AMC 電影院 (AMC) 2020 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the AMC Entertainment Third Quarter 2020 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

各位好，歡迎參加 AMC Entertainment 2020 年第三季財報電話會議。（接線員指示）提醒各位，本次會議將被錄音。

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

現在我很榮幸介紹本次會議主持人：投資人關係副總裁 John Merriwether。謝謝您，先生。您可以開始了。

Thank you, Victor, and good afternoon. I'd like to welcome everyone to AMC's Third Quarter 2020 Earnings Conference Call. With me this afternoon is Adam Aron, our President and Chief Executive Officer; and Sean Goodman, our Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝你，Victor，大家午安。我想歡迎各位參加 AMC 2020 年第三季財報電話會議。今天下午與我一同出席的有：我們的總裁兼執行長 Adam Aron，以及我們的財務長 Sean Goodman。

Before I turn the call over to Adam, let me remind everyone that some of the comments made by management during this conference call 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 public filings, including our most recently filed 10-K and 10-Q. Several other factors that will determine the company's future results are beyond the ability of the company to control or predict. In light of the uncertainties inherent in any forward-looking statements, listeners are cautioned to not place undue reliance on these statements. The company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information or future events.

在我把電話交給 Adam 之前，先提醒各位，管理層在本次電話會議中的部分評論可能包含前瞻性陳述，係基於管理層目前的預期。眾多風險、不確定性及其他因素可能導致實際結果與今日所表達者出現重大差異。許多此類風險與不確定性已在我們的公開申報文件中討論，包括我們最近提交的 10-K 與 10-Q。另有數項將決定公司未來業績的因素，超出公司控制或預測能力。鑑於任何前瞻性陳述所固有的不確定性，提醒聽眾勿過度依賴此等陳述。公司不承擔因新資訊或未來事件而修訂或更新任何前瞻性陳述之義務。

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

在本次電話會議中，我們可能會提及若干非 GAAP 財務衡量指標，例如調整後 EBITDA、自由現金流、調整後自由現金流以及固定匯率等。若要查看我們的非 GAAP 指標與 GAAP 結果之完整調節表，請參閱我們今日稍早發布並張貼於公司網站「投資人關係」專區的財報新聞稿。

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

在我們的準備發言之後，將進行問答環節。今天下午的電話會議將被錄音，且網路直播重播將於今日稍晚在 amctheatres.com 網站的「投資人關係」專區提供。

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

接下來，我把電話交給 Adam。

Thank you, John. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. Let me begin today the same way I began our Q1 and Q2 earnings calls by expressing my wishes that you and your families are all in good health in these difficult times. In starting today's call, may I also note the death of the legendary Oscar-winning actor, Sean Connery, this past weekend at the wonderful age of 90. In his honor, we will be showing Goldfinger and The Hunt for Red October at AMC theaters all across the country this coming weekend. Come join us and see for yourself how spotlessly clean our theaters are all across the nation.

謝謝你，John。各位午安，感謝各位今天加入我們。今天我想用與第一季與第二季財報電話會議相同的方式開場：在這艱難時刻，祝福各位與家人都身體健康。開始今天的電話會議時，我也想提及，上週末傳奇奧斯卡得獎演員 Sean Connery 以 90 歲高齡辭世。為了向他致敬，我們將於本週末在全美各地的 AMC 影城放映《Goldfinger》與《The Hunt for Red October》。歡迎各位前來，親自看看我們全國各地影城是多麼一塵不染、乾淨整潔。

Similar to the second quarter, COVID-19 continues to significantly impact the financial performance of companies across multiple sectors with the movie theater industry being among the very hardest hit, AMC certainly included. Thanks to our efforts in partnership with Clorox and in consultation with current and former Faculty of Harvard University's prestigious School of Public Health, we have made great strides at AMC to safely open our theaters where permitted by governments to do so. Attendance has been minimal though, of course stemming from virus concerns but perhaps more importantly due to the fact that only 2 major new films have been released theatrically since mid-March. But even so as we sit here today, since our theaters have reopened after the March closures, people have attended movies at AMC's U.S. and international theaters almost 10 million times, and we have not heard of even one instance where the coronavirus was spread in our cinemas.

與第二季類似，COVID-19 仍持續對多個產業的公司財務表現造成重大影響，而電影院產業更是受創最嚴重的產業之一，AMC 當然也不例外。透過我們與 Clorox 的合作努力，並諮詢哈佛大學著名公共衛生學院現任與前任教職員，我們在 AMC 已取得重大進展，得以在政府允許的地區安全地重新開放影城。當然，出席人數仍然很少，部分原因來自對病毒的擔憂，但或許更重要的是，自 3 月中旬以來，只有 2 部主要新片在戲院上映。即便如此，截至今日，自我們的影城在 3 月關閉後重新開放以來，民眾在 AMC 的美國與國際影城觀影的總人次已接近 1,000 萬次，而我們尚未聽聞任何一例在我們影城內傳播冠狀病毒的事件。

As of September 30, quarter end, we had approximately 78% of our domestic theaters and approximately 90% of our international theaters open. At the end of September, our domestic theaters were open for business in 39 of the 45 states in which we operate, and our international theaters were open in every 1 of the 14 countries that we serve outside the United States. As of today, approximately 90% of our U.S. theaters are now open in 44 of the 45 U.S. states that AMC serves. However, the critical movie-leading markets of Los Angeles and New York City remain closed, awaiting governmental permission to serve moviegoers. Internationally, the numbers of opened theaters is going the other way. In the past few weeks and especially just in the last few days, we have been ordered to close our theaters for most of the month of November in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Italy and in a small portion of Spain, namely Catalonia where we have 10 theaters.

