾年結束，但我們再次取得了令人鼓舞的進展。我們也感到自豪的是，當您查看我們的營收規模和調整後的 EBITDA 成長時，您會發現 AMC 正在與我們在美國和歐洲的幾個最大和最重要的主要競爭對手簽約。

One of AMC's most essential accomplishments, which may not be widely understood, is just how efficient we have become after having to adapt to pandemic stresses these past 4 years. Thanks to AMC's increased high-margin food, beverage and merchandise sales, rising ticket prices, our industry-leading premium large-format capacity, a commitment to laser projection, pruning our network of some marginal theaters and replacing them with some clear winners, and of course, wholly relying on costs, AMC's internal analysis reveals to us that our contribution per patron is up by some 37% versus what it was before the pandemic. This means that AMC does not need for the industry box office to return completely to prepandemic levels for AMC's adjusted EBITDA to dramatically outstrip what we generated historically.

AMC 最重要的成就之一可能沒有被廣泛理解，那就是在過去 4 年裡我們必須適應流行病壓力後，我們變得多麼有效率。由於 AMC 高利潤食品、飲料和商品銷售的增加、票價的上漲、我們行業領先的優質大尺寸產能、對激光投影的承諾、修剪我們的一些邊緣影院網絡並用一些明顯的贏家取而代之，以及當然，完全依靠成本，AMC 的內部分析向我們揭示，我們每位顧客的貢獻比疫情大流行之前增加了約37%。這意味著 AMC 不需要產業票房完全恢復到疫情前的水平，AMC 調整後的 EBITDA 就能大幅超過我們的歷史水平。

Speaking of the box office, let's turn to the domestic industry box office as a placeholder for the size of our industry and to demonstrate our industry's long climb back from COVID. We all know that the box office fell from $11.4 billion in 2019 to $2.2 billion in the height of the pandemic calendar year 2020. But then the domestic industry box office started on its rebound, up to $4.5 billion in 2021 to $7.5 billion in 2022, and it grew again in 2023 by 21% to more than $9 billion in the year just completed. That is an upward slope for sure. Again, it's not enough, but again, progress has been made.

說到票房，讓我們以國內行業票房作為我們行業規模的一個佔位符，並展示我們行業從新冠疫情中恢復過來的漫長歷程。我們都知道，票房從2019年的114億美元下降到2020年疫情高峰期的22億美元。但隨後國內電影票房開始反彈，從2021年的45億美元上升到2022年的75億美元，2023 年再次成長21%，在剛結束的一年達到超過90 億美元。這肯定是一個向上的斜坡。再說一次，這還不夠，但再一次，已經取得了進展。

And in looking at the fourth quarter of 2023 in particular, what is particularly noteworthy about the box office is how our company, AMC Entertainment, reshaped the box office and how much AMC benefited from our trailblazing, industry-leading efforts with our highly successful distribution of 2 concert movies, TAYLOR SWIFT | THE ERAS TOUR and RENAISSANCE: A FILM BY BEYONCÉ.

尤其是2023年第四季度，票房方面特別值得注意的是我們公司AMC Entertainment如何重塑票房，以及AMC從我們開創性的、行業領先的努力和我們非常成功的發行中受益匪淺泰勒·斯威夫特(TAYLOR SWIFT) 演唱會電影（共2 部） ERAS 巡迴演唱會與文藝復興：碧昂絲 (BEYONC) 拍攝的電影。

In the fourth quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago, AMC's revenue grew by 11.5% and AMC's adjusted EBITDA almost tripled. Literally, all of that increase in AMC's revenue and all of that increase in AMC's adjusted EBITDA is attributable to our having shown these 2 concert movies in our theaters in the U.S. and internationally. They also caused AMC's U.S. market share to noticeably rise. That's because our share on these 2 concert films, the 2 that we not only exhibited but also we're the distributor for, were well more than 50% higher than our market share normally. If that's not enough, both of these 2 movies played to rave critical acclaim. Each received a rare A+ CinemaScore, and the Rotten Tomatoes' response was astronomical with Taylor's film scoring a 99/98 and Beyoncé's film scoring a 97/99.

第四季與去年同期相比，AMC的營收成長了11.5%，AMC調整後的EBITDA幾乎成長了兩倍。從字面上看，AMC 收入的所有增長以及 AMC 調整後 EBITDA 的所有增長都歸功於我們在美國和國際影院放映了這兩部音樂會電影。它們也使得AMC的美國市場份額顯著上升。這是因為我們在這兩部音樂會電影中的份額（我們不僅放映而且發行的兩部音樂會電影）比我們通常的市場份額高出了 50% 以上。如果這還不夠的話，這兩部電影都獲得了好評如潮。每部電影都獲得了罕見的 A+ CinemaScore，爛番茄上的反應非常熱烈，泰勒的電影獲得了 99/98 的評分，碧昂絲的電影獲得了 97/99 的評分。

With some $213 million in domestic ticket sales within Q4, these 2 movies added greatly, not only to AMC's bottom line, but to movie theaters' success across our entire industry. As just these 2 films represented fully 1/9 of the complete fourth quarter domestic industry-wide box office, 1/9 from our 2 releases.

這兩部電影在第四季度的國內票房收入約為 2.13 億美元，這不僅大大提高了 AMC 的利潤，而且也提高了整個行業電影院的成功。因為這兩部電影就佔了整個第四季國內全產業票房的1/9，占我們兩部影片的1/9。

Taylor's movie in particular was the single highest grossing movie of them all within the fourth quarter at the domestic box office. And worldwide at $275 million of gross, Taylor's film also was the highest grossing concert film of all time and the highest grossing documentary of all time. It's hard to believe, but it's true. Only Universal and Warner significantly outgrossed AMC Theatres Distribution domestically in the fourth quarter of 2023. With just these 2 movies, AMC Theatres Distribution has a domestic box office growth during the months of October, November and December of '23 that was only 1.6% less than that of industry behemoth Disney, and our 2 films domestically outgrossed all of what was offered theatrically in the quarter by Paramount, by Sony, by Lionsgate or by any of the other smaller movie makers.

泰勒的電影尤其是第四季國內票房收入最高的電影。泰勒的電影在全球獲得了 2.75 億美元的總票房，也是有史以來票房收入最高的音樂會電影和有史以來票房收入最高的紀錄片。很難相信，但這是真的。 2023 年第四季度，只有環球和華納在國內票房大幅超過 AMC 影院發行。僅憑這兩部電影，AMC 影院發行在 2023 年 10 月、11 月和 12 月的國內票房增長僅少了 1.6%我們的兩部影片在國內的票房收入超過了派拉蒙、索尼、獅門影業或任何其他規模較小的電影製片商在本季的院線票房。

This is a stunning result, given that neither of these films were on anyone's drawing board until midyear and that they were the first movies ever distributed by AMC in our entire 103-year history. What a triumph for our company. To that end, it is no surprise then that our praise for Taylor Swift and for Beyoncé Knowles Carter has no limit, and you will surely understand why we offer our boundless thanks to these 2 world-class artists for entrusting AMC to collaborate with them as to the theatrical exhibition of their 2 masterpiece creations.

這是一個令人震驚的結果，因為這兩部電影直到年中才被任何人考慮，而且它們是 AMC 103 年曆史上第一部由 AMC 發行的電影。對我們公司來說這是多麼大的勝利。為此，我們對泰勒絲和碧昂絲諾爾斯卡特的讚譽是無限的，也就不足為奇了，你一定會明白為什麼我們對這兩位世界級藝術家委託AMC 與他們合作表示無限的感謝至於他們的兩部傑作的戲劇展。

I should add that I've said before that our phones have been ringing off the book, and I can confirm to you today that we are now in constant touch with others who are speaking with AMC to also distribute the movies of more world-class musical artists for later in 2024 and/or 2025. This blending of great musicians and movie theaters is an innovation for AMC that should and will continue into the future.

我應該補充一點，我之前說過，我們的電話一直響個不停，今天我可以向你們確認，我們現在正在與其他正在與 AMC 交談的人保持聯繫，以發行更多世界級的電影2024 年晚些時候和/或2025 年的音樂藝術家。這種偉大音樂家和電影院的融合對於AMC 來說是一項創新，應該而且將會持續到未來。

But we'd make no mistake about it. As pleased as we are with the movies that we distributed or as pleased as we are with our entire results for the entire year of 2023, 2023 did not live up to its full potential. That's because the many months of actors' and writers' strikes crippled Hollywood. And they seriously hurt movie theater operators who have been forced to wait for delayed movie titles that shifted out of 2023 into future time periods.

但我們不會犯錯。儘管我們對我們發行的電影感到滿意，或者對 2023 年全年的整體業績感到滿意，但 2023 年並沒有充分發揮其潛力。這是因為演員和編劇連續數月的罷工使好萊塢陷入癱瘓。它們嚴重傷害了電影院營運商，他們被迫等待從 2023 年轉移到未來時段的延遲電影。

After 3 years of hard work by one and all after theaters were closed back in 2020, the domestic industry-wide box office finally was in sight of prepandemic levels back in the summer of 2023. At the peak of the summer of '23, the July '23 domestic box office was actually up 6% above July of 2019, the last July prepandemic. And in that summer quarter of 2023, AMC generated the highest third quarter adjusted EBITDA ever.

2020年戲院停業後，經過大家3年的努力，國內全產業票房終於在2023年夏天看到了疫情前的水平。23年夏天的高峰期，23 年7 月的國內票房其實比 2019 年7 月（即疫情爆發前的最後一個7 月）上漲了6%。在 2023 年夏季季度，AMC 產生了有史以來最高的第三季調整後 EBITDA。

Clearly, moviegoers flock to theaters when Hollywood releases films in quantity and in quality. Just think Barbie and Oppenheimer or for that matter, think of what came out of Leawood, Kansas, TAYLOR SWIFT | THE ERAS TOUR, among others. But the strike of '23 clearly interrupted that momentum that was pushing us to above pandemic norms in the middle of last year. The strikes in Hollywood led to the fourth quarter domestic industry-wide box office being down 35% versus prepandemic 2019. The January, February 2024 domestic industry-wide box office was down about 45% versus the same month of prepandemic 2020.

顯然，當好萊塢上映的電影數量和品質都提高時，電影觀眾就會湧向戲院。想想芭比和奧本海默，或者就此而言，想想堪薩斯州利伍德的結果，泰勒絲 | ERAS 巡演等。但 23 年的罷工顯然打斷了去年年中推動我們超越疫情正常水準的勢頭。好萊塢罷工導致第四季國內全產業票房較2019年疫情前下降35%。2024年1月、2月國內全產業票房較2020年疫情前同月下降約45%。

We point this out not to alarm you or whine about it, but instead, because we want everyone to realize that by the middle of '23, we had finally emerged from the cloud of the pandemic. But then the strike hit and set us back into the soup. However, at AMC, we believe that the strike impact will only be short term in nature. AMC believes that the box office will start to strengthen again as soon as this coming month in -- of March, in some of the summer months of 2024 and secondly, in the latter third of this year. And over the medium term, we are both bullish and optimistic. With all the caveats that no one's crystal ball is perfect, at AMC, we currently believe that the industry box office in 2025 will be robust. We believe it will grow by $1 billion to $2 billion or more in size over what will be the box office in 2024.

我們指出這一點並不是為了讓你們驚慌或抱怨，而是因為我們希望每個人都意識到，到 23 年中期，我們終於擺脫了疫情的陰雲。但後來罷工襲來，我們又陷入困境。然而，在AMC，我們認為罷工影響只是短期的。 AMC 認為，票房最快將在下個月（3 月）、2024 年夏季的某些月份以及今年後三分之一開始再次走強。從中期來看，我們既看漲又樂觀。儘管沒有人的水晶球是完美的，但在 AMC，我們目前相信 2025 年的行業票房將會強勁。我們相信，到 2024 年，該片的票房規模將成長 10 億美元至 20 億美元，甚至更多。

With that as an introduction to our results for the quarter and the year, I'll now pass the webcast over to Sean, our Chief Financial Officer, to provide more details on our quarterly and full year financial results and especially to share with you the progress that AMC has made in reducing our debt and in bolstering our cash reserves. After that, I'll return to provide you with my further take on where we are at the moment as a company and share some other news that may be of interest. Sean?

作為對我們季度和年度業績的介紹，我現在將把網絡廣播交給我們的首席財務官肖恩，以提供有關我們季度和全年財務業績的更多詳細信息，特別是與您分享AMC 在減少債務和增加現金儲備方面取得的進展。之後，我將返迴向您提供我對公司目前狀況的進一步看法，並分享一些您可能感興趣的其他新聞。肖恩？

Thanks, Adam, and thank you to everyone for joining us this afternoon. I'd like to start my prepared remarks by briefly looking back over the last 4 years. No doubt, our business has experienced challenges like never before. First, we had the COVID pandemic, then the Hollywood strikes and all this while we manage through supply chain challenges and interest rate increases that have just put enormous pressure on our cash flows. Yet today, our business is remarkably well positioned to thrive as the box office recovers towards prepandemic levels.

謝謝亞當，也謝謝大家今天下午加入我們。我想先簡單回顧一下過去四年的情況。毫無疑問，我們的業務遇到了前所未有的挑戰。首先，我們經歷了新冠疫情大流行，然後是好萊塢罷工，而我們在應對供應鏈挑戰和利率上漲的同時應對這一切，這些挑戰給我們的現金流帶來了巨大壓力。然而今天，隨著票房恢復到疫情前的水平，我們的業務處於非常有利的位置，可以蓬勃發展。

Over the last 4 years, we've improved our per patron revenue and per patron profit quite considerably. In 2023, our consolidated per patron revenue was around 32% higher than in prepandemic 2019. This was driven primarily by growth in food and beverage spend per patron of 45.7%. And we've also increased our contribution dollars per patron, contribution dollars here defined as total revenue less both film exhibition costs and food and beverage costs. And we lessened this by approximately 37%. So we've increased these contribution dollars per patron by approximately 37%.

在過去 4 年裡，我們的每位顧客收入和每位顧客利潤都有了相當大的提高。 2023 年，我們的每位顧客綜合收入比 2019 年疫情爆發前高出約 32%。這主要是由於每位顧客的餐飲支出增加了 45.7%。我們也增加了每位顧客的捐款金額，這裡的捐款金額定義為總收入減去電影放映成本和餐飲成本。我們將這一數字減少了約 37%。因此，我們將每位顧客的捐款金額增加了約 37%。

At the same time, we worked hard to enhance our theater portfolio. We've been closing underperforming theaters and opportunistically opening higher-performing theater locations. As an illustration of the impact of the changes that we have made in our business, consider for a moment the following. In 2023, our domestic attendance was 32.3% less than in 2019. At the same time, we were able to keep revenue per screen flat in 2019 and increase our contribution dollars per screen by approximately 4.3%. So with 32% lower attendance, our contribution dollars per screen actually increased by 4.3%.

同時，我們努力增強我們的劇院組合。我們一直在關閉表現不佳的劇院，並伺機開設表現較高的劇院。為了說明我們在業務中所做的變革的影響，請考慮以下內容。 2023 年，我們的國內上座率比 2019 年減少了 32.3%。同時，我們能夠保持 2019 年每塊螢幕的收入持平，並將每塊螢幕的貢獻金額增加約 4.3%。因此，雖然上座率降低了 32%，但我們每個螢幕的貢獻金額實際上增加了 4.3%。

The consolidated statistics I've quoted are in constant currency and help explain why we believe that: a, the box office does not need to get all the way back to prepandemic levels for us to achieve prepandemic adjusted EBITDA; and b, at prepandemic box office levels, we should be able to achieve higher adjusted EBITDA than we were able to before the pandemic.

我引用的綜合統計數據是按不變匯率計算的，有助於解釋為什麼我們相信：a，票房不需要一路回到大流行前的水平，我們就能實現大流行前調整後的 EBITDA； b，在疫情大流行前的票房水準上，我們應該能夠實現比疫情大流行之前更高的調整後 EBITDA。

And finally, looking back over the last 4 years, we have very actively worked to strengthen our balance sheet by reducing debt and increasing liquidity. It's worth noting that the total principal amount of our corporate borrowings and finance leases at December 31, 2023, was $4.56 billion. This is approximately $451 million lower than 4 years ago at December 31, 2019. And our net debt at December 31, 2023, net debt defined as total corporate borrowings and finance leases less available cash. This number was nearly $1.1 billion lower than 4 years ago at December 31, 2019, prior to the devastating impact of COVID on our industry.

最後，回顧過去四年，我們非常積極地透過減少債務和增加流動性來加強我們的資產負債表。值得注意的是，截至 2023 年 12 月 31 日，我們的企業借款和融資租賃本金總額為 45.6 億美元。截至 2019 年 12 月 31 日，這比四年前減少了約 4.51 億美元。截至 2023 年 12 月 31 日，我們的淨債務定義為公司借款和融資租賃總額減去可用現金。截至 2019 年 12 月 31 日，這一數字比 4 年前（即新冠疫情對我們產業造成毀滅性影響之前）減少了近 11 億美元。

At the same time, it's also worth noting that given pressure from a rising interest rate environment and our heightened leverage ratios due to the box office being still well below prepandemic levels, our interest expense during 2023 was approximately $70 million higher than in 2019.