截至 9 月 30 日（季末），我們約有 78% 的美國本土影城，以及約 90% 的國際影城已開放營運。9 月底時，我們在所營運的 45 個州中的 39 個州開放營業；而在美國以外我們服務的 14 個國家中，國際影城則在全部 14 個國家皆已開放。至今日為止，AMC 在美國服務的 45 個州中已有 44 個州、約 90% 的美國影城已重新開放。然而，關鍵的電影領先市場洛杉磯與紐約市仍維持關閉，正等待政府許可以服務影迷。國際方面，已開放影城的數量則朝相反方向發展。在過去幾週、尤其是最近幾天，我們接獲命令，要求我們在 11 月的大部分時間於英國、愛爾蘭、德國、義大利以及西班牙的一小部分地區（即加泰隆尼亞，我們在當地有 10 家影城）關閉影城。

This afternoon, not unlike on our Q1 and Q2 2020 earnings calls, we're not going to spend much time on the actual third quarter financial results, but instead, we'll focus our comments and take your questions on what we believe is a primary interest to most of you, and that is to update you on the most recent actions we've taken to manage through this crisis and our general thoughts about the prognosis for our company looking forward.

今天下午，與我們 2020 年第一季與第二季財報電話會議相同，我們不會花太多時間討論第三季實際財務結果；相反地，我們將把重點放在我們認為各位最關心的主題上並回答各位提問，也就是向各位更新我們為度過這場危機而採取的最新行動，以及我們對公司未來展望的一般看法。

In our industry, the gravity of our situation puts us all in almost a war-like position of resolve and determination. With that as context, I often find myself thinking of the extraordinary famous and defining speech that then British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivered in the House of Commons on June 8, 1940 (sic) [June 4, 1940] when he laid out the challenge facing Britain early during the Second World War. He said in part, "We shall not flag or fail, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight in the air, we shall defend our island, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills." That is exactly where we are now at AMC. We are fighting this virus with all of our smarts and all of our might. We are a resilient, resourceful and creative bunch at AMC, and all of that energy is being deployed to fight the good fight.

在我們這個產業中，情勢的嚴峻程度使我們幾乎處於一種如同戰時般的決心與意志狀態。在此背景下，我常常想到當時的英國首相溫斯頓．邱吉爾於 1940 年 6 月 8 日（原文如此）[1940 年 6 月 4 日] 在下議院發表的那段極為著名且具定義性的演說，當時他闡述了第二次世界大戰初期英國所面臨的挑戰。他部分內容說道：「我們絕不鬆懈或失敗；我們將在海上與大洋作戰；我們將在空中作戰；我們將保衛我們的島嶼；我們將在海灘作戰；我們將在登陸場作戰；我們將在田野與街道作戰；我們將在山丘作戰。」這正是 AMC 現在所處的位置。我們正以我們所有的智慧與力量對抗這個病毒。AMC 是一群堅韌、足智多謀且富有創意的人，而所有這些能量都正被投入，用以打這場正義之戰。

To that end, the 4 priorities outlined during our previous earnings calls remain precisely our primary focus at AMC today: one, continue to take actions to bolster our liquidity and to deleverage our balance sheet; two, reducing our cost structure and spending posture, realizing that revenues will take quite some time to ramp up; three, reopening and subsequently operating our theaters as professionally as we can to ensure that we offer a safe and clean theatrical environment for our guests and associates, leveraging our energy-leading guest engagement platform and implementing a wide variety of strategies to optimize theater profitability and minimize their losses; and four, managing our business through whatever structural changes, world events or industry dynamics that are thrown in our direction.

為此，我們在先前財報電話會議中所概述的四項優先事項，至今仍然完全是 AMC 的主要焦點：第一，持續採取行動以強化流動性並降低資產負債表槓桿；第二，降低成本結構與支出態勢，因為我們明白營收需要相當長的時間才能回升；第三，在重新開放並隨後營運影城時，盡可能以專業方式確保為賓客與同仁提供安全且潔淨的觀影環境，運用我們業界領先的賓客互動平台，並實施多元策略以最佳化影城獲利能力並將虧損降至最低；第四，因應任何可能迎面而來的結構性變化、世界事件或產業動態，管理我們的業務。

We have made significant progress in each of these focus areas during the year so far and especially during the third quarter, including: first, the safe reopening of our theaters in the United States and around the world. Indeed, we are seeing guest feedback ratings on our theater cleanliness that are demonstrably higher than anything we have ever seen in the decades and decades that we have been keeping such records. Thank you, Clorox. Thank you, Harvard School of Public Health.

截至目前為止，我們在今年、尤其是在第三季，已在上述各項重點領域取得顯著進展，包括：第一，在美國及全球各地安全地重新開放我們的影城。事實上，我們看到賓客對影城清潔度的回饋評分，明顯高於我們在過去數十年、數十年來保存紀錄以來的任何時期。謝謝你，Clorox。謝謝你，哈佛公共衛生學院。

Second, the successful $2.6 billion debt restructuring in July that we discussed on our last call, which included bringing in $300 million of fresh debt capital now on top of the $500 million we raised back in April, deferring cash interest to the tune of at least $120 million over the coming year and eliminating some $555 million of debt.