同時，也值得注意的是，考慮到利率上升環境的壓力，以及票房仍遠低於疫情前水準導致槓桿率升高，2023年我們的利息支出比2019年高出約7,000萬美元。

Now to the results for 2023. AMC generated more than $4.8 billion in consolidated revenue for the year, marking a solid 23% increase compared to 2022. Likewise, adjusted EBITDA increased more than ninefold compared to 2022 to $426 million. And for the first time since 2019, we achieved positive adjusted EBITDA in all 4 quarters of the year.

現在來看看 2023 年的表現。AMC 當年的綜合收入超過 48 億美元，與 2022 年相比穩健增長 23%。同樣，調整後的 EBITDA 比 2022 年增長了九倍多，達到 4.26 億美元。自 2019 年以來，我們首次在全年四個季度實現了正向調整 EBITDA。

Now looking specifically at the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to last year, North American box office grew by nearly 5% with Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour distributed by AMC leading the way. With market share gains in part from the success of The Eras Tour and very strong food and beverage per patron growth, our fourth quarter consolidated revenue increased by 11.5% to $1.1 billion.

現在具體來看 2023 年第四季度，與去年相比，北美票房成長了近 5%，其中由 AMC 發行的泰勒絲 (Taylor Swift) 的《The Eras Tour》領跑。市場份額的成長部分得益於 The Eras Tour 的成功以及每位顧客的食品和飲料的強勁增長，我們第四季度的綜合收入增長了 11.5%，達到 11 億美元。

Domestic revenue in Q4 increased by 12.9% as a result of record-setting admissions revenue per patron of $12.83, this is 5% higher than a year ago, and record food and beverage revenue per patron of $8.31. This is an increase of 7.1% compared to 2022. It should also be noted that other revenue grew in total by approximately 32%, and this driven by distribution fees associated with the concert movies together with increases in retail popcorn sales and sales of movie-themed and AMC-branded merchandise.

第四季的國內收入成長了 12.9%，這得益於創紀錄的每位顧客入場收入 12.83 美元，比去年同期高出 5%，以及創紀錄的每位顧客餐飲收入 8.31 美元。與 2022 年相比增長了 7.1%。還應該指出的是，其他收入總計增長了約 32%，這是由與音樂會電影相關的發行費以及零售爆米花銷量和電影銷量的增長推動的。主題和AMC 品牌商品。

In our international business, competitive dynamics limited our ability to take price increases without adversely impacting market share. Attendance in the quarter increased by 3.9% and on a constant currency basis, revenue increased by 2.5% with admissions revenue per patron decreasing by 1.4% to $9.27 and food and beverage revenue per patron growing slightly to $4.38. Other revenue was in line with last year's fourth quarter.

在我們的國際業務中，競爭動態限制了我們在不影響市場份額的情況下提高價格的能力。本季的入場人數增加了 3.9%，以固定匯率計算，收入增長了 2.5%，其中每位顧客的入場收入下降了 1.4% 至 9.27 美元，每位顧客的餐飲收入小幅增長至 4.38 美元。其他收入與去年第四季持平。

Now moving to cash flow and the balance sheet. We ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $884.3 million. For the full year, non-GAAP operating cash generated, which is a measure representing cash flow from operations after deducting capital expenditures and before debt, both debt servicing costs and deferred rent payback, this was a positive $68.3 million, a $362 million improvement compared to last year. For the fourth quarter, non-GAAP operating cash burn was less than $1 million. CapEx net of landlord contributions was $64.2 million in the fourth quarter, bringing the year-to-date net CapEx spend to $201.7 million, right at the midpoint of our 2023 net CapEx guidance. We expect that CapEx in 2024 to be in the range of $175 million to $225 million.

現在轉向現金流和資產負債表。本季結束時，我們的現金和現金等價物為 8.843 億美元。全年，非公認會計準則營運現金產生量為 6,830 萬美元，比去年同期增加了 3.62 億美元，該指標代表扣除資本支出和債務之前的營運現金流，包括償債成本和遞延租金償還。到去年。第四季度，非 GAAP 營運現金消耗不到 100 萬美元。第四季扣除房東捐款後的資本支出為 6,420 萬美元，使年初至今的淨資本支出達到 2.017 億美元，正好處於我們 2023 年淨資本支出指引值的中點。我們預計 2024 年的資本支出將在 1.75 億美元至 2.25 億美元之間。

From a theater perspective, we continue to actively manage our footprint. And during the fourth quarter, we added 2 new high-performing theaters and closed 9 underperforming locations. This brings the total number of locations closed since the pandemic began to 165 and the total new locations opened to 59 for a net reduction of 106 locations or 10.6% of the locations at December 31, 2019. Going forward, as we continue to rationalize the theater portfolio, we will also continue to invest in our focus to enhance the guest experience.

從劇院的角度來看，我們繼續積極管理我們的足跡。第四季度，我們新增了 2 家表現出色的戲院，並關閉了 9 家表現不佳的戲院。這使得自大流行開始以來關閉的門市總數達到165 家，新開店總數達到59 家，截至2019 年12 月31 日，淨減少106 家門市，佔門市總數的10.6%。展望未來，隨著我們繼續合理化除了劇院組合之外，我們還將繼續重點投資以提升賓客體驗。

To ensure our ongoing recovery and ability to thrive as our industry grows, our top 2 capital allocation priorities must remain the same. One, we must ensure that we have sufficient liquidity to manage through this recovery phase, including the impact of last year's Hollywood strikes. And two, we must strengthen our balance sheet by extending debt maturities and improving our financial leverage, thereby reducing our debt servicing costs.

為了確保我們的持續復甦和隨著產業發展而蓬勃發展的能力，我們的兩大資本配置優先事項必須保持不變。第一，我們必須確保有足夠的流動性來應對這一復甦階段，包括去年好萊塢罷工的影響。第二，我們必須透過延長債務期限和提高財務槓桿來強化我們的資產負債表，從而降低償債成本。

During the fourth quarter, we successfully raised $350 million of gross equity capital. We then repurchased $50 million of debt at an average discount of 20%. We exchanged $105 million of debt or roughly 14.2 million shares of common stock, and we repaid $17.9 million of deferred rent. The deferred rent balance at the end of 2023 was $56.3 million, and we plan to reduce this balance by another approximately $20 million by the end of 2024.

第四季度，我們成功籌集了 3.5 億美元的總股本。然後我們以平均折扣 20% 的價格回購了 5000 萬美元的債務。我們交換了 1.05 億美元的債務或約 1,420 萬股普通股，並償還了 1,790 萬美元的遞延租金。 2023 年底的遞延租金餘額為 5,630 萬美元，我們計劃在 2024 年底將這一餘額再減少約 2,000 萬美元。

Overall, since the beginning of 2023, we have raised $865 million of gross equity capital. We've lowered the principal value of our debt and finance leases by $466 million. We did this through debt repurchases or exchanges of debt for equity. And we have repaid $101 million of deferred rent. This all for a total reduction of debt and deferred rent of $567 million. The debt reduction since the beginning of 2023 has lowered our future annual cash interest expense by approximately $44 million.

總體而言，自 2023 年初以來，我們已籌集了 8.65 億美元的總股本。我們已將債務和融資租賃的本金價值降低了 4.66 億美元。我們透過債務回購或債轉股來做到這一點。我們已經償還了 1.01 億美元的遞延租金。這一切總共減少了 5.67 億美元的債務和遞延租金。自 2023 年初以來的債務削減使我們未來的年度現金利息支出減少了約 4,400 萬美元。

All told, as of today, we have reduced our debt and deferred rent liabilities by approximately $958 million since the beginning of 2022, so over the last 2 years. Having the flexibility to raise equity capital has been critical to our survival, and it has allowed us to seize opportunities to strengthen our balance sheet and build a foundation from which to thrive as the film exhibition industry recovers.

總而言之，截至今天，自 2022 年初（過去兩年）以來，我們已將債務和遞延租金負債減少了約 9.58 億美元。靈活地籌集股本對我們的生存至關重要，它使我們能夠抓住機會加強我們的資產負債表，並為電影放映業的復甦奠定蓬勃發展的基礎。

Capital market actions that we took during 2023 have positioned us to face with confidence the probability of a relatively weak near-term box office, especially during the first half of 2024. While the box office for the first half of the year will likely underperform last year, we are increasingly optimistic about the outlook for the latter half of 2024, and the film slate for 2025 looks incredibly exciting. And now I'll hand the webcast back over to Adam.