第二，我們在 7 月成功完成 26 億美元的債務重整（我們在上次電話會議中已討論），其中包括在我們 4 月籌得 5 億美元的基礎上，再引入 3 億美元的新債務資本；在未來一年內至少遞延 1.2 億美元的現金利息支出；並消除約 5.55 億美元的債務。

Third, the signing of a definitive agreement to sell 9 theater locations in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia for approximately $77 million, representing a 9.3 multiple of budgeted 2020 EBITDA, a budget I might add that was set before the onset of the COVID-19 virus. So in looking to current actual EBITDA, the sale multiple price is actually infinite.

第三，我們已簽署具約束力的最終協議，將位於拉脫維亞、立陶宛與愛沙尼亞的 9 個影城據點以約 7,700 萬美元出售，該價格相當於 2020 年預算 EBITDA 的 9.3 倍；我補充說明，該預算是在 COVID-19 病毒爆發之前制定的。因此，若以目前實際 EBITDA 來看，該出售倍數實際上是無限大。

And fourth, the successful launch and completion of our at-the-market, or ATM, equity offering, which has raised approximately $98 million on the issuance of 30 million shares in a little more than 1 month. Having exhausted that offering and given its success, we are currently seeking again to raise additional equity capital.

第四，我們成功推出並完成了市場隨售（at-the-market，或 ATM）股權發行，在略多於 1 個月的時間內透過發行 3,000 萬股募集約 9,800 萬美元。由於該發行已用罄且成果良好，我們目前正再次尋求募集額外的股權資本。

And fifth, reaching a groundbreaking agreement this summer with Universal relating to participating in a new PVOD window. Specifically because of that agreement, Universal currently intends to release 6 movies theatrically in the fourth quarter, something that no other studio that does not yet have a PVOD window established has been willing to try. Incidentally, on the only one of those PVOD movies that has been released as of yet, our analysis is that AMC came out ahead financially, as we had modeled but much better than some of you had postulated or feared.

第五，今年夏天我們與環球影業（Universal）就參與新的 PVOD 發行窗口達成了一項具突破性的協議。正因為這項協議，環球影業目前計劃在第四季度推出 6 部電影進行院線上映；而其他尚未建立 PVOD 窗口的片商，沒有一家願意嘗試這麼做。順帶一提，就目前已經上映的那一部 PVOD 電影而言，我們的分析顯示 AMC 在財務上反而更占優勢，這與我們的模型預測一致，但結果比你們當中一些人所推測或擔憂的要好得多。

If you look at all of the actions that AMC has taken since March, it's almost breathtaking. In addition to all the work in first closing and then reopening our theaters, AMC has raised just under $1 billion of cash and gross proceeds from the issuance of new debt and equity along with including the Baltics theater sale. We have also secured over $1 billion in additional financial concessions that we have negotiated individually with theater landlords and with our lenders.

如果你回顧 AMC 自三月以來採取的所有行動，幾乎令人驚嘆。除了先行關閉、再行重啟我們的影院所做的所有工作之外，AMC 也透過發行新債務與股權（並包含波羅的海地區影院出售）籌得接近 10 億美元的現金與總募集款項。我們也另外取得超過 10 億美元的額外財務讓步，這些讓步是我們分別與影院房東以及放款人逐一談判而來。

As I said before, at AMC, we're resilient and resourceful and we are certainly braced with determination and resolve. These significant accomplishments are why we are still here today. But to make it through this coronavirus-impacted winter, we will still need to secure additional liquidity. Our disclosures in this regard have been thorough and fully transparent.

如我先前所說，在 AMC，我們具備韌性與應變能力，並且確實以決心與毅力做好準備。正是這些重大成就，讓我們今天仍能站在這裡。但要度過這個受新冠疫情影響的冬季，我們仍需要取得額外的流動性。我們在這方面的揭露一向完整且完全透明。

There is more to discuss, but before we do, I'll now turn the call over to Sean Goodman, our CFO, to update you on the third quarter on some of the more recent actions taken by AMC. Sean?

還有更多內容可以討論，但在此之前，我現在把電話會議交給我們的財務長 Sean Goodman，請他向各位更新 AMC 在第三季度採取的一些較近期行動。Sean？

Thank you, Adam, and thank you, everyone, for joining us this afternoon. I do hope that you and your families have been safe and well during these continued difficult and unprecedented times.

謝謝你，Adam，也謝謝各位今天下午加入我們。我真心希望在這段持續艱難且前所未有的時期，你和你的家人都平安健康。

As Adam mentioned, our results for the quarter were once again severely impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, which necessitated the suspension of all theater operations in the U.S. for nearly 2/3 of the third quarter and significantly impacted our operations in international markets. This quarter was characterized by a dearth of new form content at historically low attendance levels across all markets. Overall, our domestic attendance was 97% below the prior year's third quarter, and our international attendance was 82% below the prior year's third quarter. Of course, this includes time periods when our theaters were closed. But even as theaters reopened, with the scarcity of big new titles, attendance levels in the U.S. hovered between 10% and 20% of last year's levels while attendance numbers in Europe were only somewhat better. A bright spot for us, so far in 2020, we have tripled our theater count in the Middle East and we expect to at least double that again in the coming half year.

如 Adam 所提到，我們本季的業績再次受到 COVID-19 危機的嚴重衝擊，該危機迫使我們在美國的所有影院營運於第三季度近 2/3 的時間暫停，並且也顯著影響我們在國際市場的營運。本季的特徵是新片內容極度匱乏，且各市場的出席人次處於歷史低位。整體而言，我們美國本土的觀影人次較去年第三季度下降 97%，國際觀影人次較去年第三季度下降 82%。當然，這包含我們影院關閉的期間。但即使在影院重啟之後，由於缺乏大型新片，在美國的觀影人次仍徘徊在去年的 10% 到 20% 之間，而歐洲的觀影人次也僅略好一些。到目前為止，2020 年對我們而言的一個亮點是：我們在中東的影院數量已增加至原來的三倍，並且我們預期在接下來的半年內至少再翻倍。

Similar to our second quarter results, international average ticket price and food and beverage spend per person were again encouraging, holding up nicely with an average ticket price up more than 16% or 10% in constant currency; and food and beverage revenue per patron increasing by more than 15% or 9% in constant currency compared to last year. U.S. ticket prices in food and beverage results in the third quarter showed similarly encouraging trends with both food and beverage revenue per patron and average ticket price broadly in line with last year. These statistics are impressive when you consider the discounted pricing on library content and food and beverage promotions offered during the quarter. It's very clear based on our operating metrics, including customer satisfaction scores, that guests returning to the movies are extremely confident in our AMC Safe & Clean protocols and are comfortable with their theater experience and are enjoying our food and beverage offerings. However, with such extremely low overall attendance levels, our bottom line financial performance for the third quarter is once again almost irrelevant. More importantly is how we performed against our priorities and what we are doing to successfully navigate through these troubled times.

與第二季度的結果相似，國際市場的平均票價以及每人餐飲消費再次令人鼓舞，表現相當穩健：平均票價上升超過 16%，或以固定匯率計上升 10%；每位觀眾的餐飲收入較去年增加超過 15%，或以固定匯率計增加 9%。美國第三季度的票價與餐飲結果也呈現同樣令人鼓舞的趨勢，每位觀眾的餐飲收入與平均票價大致與去年持平。考量到本季對片庫內容採取折扣定價，以及提供餐飲促銷，這些數據相當亮眼。從我們的營運指標（包括顧客滿意度評分）可以清楚看出，回到影院的觀眾對我們的 AMC Safe & Clean 防疫與清潔流程極具信心，對其觀影體驗感到安心，並且也很享受我們的餐飲供應。然而，在整體觀影人次極低的情況下，我們第三季度的最終財務表現再次幾乎無關緊要。更重要的是，我們在優先事項上的執行情況，以及我們正在做些什麼以成功度過這段艱困時期。

From a liquidity point of view, as of September 30, 2020, we had $418 million of cash plus $11 million of restricted cash. Our total cash burn for the third quarter was $324 million. This number normalizes for the debt exchange and capital raising in July. It also normalizes for the $37.5 million of partial proceeds received from the sale of our Baltics theaters and $2.8 million of net cash raised from our ATM program during the second quarter. The average monthly cash burn in Q3 was $108 million. This is slightly above the approximately $100 million monthly cash burn during the second quarter. This increased cash burn is due to costs associated with theater reopenings, including our AMC Safe & Clean protocols, and increased rent payments as theaters began to reopen for business.

從流動性的角度來看，截至 2020 年 9 月 30 日，我們持有 4.18 億美元現金，另有 1,100 萬美元受限制現金。第三季度的現金消耗總額為 3.24 億美元。此數字已就 7 月的債務交換與資本募集進行常態化調整；也就出售波羅的海地區影院所收到的 3,750 萬美元部分款項，以及第二季度透過我們的 ATM 計畫所籌得的 280 萬美元淨現金進行常態化調整。第三季度平均每月現金消耗為 1.08 億美元，略高於第二季度約 1 億美元的每月現金消耗。現金消耗增加主要是因影院重啟相關成本（包括我們的 AMC Safe & Clean 流程），以及隨著影院開始恢復營業而增加的租金支付。

Many have questioned whether it is financially wise to keep theaters open with such very low attendance levels that we are currently experiencing. So this is something that we, of course, analyze very carefully, and I can tell you that we have very sophisticated operational initiatives in place to align theater opening hours to attendance levels. For example, about half of our U.S. theaters are open for weekend showtimes only. And all of our theaters, when they are open, are averaging between 1 and 2 showtimes daily instead of the normal 4. This saves a tremendous amount of operating costs while still giving guests a sense that we are open and preventing the stress on our buildings that stems from prolonged periods of closure. Accordingly, we are confident that with our flexible operating model, it is economically sensible for our theaters to remain open even in the current low-attendance environment.

許多人質疑，在我們目前所面臨的極低觀影人次下，維持影院開放在財務上是否明智。因此，這當然是我們非常仔細分析的議題。我可以告訴各位，我們已建立非常成熟的營運措施，使影院開放時段能與觀影人次相匹配。舉例來說，我們約有一半的美國影院僅在週末場次開放。而且我們所有影院在開放時，每日平均僅安排 1 到 2 場放映，而非正常情況下的 4 場。這在仍讓觀眾感受到我們持續營業、並避免因長期關閉而對建築物造成壓力的同時，也大幅節省營運成本。因此，我們有信心，憑藉我們彈性的營運模式，即使在目前低出席環境下，讓影院維持開放在經濟上仍是合理的。

The obvious next question is how long our liquidity runway will be in the current distressed environment. When we last spoke, I shared with you that we believed that we had sufficient cash to last through to the beginning of 2021. Despite the number of movie titles subsequently shifting out of 2020 and continued low attendance levels associated with an absence of new titles, we continue to have sufficient liquidity to last through to the beginning of 2021, even in a worst-case scenario where the current low attendance situation continues. Of course, if the current form slate holds, including movies scheduled for the Christmas holidays, and our current attendance levels increase accordingly, our liquidity runway could be meaningfully extended. It is worth noting that given the low attendance levels, our current cash burn is not significantly impacted by the recently announced theater closures in Europe.