我們在 2023 年採取的資本市場行動使我們有信心面對近期票房相對疲軟的可能性，特別是在 2024 年上半年。雖然今年上半年的票房可能會遜於去年今年，我們對2024 年下半年的前景越來越樂觀，2025 年的電影片單看起來非常令人興奮。現在我將把網路廣播交還給 Adam。

Thank you, Sean. As I said earlier and as our financial results prove, 2023 was clearly another year of recovery and improved performance for AMC. But it was not a good year for our shareholders. Adjusted for stock splits, the AMC share price has fallen to a fraction of where it was as recently as last summer. And I promised our shareholders that I would use this earnings webcast as a forum to provide them with some straight talk to give them my take. So here's my take.

謝謝你，肖恩。正如我之前所說，正如我們的財務表現所證明的那樣，2023 年顯然是 AMC 復甦和業績改善的另一年。但對我們的股東來說，這並不是一個好年。經過股票分割調整後，AMC 股價已跌至去年夏天的一小部分。我向我們的股東承諾，我將利用這次收益網絡廣播作為一個論壇，為他們提供一些直接的談話，以表達我的看法。這是我的看法。

There is so much garbage information floating around Twitter, YouTube and other corners of the Internet about AMC. Conspiracy theories abound, facts are distorted, bad motives are assumed when the exact opposite is true. So I want to address some of these issues, so you get the straight scoop. I can't address all of those issues in the limited amount of time that we have, but I do want to address some of the most important.

Twitter、YouTube 和網路其他角落流傳著大量有關 AMC 的垃圾資訊。陰謀論比比皆是，事實被扭曲，當事實恰恰相反時，人們就會認為他們動機不良。所以我想解決其中一些問題，以便您能直接了解情況。我無法在有限的時間內解決所有這些問題，但我確實想解決一些最重要的問題。

First, as to all the hubbub in litigation that surrounded AMC in the Delaware courts in 2023. I want to remind you that our shareholders got the right to vote on our proposed actions. And not only did the preferred shareholders vote in favor of what we did last year but also, of the common shareholders who voted, their count also was in the affirmative by a wide 72-28 margin. Then the Delaware courts ruled that the company could settle the litigation surrounding that shareholder votes and proceed to implement exactly as our shareholder voted.

首先，關於 2023 年在特拉華州法院圍繞 AMC 提起的所有訴訟。我想提醒您，我們的股東有權對我們提議的行動進行投票。不僅優先股股東投票支持我們去年所做的事情，而且在投票的普通股股東中，他們的票數也以 72 比 28 的大幅優勢投了贊成票。然後特拉華州法院裁定，公司可以解決圍繞股東投票的訴訟，並繼續按照股東投票的方式執行。

Second, as to dilution. Back in the summer of 2021, that's a long time ago, as it was clear that shareholder sentiment was not wholly supportive of more equity sales, we said there would be no more in 2021, and we kept our word. Some critics assigning us bad motives were convinced that we would start more equity sales in the very first week of 2022 since the commitment we made only incorporated 2021, but they were wrong. We sat on the sidelines for almost 8 months in 2022.

第二，關於稀釋。早在 2021 年夏天，那是很久以前的事了，因為很明顯股東情緒並不完全支持更多的股權出售，我們表示 2021 年不會再出售更多股權，我們也遵守了諾言。一些認為我們動機不良的批評者相信，我們將在 2022 年第一周開始更多股票銷售，因為我們只在 2021 年做出了承諾，但他們錯了。 2022 年，我們觀望了近 8 個月。

But by August of 2022, we did, in fact, introduce into the market AMC preferred equity units because, among other reasons, we wish to make it possible for AMC to raise more cash through the sale of shares, if we thought it was advisable or if we needed to do so. We were very clear about this in our public disclosures at the time.

但到 2022 年 8 月，我們確實將 AMC 優先股單位引入市場，因為除其他原因外，我們希望讓 AMC 能夠透過出售股票籌集更多現金（如果我們認為明智的話）或如果我們需要這樣做。我們在當時的公開披露中對此非常清楚。

Between August of 2022 and June 30, 2023, AMC raised $418 million by selling what were called APEs. AMC's cash position at the end of June 2023 was $435 million. $418 million raised, $435 million of cash, do the math. Had we not sold those shares -- deduct $418 million from $435 million. Big companies the size and scope of AMC Entertainment cannot survive with only $17 million of cash on hand.

2022年8月至2023年6月30日期間，AMC透過出售所謂的APE籌集了4.18億美元。截至 2023 年 6 月末，AMC 的現金部位為 4.35 億美元。算一下，籌集了 4.18 億美元，現金 4.35 億美元。如果我們沒有出售這些股票——從 4.35 億美元中扣除 4.18 億美元。像 AMC Entertainment 這樣規模和範圍的大公司手頭上只有 1700 萬美元的現金是無法生存的。

Similarly, in the full year of calendar year 2023, AMC raised $865 million of cash through the sale of APEs and the sale of common stock. We ended the year with $884 million of cash. $865 million raised, $884 million of [year-end] cash, again do the math. Had we not sold that equity, deduct $865 million from $884 million -- big companies the size and scope of AMC cannot survive with only $19 million of cash on hand. We did in dilution, what was absolutely vital for your company to do to get through the many challenges that have been thrown our way. The absolute smartest way for AMC first to survive and then eventually to be in a position to thrive is to have robust cash reserves, period, plain and simple. There can be no argument. Cash is king.

同樣，在 2023 年全年，AMC 透過出售 APE 和出售普通股籌集了 8.65 億美元現金。年底，我們擁有 8.84 億美元現金。籌集了 8.65 億美元，[年底]現金 8.84 億美元，再次計算。如果我們不出售這些股權，從 8.84 億美元中扣除 8.65 億美元——像 AMC 這樣規模和範圍的大公司手頭上只有 1900 萬美元的現金就無法生存。我們進行了稀釋，這對於貴公司克服我們遇到的許多挑戰來說絕對至關重要。對 AMC 來說，首先要生存，然後最終要蓬勃發展，最明智的方法就是擁有充足的現金儲備，就這麼簡單。無可爭議。現金為王。

Third, from time to time, there have been matters related to the trading of AMC stock that have been of concern to some of our shareholders, as but 3 examples, the absolute number of delta delivery shares, synthetic shares or the length of time that AMC Entertainment was on the threshold list, among others. We dutifully have kept the New York Stock Exchange and appropriate regulatory bodies well informed, and we make frequent public filings.

第三，時不時會出現一些與AMC股票交易相關的問題，引起一些股東的關注，僅舉3個例子，達美交割股、合成股的絕對數量或交易時間的長短。AMC Entertainment 等公司都在門檻名單上。我們盡責地向紐約證券交易所和適當的監管機構通報情況，並經常進行公開備案。

But here is a key reminder and clarification. AMC is a company that is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, but we are not the stock exchange itself. Frankly, we have no ability to regulate or enforce trading practices on the stock exchange. And as much as some of you may wish it to be otherwise, our business is exhibiting of movies in theaters. We are not in the business of reforming the financial markets overall.

但這裡有一個重要的提醒和澄清。 AMC是一家在紐約證券交易所上市的公司，但我們本身並不是證券交易所。坦白說，我們沒有能力監管或執行證券交易所的交易行為。儘管你們中的一些人可能希望情況並非如此，但我們的業務是在劇院放映電影。我們的職責並非全面改革金融市場。

Then as to our motives. It's disappointing how many people out there are typing into their Twitter feeds that the management team at AMC is somehow actively working against the interest of our retail shareholders and instead is nefariously on the side of evil or so-called heavies. A company does not post the kind of improving financial results as AMC just did today, if one is out to sabotage one's owners. One does not sell $54 million of movie-themed merchandise in our theaters and online as AMC did in 2023 versus virtually no sales of such items only a few years ago, if their motives are impure. And I should point out, by the way, that selling merchandise was an idea that came in from our retail shareholders, by the way. Similarly, one doesn't launch popcorn to the home or blaze new trails with innovative concert movies that have been incredibly profitable and reputationally enhancing for AMC, if one is trying to undermine our company's success.