接下來顯而易見的問題是：在目前困境環境下，我們的流動性可支撐多久。上次我們交流時，我曾向各位分享，我們相信手上現金足以支撐到 2021 年初。儘管之後有多部電影檔期移出 2020 年，且因缺乏新片而導致觀影人次持續偏低，我們仍然有足夠的流動性支撐到 2021 年初，即便在最壞情境下目前的低出席狀況持續不變。當然，如果目前片單能維持（包括聖誕假期檔期的電影），且我們目前的觀影人次隨之提升，我們的流動性支撐期可能會顯著延長。值得注意的是，在觀影人次偏低的情況下，我們目前的現金消耗並未因近期宣布的歐洲影院關閉而受到顯著影響。

Now while our liquidity runway in the worst-case scenario is limited, this is only if we are not able to raise additional capital. And our goal is to raise additional capital. Throughout the coronavirus crisis, we have taken deliberate and decisive actions to navigate through the storm. In a period of only 7 months, we have raised approximately $900 million of gross proceeds from new debt and equity, we've raised more than $80 million from asset sales, and we've negotiated more than $1 billion of concessions from creditors and landlords. And we are not finished. Our ATM equity process, which was launched at the end of September, has already raised $98 million. And we are continuing to seek opportunities to generate additional liquidity and reduce our leverage.

然而，在最壞情境下我們的流動性支撐期有限，這僅發生在我們無法籌集額外資本的情況下；而我們的目標正是籌集額外資本。在整個新冠疫情危機期間，我們採取了審慎且果斷的行動以度過風暴。在短短 7 個月內，我們透過新增債務與股權募集了約 9 億美元的總募集款項；我們透過資產出售募集了超過 8,000 萬美元；並且我們與債權人及房東談判取得超過 10 億美元的讓步。而我們尚未結束。我們於 9 月底啟動的 ATM 股權發行流程，已經募集了 9,800 萬美元。我們也將持續尋找機會，以創造額外流動性並降低槓桿。

One of our most significant expense categories is rent. Our long-term relationships with landlords have enabled us to successfully negotiate meaningful concessions during this COVID crisis. By the end of the third quarter, we had deferred rent of approximately $325 million. Repayment terms are on average 24 months, although a number of agreements have repayment periods that extend through the remaining lease term, which, in some cases, is well in excess of 10 years. It's worth a reminder that the rent expense shown on the face of the income statement represents our rent obligation for the quarter. For the third quarter, actual rent payments were approximately $120 million less than what is shown on the face of the income statement. While future cash rent payments will depend on our reopening schedule and level of attendance, based on our current agreements, we anticipate that cash rent paid in Q4 2020 will be meaningfully higher than in Q3 while still being well below the income statement rent liability. We continue to have constructive discussions with our landlords as we work together to effectively manage through this crisis. And as always, as we've said before, the terms that we have agreed with our landlords are confidential and specific to particular facts and circumstances for each landlord and each theater.

我們最重要的費用類別之一是租金。我們與房東的長期關係，使我們得以在此次 COVID 危機期間成功談判取得具實質意義的讓步。截至第三季度末，我們已遞延的租金約為 3.25 億美元。償還條款平均為 24 個月，但也有不少協議的償還期間延伸至剩餘租約期限；在某些情況下，該期限遠超過 10 年。提醒各位，損益表上所列示的租金費用，代表我們該季度的租金義務。就第三季度而言，實際租金支付約比損益表所列示金額少 1.2 億美元。未來的現金租金支付將取決於我們的重啟時程與出席人次水準；但根據我們目前的協議，我們預期 2020 年第四季度支付的現金租金將顯著高於第三季度，但仍將遠低於損益表上的租金負債。我們仍持續與房東進行具建設性的討論，並共同努力有效管理並度過此次危機。並且一如既往、如我們先前所說，我們與房東所達成的條款屬機密，且會依各房東與各影院的具體事實與情況而有所不同。

Shifting to capital expenditures. We have continued to reduce capital expenditures to minimum maintenance levels, eliminating all but essential CapEx and previously committed growth CapEx. During the third quarter, our CapEx spend was approximately $22 million net of landlord contributions. Most of this was committed to prior to the outbreak of the pandemic. This is approximately $72 million lower than the same quarter a year ago. And we now expect 2020 net CapEx to be between $130 million and $150 million.

接著談資本支出。我們已持續將資本支出降至最低的維護水準，除必要的資本支出以及先前已承諾的成長型資本支出外，其餘一概取消。第三季，我們的資本支出（扣除房東補助後）約為2,200萬美元。其中大部分是在疫情爆發前就已承諾的。這比去年同期約少了7,200萬美元。我們目前預期2020年淨資本支出將介於1.30億至1.50億美元之間。

And finally, before handing the call back over to Adam, it's worth noting that we are using these unprecedented times as an opportunity to intensely examine every single category of our spending and all plausible opportunities to enhance our efficiency and improve our profitability for the long term. While the closure of our theaters is temporary, the learnings and the actions that we are taking will have an enduring long-term benefit for AMC. Adam?

最後，在把電話交回給Adam之前，值得一提的是，我們正把這段前所未有的時期視為一個契機，深入檢視我們支出的每一個類別，以及所有可行的機會，以提升效率並改善長期獲利能力。雖然我們戲院的關閉是暫時的，但我們正在汲取的經驗與採取的行動，將為AMC帶來持久的長期效益。Adam？

Thank you, Sean. So everybody, it all really comes down to one thing. We believe that we will need to raise more capital to assure ourselves that we can lengthen our financial runway at least in the next summer. The simple question becomes will we raise that needed capital or not. We've had considerable success in creatively raising money so far this year, and our shoulders are at the grindstone yet again. Medical experts are telling us that in the Western world, our populations will be well vaccinated before next summer. Studios are telling us that they have boatloads of blockbuster titles for us before next summer as well. By our count, while some movies have been shifted or sold off to streamers, some 44 major film titles have been deferred from 2020 and will be rescheduled to play theatrically in 2021 instead.

謝謝你，Sean。各位，歸根究柢其實就一件事。我們相信，為了確保至少能把我們的財務跑道延長到明年夏天，我們需要再籌集更多資本。簡單的問題是：我們會不會籌到所需的資本。今年迄今我們在創意籌資方面已取得相當成功，而我們現在又再次全力以赴。醫學專家告訴我們，在西方世界，我們的人口在明年夏天之前將會大幅完成疫苗接種。片商也告訴我們，在明年夏天之前他們為我們準備了大量的強檔大片。依我們統計，雖然有些電影已被延後或賣給串流平台，但仍有約44部主要電影片名從2020年延至2021年，並將改在2021年於戲院上映。

In the words to me privately from one major studio CEO, he said, "You're LaGuardia Airport, Adam, in a big thunderstorm. And there are zillions of planes in the air circling, and they all have to land. We've got to get the movies that we've already made and which already are in the can out into the market for moviegoers to buy tickets and go see" -- he paused for effect and then said, "in your theaters. When I relayed his comment to another major studio CEO this very weekend, he said and I quote, "Wait a second. He stole my line. I've been saying for months now that you're an airport in a storm and there's tons of planes circling overhead." So at AMC, it is our considered opinion that there is good news down the road. Once the movies start flowing next year, there will be a new big title almost every single week.

用一位大型片商CEO私下對我說的話來講，他說：「Adam，你就像在大雷雨中的拉瓜地亞機場（LaGuardia Airport）。天空中有無數架飛機在盤旋，而它們都必須降落。我們必須把已經拍好、也已經完成的電影推向市場，讓影迷買票去看」——他停頓了一下以加強效果，接著說：「在你們的戲院裡。」當我就在這個週末把他的評論轉述給另一位大型片商CEO時，他說（我引用原話）：「等一下，他偷了我的台詞。我已經說了好幾個月，你們就像暴風雨中的機場，頭頂上有一堆飛機在盤旋。」因此，AMC審慎判斷，前方有好消息。明年一旦電影開始大量供應，幾乎每一週都會有新的大片上映。

To that end, AMC's capital raising efforts and cash conservation efforts -- because every dollar we save is -- offsets $1 that we would not need to raise. Those capital raising efforts and those cash conservation efforts are in full swing. We are currently seeking to raise additional equity capital right now. We have commenced discussions -- we've counted them, more than a dozen strategic investors about their taking an equity interest in AMC. We are also talking with our existing lenders to gauge their interest in further bolstering our liquidity as they did this past summer. And we've started dialogue with many of our landlords again about helping us abate or defer rent as they also did in the spring when movie titles are still few in number and when theater traffic is light. It is too early to know whether these efforts will bear fruit and if so -- or should I say and when so, by how much. But our days and nights are busy ones at AMC. And we absolutely are not sitting on our hands bemoaning the lousy handed cards that the coronavirus has dealt us. Instead, we are out trying to raise money, something at which we're quite skilled, as we have demonstrated on multiple occasions so far this year.

為此，AMC的籌資努力與現金保全努力——因為我們每省下1美元，就等於抵消了我們少需要籌的1美元——目前都在全力進行中。我們現在正尋求再募集額外的股權資本。我們已展開討論——我們數過了，超過十幾位策略投資人——探詢他們是否願意取得AMC的股權。我們也正與現有放款人洽談，以評估他們是否有興趣如同今年夏天那樣，進一步強化我們的流動性。我們也再次與許多房東展開對話，請他們協助我們減免或遞延租金，就像春季那樣，因為目前片單仍然不多、戲院人流也偏淡。現在要知道這些努力是否會有成果仍為時過早；若有——或者應該說，當有成果時，規模會有多大。但AMC的日夜都很忙碌。我們絕對不是坐以待斃、哀嘆新冠病毒發給我們的一手爛牌。相反地，我們正積極籌錢，而這正是我們相當擅長的事——今年迄今我們已多次證明。

On to a completely separate subject. Lest you think we're distractive -- distracted from innovating in how we market the consumers, we know that some portion of the populace is concerned about sitting intermixed with strangers. So a few weeks back, we soft-launched a private theater rental program where consumers can book an auditorium all to themselves and use up to 20 tickets in that auditorium for a fixed price of between $99 and $349 plus tax, depending upon the movie, the format and the market. We've already had more than 80,000 inquiries from potential guests about private theater rentals, and that number will grow markedly once we formally announce the program with a press release and marketing support, which should launch later this month.