然後說到我們的動機。令人失望的是，有多少人在推特上寫道，AMC 的管理團隊在某種程度上積極地違背我們散戶股東的利益，反而邪惡地站在邪惡或所謂的重量級人物一邊。如果一家公司是為了破壞自己的所有者，那麼它就不會像 AMC 今天那樣公佈財務業績的改善。如果動機不純的話，人們不會像 AMC 在 2023 年那樣在我們的影院和網上銷售價值 5400 萬美元的電影主題商品，而幾年前幾乎沒有銷售此類商品。順便說一句，我應該指出，銷售商品是我們的零售股東提出的想法。同樣，如果有人試圖破壞我們公司的成功，就不會向家裡推出爆米花，也不會用創新的音樂會電影開闢新道路，而這些電影為 AMC 帶來了難以置信的利潤和聲譽。

So given all that, then why has our share price been falling? Are those conspiracy theories right? There are many, many complicated factors that affect any share price, some well understood, some not so well understood. But my own view is pretty basic and overarching. It is this: It has taken way too long for the entire movie theater industry, including AMC, to recover in attendance or to recover financially from the impact of COVID.

既然如此，那麼為什麼我們的股價一直在下跌呢？那些陰謀論到底對不對？影響股價的因素很多很多，有些很容易理解，有些則不太了解。但我自己的觀點是非常基本和整體的。事實是：包括 AMC 在內的整個電影院行業花了太長時間才從新冠疫情的影響中恢復到觀眾數量或經濟上。

Also bad, just as adjusted EBITDA in the summer of 2023 was returning to more acceptable pre-COVID levels, no one needed for the movie industry to be paralyzed by debilitating strikes, which will temporarily challenge AMC earnings in 2024. We believe there are numerous other reasons, too, like rising interest rates and inflationary wage and cost pressures, among many others. But in my mind, the key issues are: first, the long drawn-out recovery; and then the strikes of 2023, combined with the steps we've been forced to take to wade through 4-plus years of a depressed box office. These are the issues that have pressured AMC share price.

同樣糟糕的是，正如 2023 年夏季調整後的 EBITDA 正在恢復到新冠疫情前更可接受的水平一樣，電影業沒有必要因罷工而陷入癱瘓，這將暫時挑戰 AMC 2024 年的盈利。還有其他原因，例如利率上升、工資通膨和成本壓力等。但在我看來，關鍵問題是：一是復甦過程漫長；二是復甦週期長。然後是 2023 年的罷工，再加上我們被迫採取的措施來度過四年多的票房低迷。這些都是令AMC股價承壓的問題。

So let's cut to the chase. Looking ahead, is there hope? As I stated earlier, the box office should start to strengthen beginning as soon as March, a month that starts a mere 2 days from now. It should further pick up later in 2024, and the box office for 2025 could be very favorable as movies that might have been released sooner finally get released in 2025. So yes, in my view, there is good reason to be optimistic.

那麼就讓我們切入正題吧。展望未來，還有希望嗎？正如我之前所說，票房最早應該從三月開始走強，這個月份距離現在只有兩天了。 2024 年晚些時候，它應該會進一步回升，而2025 年的票房可能會非常有利，因為本來可以更早上映的電影最終會在2025 年上映。所以，是的，在我看來，有充分的理由保持樂觀。

That optimism notwithstanding, AMC must continue to address our debt load, extend our debt maturities currently mostly in 2026 and push them out in the later years and also to ensure that our tax reserves remain robust. That is the recipe for success. Remember what I said earlier on this call: Cash is king.

儘管存在這種樂觀情緒，AMC 必須繼續解決我們的債務負擔，延長我們目前主要在 2026 年的債務期限，並在以後幾年將其推遲，並確保我們的稅收儲備保持強勁。這就是成功的秘訣。請記住我之前在這次電話會議中所說的話：現金為王。

At AMC, our strategy is sound, run the best company we can, please our guests at theaters and serve them well, prudently innovate, drive the most earnings we can, reduce debt, extend debt maturities and have the cash reserves on hand to outlast the tough times. Doing all that, which is what AMC has been doing so well over these past several years, is what makes me optimistic and confident about the future because as the clear leader of the movie theater industry and the clear leader by a wide margin, AMC is doing all the right things.

在AMC，我們的策略是合理的，盡我們所能經營最好的公司，取悅劇院的客人並為他們提供良好的服務，審慎創新，盡可能增加收入，減少債務，延長債務期限，並擁有足夠的現金儲備以應對未來的挑戰。艱難的時刻。做這一切，這就是 AMC 在過去幾年裡做得很好的事情，這讓我對未來感到樂觀和充滿信心，因為作為電影院行業明顯的領導者，而且是遙遙領先的領導者，AMC 正在做所有正確的事。

There's one more topic that I want to raise before we turn to your questions, and that is our interests, meaning the interest of our shareholders and my interest as CEO of the company and as a shareholder myself, are perfectly aligned. I personally am AMC's largest retail shareholder. So as your shares rise in value, so do mine rise. As your shares fall in value, so do mine fall. In the last 6 months, as the AMC share price has dropped, I personally have lost tens of millions of dollars in the value of my AMC shareholdings and in my granted but unvested stock. I assure you that focus is mine. In my stock losses, I share in your frustration, I feel your pain, and I'm heavily incentivized to get the value of your AMC shares back on the right track.

在回答你的問題之前，我還想提出一個話題，那就是我們的利益，這意味著我們股東的利益和我作為公司執行長和股東的利益是完全一致的。我個人是AMC最大的散戶股東。因此，當你的股票價值上漲時，我的股票也會上漲。當你的股票價值下跌時，我的股票也會下跌。在過去的六個月裡，隨著 AMC 股價的下跌，我個人所持有的 AMC 股權以及已授予但未歸屬的股票價值損失了數千萬美元。我向你保證，焦點是我的。在我的股票損失中，我分擔您的沮喪，我感受到您的痛苦，我非常有動力讓您的 AMC 股票價值重回正軌。

In the past 2-plus years, I have been a holder of AMC stock, not a seller. Indeed, I have not sold a single AMC share since January of 2022. While I have forfeited granted shares on the same day as they vest to pay the federal and state income tax withholdings that are immediately due upon that vesting, I have not sold even 1 share in the marketplace, not 1 share in the last 25 months. I wrote often on Twitter that I ride with you. I am a shareholder. I am holding. I'm not selling. I ride with you. So when you get well financially with AMC, I will, too. But if you're hurting from that investment, I believe that I, too, should be hurting with you as well.

在過去兩年多的時間裡，我一直是AMC股票的持有者，而不是賣家。事實上，自2022 年1 月以來，我沒有出售過任何AMC 股票。雖然我在授予股票的同一天沒收了授予的股票，以支付授予後立即到期的聯邦和州所得稅預扣稅，但我甚至沒有出售過市場份額為 1，而不是過去 25 個月內的 1 份額。我經常在 Twitter 上寫道，我和你一起騎車。我是股東。我拿著。我不賣。我和你一起騎。因此，當您在 AMC 的財務狀況良好時，我也會這樣做。但如果你因這項投資而受到傷害，我相信我也應該和你一起受傷。

Therefore, to prove that these words are not hollow and to show executive leadership from someone who is in your foxhole, I want you to know that I recommended last week to the AMC Board of Directors that for the next 12 months, starting right now, my target compensation should be substantially reduced. While my actual compensation can be at the target, below the target or above the target based on the company's financial results, the Board and I agreed that my target compensation will go down right now as we move forward by 25% versus the previous year's target. And maybe even more relevant, if you compare my new lowered target compensation against my actual compensation for the past year as most recently publicly reported, that's actually a 50% reduction in my potential compensation in the year ahead. There's no anguish in my voice about that. That is what a CEO of a company like yours should do because I mean it when I say that I ride with you.

因此，為了證明這些話不是空洞的，並展示來自散兵坑里的人的行政領導力，我想讓你們知道，我上周向AMC 董事會建議，在接下來的12 個月裡，從現在開始，我的目標薪酬應該會大幅減少。雖然根據公司的財務業績，我的實際薪酬可能達到目標、低於目標或高於目標，但董事會和我同意，我的目標薪酬將立即下降，因為我們比前一年的目標前進了 25% 。也許更相關的是，如果你將我新降低的目標薪酬與最近公開報道的過去一年的實際薪酬進行比較，這實際上是我未來一年的潛在薪酬減少了 50%。我的聲音中沒有對此感到痛苦。這就是像你們這樣的公司的執行長應該要做的，因為當我說我和你們一起騎車時，我是認真的。

You now know what I think. 2023 was a year of superb achievement and innovation at AMC. And fortunately, AMC starts out '24 with $884 million of cash. Cash is king. I've said it multiple times, and that is the guiding philosophy that has caused this company to stay in a leadership posture no matter what the world threw at us starting at 2020 and since. While the box office took a 5-month downturn starting in October of 2023 because of the long strikes in Hollywood, things will pick up considerably soon and then again later in 2024, and 2025, which in the grand scheme of things, is right around the corner, could be a gangbusters year both for our industry and for AMC as a company. We are in this together, you and I, and here's hoping that we all are smiling as we head into next year. With that, Sean, let's move to questions from analysts and from our shareholders.