接著談一個完全不同的主題。別以為我們在創新行銷消費者的方式上分心了——我們知道，有一部分民眾擔心與陌生人混坐在一起。因此，幾週前我們低調推出了「私人包廳」方案，消費者可以把整個影廳包下來自用，並可在該影廳使用最多20張票，固定價格介於99至349美元（另加稅），視電影、格式與市場而定。到目前為止，我們已收到超過80,000件潛在顧客對私人包廳的詢問；一旦我們在本月稍晚透過新聞稿與行銷支援正式宣布該方案，這個數字將大幅成長。

Before we open the call for your questions, I'd like to take a moment to recognize the truly exceptional achievements of the AMC management team. Just 7 months ago, many were predicting that AMC would not survive past spring. They underestimated the sheer will of our management to power through this crisis if that is at all humanly possible. And even I am incredibly impressed by the skill of our theater teams who have first shut and then reopened the world's largest collection of movie theaters with extraordinarily -- with extraordinary professionalism and commitment. To ensure that this leadership team continues to have incentives that are meaningful and which completely align the interests of all our senior officers and junior officers with those of our shareholders, we have detailed in the 10-Q about to be filed that our Board has decided to use its discretion to vest in this current fourth quarter some previously granted AMC equity. However, that new vesting includes a 1-year lockup that prevents the sale of such equity until a full year from now. Our entire officer corps has substantial incentives, therefore, to keep and to increase the equity value inherent in AMC's shares.

在我們開放各位提問之前，我想花點時間表揚AMC管理團隊真正卓越的成就。就在7個月前，許多人預測AMC撐不過春天。他們低估了我們管理團隊在這場危機中、只要人力所及就會撐過去的強大意志。就連我也對我們戲院團隊的能力感到無比佩服——他們先關閉、再重新開放全球最大規模的戲院群，以極其——以非凡的專業與投入完成這項工作。為了確保這個領導團隊持續擁有具意義的激勵，並使我們所有高階與中階主管的利益與股東完全一致，我們在即將提交的10-Q中已詳述：董事會決定行使裁量權，於本第四季讓先前授予的部分AMC股權獎勵歸屬（vest）。不過，新的歸屬條件包含為期1年的閉鎖期（lockup），在滿一年之前不得出售該等股權。因此，我們整個主管團隊都擁有相當可觀的誘因，去維持並提升AMC股票所內含的股權價值。

In addition, our Board also wanted to recognize and reward some 2,000 AMC managers across our system in the U.S. and abroad. Almost all of them took between 20% and 100% salary reductions for almost half a year and who all are leading our theaters and our company in a time of considerable duress. They're also doing more with much less in the way of resources to get leaner. Almost incredibly, we have reduced by about 1/3 the number of management staff on our payroll both in our headquarters operations and at our theaters than we had at the beginning of last year. With the goal of retaining our key managers so they do not abandon AMC at the most crucial time when we need them the most, our Board further authorized the creation of a modest bonus pool in lieu of the formal 2020 annual incentive plan. It's equal to approximately 30% of their annual bonus targets. Individual awards will range from 20% to 50% of target. Depending upon the individual, the most common award will be 20%. We believe this will buy us considerable loyalty amongst our strongest and most needed performers and at a most critical time.

此外，董事會也希望表揚並獎勵我們在美國及海外體系內約2,000名AMC經理人。幾乎所有人都在將近半年期間接受了20%到100%的薪資減幅，並在壓力極大的情況下帶領我們的戲院與公司。他們也在資源大幅縮減的情況下做得更多，以達到更精實。幾乎令人難以置信的是，與去年年初相比，我們已將總部營運與戲院端的管理人員編制縮減約三分之一。為了留住關鍵經理人，避免他們在我們最需要他們的關鍵時刻離開AMC，董事會進一步核准設立一個適度的獎金池，以取代正式的2020年度激勵計畫。其規模約等於他們年度獎金目標的30%。個別獎勵將介於目標的20%到50%之間；視個人而定，最常見的獎勵為20%。我們相信，這將在最關鍵的時刻，為我們最強、最需要的績優者帶來相當程度的忠誠度。

With that, let us leave you with a laser-like focus on that which matters most to AMC at the moment: the need for us to increase our liquidity, to raise new cash or to conserve cash spending that will allow us to bridge from this moment to much deeper into 2021. We do, after all, have our Churchillian charge. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. And may I remind you all not to forget that Great Britain was on the winning side of that war.

最後，讓我們以雷射般的專注聚焦在此刻對AMC最重要的事：提升流動性、籌措新現金，或節省現金支出，使我們能從此刻一路撐到2021年更深處。畢竟，我們也有我們的「邱吉爾式」使命：我們將在海灘上戰鬥，我們將在登陸場戰鬥，我們將在田野與街道上戰鬥，我們將在山丘上戰鬥。也請各位別忘了，英國在那場戰爭中是站在勝利的一方。

Thank you, and we now look forward to taking your questions. Operator?

謝謝各位，我們現在期待回答各位的提問。接線員？

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Eric Wold with B. Riley FBR.

（接線員指示）我們的第一個問題來自B. Riley FBR的Eric Wold。

Adam, I guess -- it seems though we've seen more of a willingness of exhibitors to kind of bite the bullet and open theaters in less-than-optimal conditions. I guess the most recent being San Francisco with a lack of concessions. From the conversations you've had with those studio heads that view you as LaGuardia, so to speak, is there a point where they start taking some of that risk-taking upon themselves well before a vaccine or something meaningful in that regard?

Adam，我想——看起來我們看到放映業者更願意在不那麼理想的條件下「硬著頭皮」開放戲院。我想最近的例子是舊金山，因為缺少餐飲販售（concessions）。從你與那些把你比作拉瓜地亞機場的片商主管的對話來看，是否存在某個時間點，他們會在疫苗問世之前，或在相關方面出現某些有意義的進展之前，就開始自行承擔部分這種冒險的風險？

Yes. And it's already happening, Eric. So Universal, specifically because of our PVOD deal with them, is going to release Croods: A New Age just before Thanksgiving. That's accompanied by 5 other Universal films, only one of which has already been released. So Universal has got 5 more coming out in November and December. We've had significant conversations with Warner. We know that they're definitely trying to hold on to their Christmas release of Wonder Woman. And with all these studios, we're expressing our desire and eagerness to lean in and do whatever we can to support their movies and to be flexible in how we consider various strategies for not only us to prosper but for our studio partners to prosper as they release movies as well. So yes, it's already happening.