你現在知道我的想法了。 2023 年是 AMC 取得輝煌成就和創新的一年。幸運的是，AMC 在 24 年開始擁有 8.84 億美元現金。現金為王。我已經說過很多次了，這就是使這家公司從 2020 年起無論世界給我們帶來什麼影響，都能保持領先地位的指導理念。雖然由於好萊塢的長期罷工，票房從 2023 年 10 月開始經歷了 5 個月的低迷，但很快就會在 2024 年晚些時候出現大幅回升，而從總體來看，2025 年即將到來。對於我們的行業和AMC 公司來說，這可能是轟動一時的一年。你和我，我們在一起，希望我們在邁向明年時都微笑著。肖恩，接下來我們來回答分析師和股東的問題。

(Operator Instructions) And our first question comes from Eric Wold with B. Riley Securities.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 B. Riley Securities 的 Eric Wold。

Adam, I want to go back to kind of one of the parts of the business that's, I think, probably not as talked about, which is the distribution business. I think one of the knocks on the overall exhibition business in general for years has been that the availability of content was largely out of your control. So when you get things like the pandemic or strike, there's little you can do to kind of drive content in your theaters. Obviously, this changes somewhat with what you did with Taylor Swift and Beyoncé. I guess as you continue to build out that business, I know you talked about you're in discussion with other artists for releases later this year and next year. I guess any sense of what you think the annual opportunity could be for revenue and EBITDA from that distribution business? And then what do you think is the ability of AMC to kind of move outside of the concert or kind of musical film genre into other genres that may be more direct competition with some of the other larger distributors out there?

亞當，我想回到業務的一部分，我認為，這可能不是我們所談論的，那就是分銷業務。我認為多年來對整個展覽業務的打擊之一是內容的可用性很大程度上超出了您的控制範圍。因此，當您遇到流行病或罷工等情況時，您幾乎無法在影院中推動內容的播放。顯然，這會隨著泰勒絲和碧昂絲的表現而有所改變。我想當你繼續發展這項業務時，我知道你談到你正在與其他藝術家討論今年晚些時候和明年的發行。我想您是否知道該分銷業務的年度收入和 EBITDA 機會是什麼？那麼，您認為 AMC 是否有能力從音樂會或音樂電影類型轉向其他類型，這些類型可能與其他一些較大的發行商進行更直接的競爭？

Well, Eric, I mean, like you're entirely right that if you look at the single biggest [sell-ins] that our industry has faced since the reopening of theaters at the end of 2020, it's in the lack of content. And we took matters into our own hands in 2023 with Taylor and Beyoncé and had 2 grand successes. That caused us to want to do more. We certainly got the attention of the best musical artists in the world. And so there will be more of those. I don't want to quantify it. I mean I've got a good sense of it, but I don't want to quantify it quite yet. Let's land some contracts for future concert films, and then we'll have a better sense of what you can count on reliably.

嗯，艾瑞克，我的意思是，就像你完全正確的那樣，如果你看看自 2020 年底劇院重新開放以來我們行業面臨的最大的[銷售]，那就是內容的缺乏。 2023 年，我們與泰勒和碧昂絲一起將事情掌握在自己手中，並取得了兩項巨大的成功。這讓我們想要做得更多。我們當然得到了世界上最好的音樂藝術家的注意。所以還會有更多這樣的事情。我不想量化它。我的意思是我對此有了很好的認識，但我還不想量化它。讓我們為未來的音樂會電影簽訂一些合同，然後我們就能更好地了解您可以信賴的內容。

But who knows where this will lead? There's other alternate content that we could focus on other than just concert movies. We can look to comedy, we can look to sports. But when you think about the movie theater industry, it's a dirty little secret that we only -- that the industry only sells about 15% of our tickets. I used to work in the airline industry. We sold like 75% of our tickets, not 15%. And there has to be ways to create alternate content that will not replace what Hollywood is doing but will augment what Hollywood is doing by filling some of those empty seats that are just sitting there waiting to be filled.

但誰知道這會導致什麼結果呢？除了音樂會電影之外，我們還可以關注其他替代內容。我們可以看看喜劇，我們可以看看運動。但當你想到電影院產業時，你會發現這是一個骯髒的小秘密，我們只知道該行業只出售我們約 15% 的門票。我曾經在航空業工作。我們售出了大約 75% 的門票，而不是 15%。必須有辦法創建替代內容，這些內容不會取代好萊塢正在做的事情，但會透過填補一些只是坐在那裡等待填補的空位來增強好萊塢正在做的事情。

The -- it also does sort of caused us to think what other ways can we generate movie content in our theaters inexpensively. The -- I don't think you'll ever find a situation where AMC is writing a check for $50 million or $100 million or $200 million to make movies. But there are some interesting ways to collaborate with moviemakers to take movies that might not otherwise get made and get them into our theaters and into some other theaters of our friends in the industry, both in the U.S., abroad. So this whole notion of how do we increase content is something that's completely in our wheelhouse, and it's a direct result of our success in what we've tried to do in the fourth quarter and succeeded with Taylor and with Beyoncé.

這也確實讓我們思考還有什麼其他方法可以在戲院中以低廉的成本產生電影內容。我認為你不會遇到 AMC 開出 5000 萬美元、1 億美元或 2 億美元的支票來製作電影的情況。但是，有一些有趣的方式可以與電影製片人合作，將原本可能無法製作的電影帶入我們的影院以及我們業內朋友的其他影院，無論是在美國還是在國外。因此，我們如何增加內容的整個概念完全在我們的掌控之中，這是我們在第四季度嘗試做的事情取得成功的直接結果，並與泰勒和碧昂絲取得了成功。

I'll now hand the floor back over to Adam Aron to take some retail shareholder questions. Thank you.

現在我將把發言權交還給 Adam Aron，回答一些散戶股東的問題。謝謝。

Well, thank you, Diego. We have that retail shareholders send questions in. Sean, what did they want to hear about?

好吧，謝謝你，迭戈。我們讓散戶股東提出問題。肖恩，他們想聽到什麼？

Yes, sure, Adam. So the first question is generally about the industry recovery, which we've certainly been talking about a lot today. But the question relates to -- with players like Amazon and Apple entering this business, is it likely that we can see the release schedule really increasing past prepandemic levels in the future?

是的，當然，亞當。所以第一個問題大致上是關於產業復甦，我們今天當然已經討論了很多。但問題是，隨著亞馬遜和蘋果等公司進入這個行業，我們是否有可能看到未來的發佈時間表真的會超過疫情前的水平？

That's a good question. And -- but before we talk about whether we get beyond prepandemic levels, let's talk first about getting to prepandemic levels because as we sit here today, the movies released by the major studios are down about 25% from the quantity of prepandemic releases. The good news here is, as you know well, we talk to every major studio every week of our lives here at this company. And we know that studio after studio after studio seize the opportunity for them that can come from achieving high theatrical grosses, and one studio after another is doing all of its power to increase their release schedules, to get the release schedules first back up to pre-strike levels and then hopefully even higher levels than that, moving back closer to prepandemic levels.

這是個好問題。但在我們討論是否超越大流行前的水平之前，讓我們先談談如何達到大流行前的水平，因為當我們今天坐在這裡時，主要製片廠發行的電影數量比大流行前發行的數量減少了約25%。好消息是，正如您所知，我們每週都會與這家公司的每個主要工作室進行交流。我們知道，一個又一個的工作室抓住了獲得高票房的機會，一個又一個的工作室正在竭盡全力增加他們的上映時間表，以使上映時間表首先回到之前的水平。 -罷工水平，然後希望甚至更高，回到接近大流行前的水平。

Yes, it's true. Apple and Amazon are making movies. They're releasing those movies theatrically. We're working very closely with each company. Happily so, we welcome them to the party. And we have enough screens in our company and in our industry to accommodate whatever supply of content all these studios can produce and then some.

對，是真的。蘋果和亞馬遜正在製作電影。他們正在院線上映這些電影。我們正在與每家公司密切合作。令人高興的是，我們歡迎他們參加聚會。我們公司和行業擁有足夠的螢幕來容納所有這些工作室可以製作的任何內容供應。

I would point out that one of the comments on -- in my prepared remarks that's so important is we've done so much in the past 4 years to make this company more efficient. Our profit per patron is up 37% from where it was when we entered the pandemic, which means we don't actually need the box office to come all the way back to prepandemic levels. We don't need attendance to come all the way back to prepandemic levels because we are making so much more profit from each guest who is in our theater. As for whether, in fact, and when the box office does cross that prepandemic hurdle and crosses $11 billion, we'll all find out together.

我想指出的是，在我準備好的發言中，其中一個非常重要的評論是，我們在過去四年中做了很多工作來提高這家公司的效率。我們的每位顧客利潤比疫情爆發時增加了 37%，這意味著我們實際上並不需要票房完全恢復到疫情前的水平。我們不需要讓上座率一路回到大流行前的水平，因為我們從劇院裡的每位客人身上賺取了更多的利潤。至於票房是否真的能夠跨越疫情前的障礙並突破 110 億美元，我們都將一起揭曉答案。

Great. Related to that, there are some questions about diversification and what revenue diversification opportunities exist to grow and enhance our business.

偉大的。與此相關的是，存在一些關於多元化的問題，以及存在哪些收入多元化機會來發展和增強我們的業務。

So I don't think anyone has worked harder at diversifying their revenue streams in our industry than AMC has over the past few years. And some of them have been quite high profile. Things like giving Orville Redenbacher some competition on the shelves at Walmart with our popcorn lines that we took to the home, which is selling extremely well at Walmart. And we just literally in these very months are in the process of having extended our retail presence to Kroger and to Publix. We also went up on the Amazon Marketplace. So that's an example of diversifying our revenues. Merch, we launched our candy line, I guess, it was in December, I think, at our theaters. I've tweeted publicly about maybe coming up with house wine or house beer.

因此，我認為在過去幾年裡，在我們的行業中，沒有人比 AMC 更努力實現收入來源多元化。其中一些人的知名度相當高。例如，我們把我們帶回家的爆米花系列在沃爾瑪的貨架上與奧維爾·雷登巴赫進行一些競爭，這些爆米花在沃爾瑪賣得非常好。事實上，就在這幾個月裡，我們正在將我們的零售業務擴展到克羅格和 Publix。我們也登上了亞馬遜市場。這是我們收入多元化的一個例子。商品，我們推出了糖果系列，我想是在十二月，我想，在我們的劇院。我曾在推特上公開表示可能會推出招牌葡萄酒或招牌啤酒。

Beyond that though, I think the single biggest, most successful diversification play we've had so far is what we've done with movie-themed merchandise. As I said in the prepared remarks, we sold $54 million of it in 2023. Like 3 years earlier, we sold nothing. $54 million from nothing. So we continue to be intrigued by diversification. And there are other diversification opportunities, but I think it's really important to say this. We worked very hard to bring all that cash into our bank accounts, as you know. And 2024 could be a challenging year, especially early in the year. We need to husband all of that cash and treat that cash as being very precious because it's the thing which assures our survival going forward. Therefore, if we're going to look for diversification plays, we have to do so in a capital-light way. We have to be able to diversify spending very little money to do so because the smartest thing we can do with our cash right now is keep it for a rainy day.

除此之外，我認為迄今為止我們最大、最成功的多元化策略就是我們在電影主題商品上所做的事情。正如我在準備好的演講中所說，我們在 2023 年出售了 5,400 萬美元。與 3 年前一樣，我們什麼也沒出售。 5400萬美元白手起家。因此，我們繼續對多元化感興趣。還有其他多元化機會，但我認為說這一點非常重要。如您所知，我們非常努力地將所有現金存入我們的銀行帳戶。 2024 年可能是充滿挑戰的一年，尤其是在年初。我們需要珍惜所有這些現金，並將這些現金視為非常寶貴的，因為它是確保我們未來生存的東西。因此，如果我們要尋求多元化投資，我們就必須以輕資本的方式進行。我們必須能夠花很少的錢實現多元化，因為我們現在能用現金做的最明智的事情就是保留它以備不時之需。

Questions here on loyalty programs. There's quite a few questions on the loyalty programs. And people are asking if there's an update to the loyalty programs coming. Any ideas such as bringing a friend along or A-List members in exchange for a fee perhaps or a family plan for A-List or other new creations for our loyalty programs.

有關忠誠度計劃的問題。關於忠誠度計劃有很多問題。人們詢問忠誠度計劃是否會進行更新。任何想法，例如帶上朋友或一線會員以換取一定的費用或一線會員的家庭計劃或我們的忠誠度計劃的其他新產品。

There are a lot of ideas about our loyalty programs. Our marketing department right now is in the process of testing some things. We've given a lot of thought to -- A-List is of great appeal to us, of course, it's been a very successful program for our company.

關於我們的忠誠度計劃有很多想法。我們的行銷部門現在正在測試一些東西。我們花了很多心思——A-List 對我們來說非常有吸引力，當然，這對我們公司來說是一個非常成功的計畫。

The most important marketing program this company has ever had is our Stubs frequent moviegoer program. And there are a lot of interesting things that we might be able to do to make Stubs appeal to more people and to cause people who are Stubs members to attend more movies. There are interesting things to put about how might one qualify for Premiere, as an example. There are other possibilities of -- we have 3 tiers in the Stubs program right now, the free Insider tier, the paid Premiere tier and the A-List tier. There's talk of creating a fourth tier of Stubs, somewhat in between the Premiere level and the Insider level with new benefits. We're going to test right -- we started to test right now for possible rollout later this year.

該公司最重要的行銷計劃是我們的 Stubs 常客計畫。我們可以做很多有趣的事情來讓 Stubs 吸引更多人，並讓 Stubs 會員觀看更多電影。例如，關於如何獲得首映資格，有一些有趣的事情需要說明。還有其他可能性——我們現在的 Stubs 方案有 3 個等級：免費的 Insider 等級、付費的 Premiere 等級和 A-List 等級。有人討論建立第四層存根，介於 Premiere 等級和 Insider 等級之間，並具有新的優勢。我們將進行正確的測試——我們現在就開始測試，以便可能在今年稍後推出。

And then there's a program near and dear to my heart, which is a loyalty program of another sort. It's called AMC Investor Connect. We have over 1 million members of AMC Investor Connect. These are our shareholders who've registered with us and told us that they're interested in our company. They're either current or former shareholders. We've been in frequent communication with them. We've got lots of advanced screenings for them. We've given them some free this and that, some free popcorn and some free drinks and other things. One of the things that we will definitely be doing in 2024 is reinvigorating AMC Investor Connect, adding more benefits to it because we know how loyal those AMC Investor Connect members are to AMC. We want to thank them for their loyalty and encourage them to visit our theaters over and over again.

還有一個我很喜歡的計劃，它是另一個忠誠度計劃。它被稱為 AMC Investor Connect。我們擁有超過 100 萬 AMC Investor Connect 會員。這些是我們的股東，他們已向我們註冊並告訴我們他們對我們公司感興趣。他們要不是現任股東，就是前任股東。我們一直與他們保持著頻繁的溝通。我們為他們進行了很多提前放映。我們給了他們一些免費的東西，一些免費的爆米花和一些免費的飲料和其他東西。我們在 2024 年肯定會做的事情之一就是重振 AMC Investor Connect，為其增加更多好處，因為我們知道這些 AMC Investor Connect 會員對 AMC 有多忠誠。我們要感謝他們的忠誠，並鼓勵他們一次又一次地參觀我們的劇院。

Those are just some of the things we're working on, but lots of space. I might add that I think one of AMC's greatest strengths over the past decade has been, I think, we've been the preeminent consumer marketer in our industry. Just think about the Nicole Kidman campaign, for example, that took on like a cult-like nature. It really hit into the American zeitgeist.

這些只是我們正在做的一些事情，但是還有很多空間。我想補充一點，我認為 AMC 在過去十年中最大的優勢之一是，我們一直是業界傑出的消費者行銷商。例如，想想妮可基嫚 (Nicole Kidman) 的競選活動，它就像邪教一樣。它確實符合美國的時代精神。

And one of the things that I think is fun about that is if you go to an AMC movie, there's something called the preshow. It's the thing that comes up just before the trailers run and before the movie is run. And for the first time in 4 years, starting in a couple of days, we're putting up a new preshow on the screen. We think it's kind of beautiful and spectacular. We think people would like it. But one of the intriguing little twists is we're moving into phase 2 of the Nicole Kidman campaign.

我認為有趣的事情之一是，如果你去看 AMC 電影，會有一個叫做預覽的東西。這是在預告片播放之前和電影上映之前出現的事情。四年來第一次，從幾天后開始，我們將在螢幕上播放新的預覽。我們認為它非常美麗和壯觀。我們認為人們會喜歡它。但有趣的小轉折之一是我們正在進入妮可基嫚競選活動的第二階段。

For the last 3 years, we've got a 60-second Nicole commercial, the same one that's appeared over and over before every movie start, and starting March 1, we're going to show 3 different 30-second Nicole Kidman commercials before the movie starts on a rotating basis. You won't get like 3 in a row when you go to watch one movie. But as you watch movies going forward, you'll see 3 different Nicole spots that kind of randomly will appear in our theaters prior to the show.

在過去的3 年裡，我們有一個60 秒的妮可·基德曼廣告，每部電影開始前都會一遍又一遍地出現同樣的廣告，從3 月1 日開始，我們將在之前播放3 個不同的30 秒妮可·基德曼廣告電影以輪換的方式開始。當你去看一部電影時，你不會連續看三場。但當您繼續觀看電影時，您會看到 3 個不同的 Nicole 景點在放映前隨機出現在我們的影院中。

We're very good marketers. We use that for the benefit of driving revenues and as you saw our revenue growth in calendar '23 and in the fourth quarter of '23, we outpaced just about everybody in our industry.

我們是非常優秀的行銷人員。我們利用這一點來推動收入成長，正如您所看到的，我們在 23 年日曆和 23 年第四季的收入成長，我們幾乎超過了行業中的所有人。

Something new and exciting for people to see when they come to our movie theaters. I think we've got time just for one more question, which is related to capital expenditure. And the question is, what is sort of the ongoing CapEx level that we would expect over the next 3 to 5 years? The question again notes that prepandemic, we were spending around $500 million per year on capital expenditure. What should investors expect going forward?

當人們來到我們的電影院時，會看到一些新鮮而令人興奮的東西。我想我們還有時間再回答一個問題，這個問題與資本支出有關。問題是，我們預計未來 3 到 5 年的持續資本支出水準是多少？這個問題再次指出，在疫情大流行之前，我們每年在資本支出上花費約 5 億美元。投資人未來該期待什麼？

So for the past couple of years, we've been at a landscape of $150 million to $200 million of annual capital expenditures. About $150 million of that is to what we call maintenance CapEx, so just keep our theaters in good shape. You can't run a movie theater with a leaky roof or an air-conditioning unit that doesn't work or a projector that doesn't show movies. And then some of that CapEx has been used for enhancing our IT systems and growth-oriented projects, bringing some spot acquisitions. We said we added 59 theaters into our system over the past several years. Some of our CapEx goes to bringing those new theaters into our system.

因此，在過去幾年中，我們的年度資本支出一直在 1.5 億至 2 億美元之間。其中約 1.5 億美元用於我們所謂的維護資本支出，因此只需保持我們的戲院處於良好狀態即可。你無法經營一家屋頂漏水、空調無法運作或投影機不放映電影的電影院。然後，其中一些資本支出用於增強我們的 IT 系統和以成長為導向的項目，帶來一些現貨收購。我們說過去幾年我們在系統中增加了 59 家影院。我們的一些資本支出用於將這些新影院納入我們的系統。

As you look ahead, those years of $500 million CapEx, those were in the days when we were renovating, putting in reclining seats in 50, 60, 70 theaters a year. That spurt is way behind us. So I'd say that, with one caveat, people should be expecting CapEx in the $200 million range going forward. And that caveat is this. Because of the tough years that we've had with respect to earnings over the last few years, we put a tight lid on capital expenditures. It was crucial for us to keep cash in the bank and not necessarily spend at all.

展望未來，那些資本支出為 5 億美元的年份，是在我們進行翻修、每年在 50、60、70 個劇院安裝可躺式座椅的時期。那次衝刺已經遠遠落後我們了。因此，我想說的是，有一點需要注意的是，人們預期未來的資本支出應該在 2 億美元範圍內。這個警告就是這樣的。由於過去幾年我們的獲利狀況不佳，因此我們嚴格控制資本支出。對我們來說，將現金存入銀行而不一定要花錢是至關重要的。

There are some obvious growth projects that if we were to raise an additional $50 million to $100 million, for example, and we wanted to reinvest that back into our fleet of theaters, if that was something that would produce the highest and best return on that investment, it would have to produce a return on investment higher, for example, in buying back our debt at a substantial discount, which we've done a lot of in the past year or 2.

有一些明顯的成長項目，例如，如果我們要額外籌集 5000 萬至 1 億美元，並且我們希望將其重新投資回我們的影院群，如果這會產生最高和最好的回報投資，它必須產生更高的投資回報，例如，以大幅折扣回購我們的債務，我們在過去一兩年裡做了很多這樣的事情。

You see some obvious things that are low-hanging fruit where we know the payback would be quick. And the most obvious of them is this. AMC has the largest number of premium large format screens of any movie theater chain in the world, and it's not close. We are 50% of all IMAX screens in the United States, for example. We are 100% of all the Dolby Cinema screens in the United States, for example. And what we've seen is that our premium large format screens demand a price in the market that's about 30% higher than the normal so-called 2D auditorium price. They sell out first. The typical seat in a premium large format screen is sold 3 to 4x more than the typical seat in an auditorium that's not a premium large format screen. And I could easily see us -- we have about 600-or-so premium large format screens around the world. I could easily see us adding another 150, and we would get a great return from that, but it's not a cheap endeavor. And we'd have to be very careful about how much money we invest and doing it at the right time.

你會看到一些明顯的事情是容易實現的，我們知道回報會很快。其中最明顯的就是這個。 AMC 擁有世界上所有連鎖電影院中數量最多的優質大螢幕，而且距離還很遠。例如，我們擁有美國所有 IMAX 銀幕的 50%。例如，我們 100% 擁有美國所有杜比影院銀幕。我們看到的是，我們的優質大尺寸螢幕的市場價格比普通所謂的 2D 禮堂價格高出約 30%。他們先賣光了。高級大尺寸螢幕中的典型座位的銷售量是非高級大尺寸螢幕禮堂中的典型座位的 3 到 4 倍。我可以很容易地看到我們——我們在世界各地擁有大約 600 個左右的優質大尺寸螢幕。我可以很容易地看到我們再增加 150 個，我們將從中獲得巨大的回報，但這並不是一個便宜的努力。我們必須非常小心投資多少錢並在正確的時間進行投資。

So I don't want to say that there's a lid on CapEx spending of $200 million because there are some low-hanging fruit, no-brainer ideas on how we could further drive profitability, if we do have additional CapEx dollars to spend.

因此，我不想說 2 億美元的資本支出有上限，因為如果我們確實有額外的資本支出可以支出，那麼我們可以透過一些簡單的想法來進一步提高獲利能力。

So I'm looking at the clock. We're past our hour. So we're going to bring this webcast to an end. I'd like to leave you with the final simple thought. 2023 was a superb year for this company on the march to getting back to pre-COVID levels of profitability. 2024 is going to be a bit harder, but 2024 is going to get a lot better starting tomorrow because Dune opens in all of its glory, and we're expecting it to be a big and successful movie. We hope you all buy tickets. Go to the theater, be amused, be entertained.

所以我看著時鐘。我們已經過了時間了。因此，我們將結束本次網路廣播。我想留給你們最後一個簡單的想法。 2023 年對該公司來說是極好的一年，其盈利能力正在恢復到新冠疫情之前的水平。 2024 年將會更加困難，但從明天開始，2024 年將會變得更好，因為《沙丘》將在其所有輝煌中上映，我們期待它成為一部大而成功的電影。希望大家都買票。去劇院，娛樂一下，娛樂一下。

And as we look further beyond just this weekend and we look ahead to the next year, which is, as I said, right around the corner, we really think '25 is going to be an incredible year for our company and should be the -- just as 2023 was the best year since COVID, we're thinking 2025 is going to leave 2023 in the dust in terms of how potentially good a year 2025 is going to be. So we're optimistic. We're confident. And we'll see you all at the movies. Thank you for joining us today.

當我們進一步展望本週末之後，我們展望明年，正如我所說，明年即將到來，我們真的認為 25 年對我們公司來說將是令人難以置信的一年，並且應該是 - - 正如2023 年是自新冠疫情以來最好的一年一樣，我們認為2025 年將在2025 年的前景方面超越2023 年。所以我們很樂觀。我們有信心。我們會在電影中見到你們。感謝您今天加入我們。

Thank you. This concludes today's conference. All parties may disconnect. Have a good day.

謝謝。今天的會議到此結束。所有各方都可以斷開連接。祝你有美好的一天。