是的。而且這已經在發生了，Eric。因為我們與環球（Universal）的 PVOD 協議，環球將在感恩節前夕推出《古魯家族：新石代》（Croods: A New Age）。同時還會搭配另外 5 部環球影片，其中只有 1 部已經上映。所以環球在 11 月和 12 月還有 5 部要推出。我們也與華納（Warner）進行了重要的對話。我們知道他們確實正努力保住《神力女超人》（Wonder Woman）的聖誕檔期上映。面對所有這些片商，我們都在表達我們的意願與熱忱：我們願意全力投入，盡我們所能支持他們的電影，並在我們評估各種策略時保持彈性，不僅讓我們能夠興旺，也讓我們的片商夥伴在推出電影時同樣能夠興旺。所以是的，這已經在發生了。

And with respect to San Francisco, I would point out, we actually opened Philadelphia and Boston without food. And within 3 to 4 weeks, those municipalities agreed to let us go forward with concessions as well. So it's a very fast-evolving landscape as to what individual jurisdictions are allowing us to do, and we're going to continue to fight the fight.

至於舊金山，我要指出的是，我們其實在沒有餐飲的情況下就開放了費城與波士頓。而在 3 到 4 週內，這些城市就同意讓我們也能恢復販售餐飲。因此，各個司法管轄區允許我們做什麼的情況變化非常快，而我們會繼續奮戰到底。

All right. And just one follow-up, if I may. I know you've been operating under a lot of restrictions around capacity and obviously limited film slate. Is there any way to kind of give us a sense of the percentage of the circuit that has reopened that's been able to do so -- a positive figure, level of cash flow, kind of what that attendance kind of breakeven point is going to look like?

好的。如果可以的話，我再追問一個問題。我知道你們一直在許多上座率限制以及片單有限的情況下營運。你們能否大概讓我們了解一下：整個院線中已重新開放的比例有多少、是否能做到正向的現金流、以及觀影人次大概需要到什麼樣的損益兩平點？

Yes. We said on the last call that for theaters to have individual profitability at a theater level, we need about 25% attendance to be generating cash rather than losing cash. I can tell you that, number one, the capacity restrictions, which in most cases are 40% of available seats, which is an AMC-imposed constraint -- we have a lot of jurisdictions that are letting us go to 50% but we've chosen to stay at 40%. I don't think we've lost a single customer because we're limited to 40% of our seat capacity. We should be so thrilled to be anxious about losing the 41st or 51st percent of our seat capacity. As Sean said, we're hovering down between 10% and 20% at those theaters that are open in the United States. We're higher than that in Europe and the Middle East.

可以。我們在上一次電話會議中提到，若要讓單一影城在影城層級達到獲利，我們需要大約 25% 的出席率，才能產生現金而不是流失現金。我可以告訴你，第一，容量限制在多數情況下是可用座位的 40%，這是 AMC 自行設定的限制——其實有很多司法管轄區允許我們提高到 50%，但我們選擇維持在 40%。我不認為我們因為限制在 40% 的座位容量而流失過任何一位顧客。我們應該為了擔心會失去第 41% 或第 51% 的座位容量而感到興奮才對。正如 Sean 所說，在美國已開放的影城，我們目前大約徘徊在 10% 到 20% 之間。在歐洲與中東則高於這個水準。

But where we need to get to is around 25%, and then those theaters are generating cash rather than burning cash. Now that assumes that we're paying rent. And we already did say on this call that not only did we defer and abate rent in Q2 and move a lot of rents in Q3 to percentage of revenues, but we are going to be going back to our landlord community again and talking about further abating and deferring rent given low attendance. But why don't we assume that we get up to 25% or more so that we are generating cash? Remember that -- and I've said this on multiple occasions. Movie theaters are not sports stadiums that typically sell out or Broadway theaters that typically have every seat full. Movie theaters are more like churches built for Easter Sunday. Last year, AMC -- this is 2019, all pre-COVID. AMC sold more tickets for movie theaters than anybody else in the planet, and we only sold 17%, 1-7, 17% of our available seats. So this notion that seat limitation is going to cripple us is just wrong. We modeled that even a 50% seat limitation, which we will move to once demand rises to levels where we need more than 40% of our seats, would cost us only single-digit attendance. And that's before people re-spread themselves around to pick available showtimes on different days with better seating availability.

但我們需要達到的是大約 25%，那樣這些影城就會產生現金，而不是燒錢。當然，這是以我們有支付租金為前提。而我們在這通電話會議中也已經說過：我們不僅在第二季延後與減免租金，並在第三季把許多租金改為按營收比例計算，而且鑑於低出席率，我們也將再次回到房東社群，討論進一步的租金減免與延後。但不妨假設我們能提升到 25% 或更高，從而產生現金。請記得——我已多次提過——電影院不是通常會滿場的體育場，也不是通常每個座位都坐滿的百老匯劇院。電影院更像是為復活節主日而建的教堂。去年，AMC——也就是 2019 年、完全是 COVID 之前——AMC 在全球賣出的電影票比任何人都多，但我們也只賣出了可用座位的 17%，1-7，17%。所以認為座位限制會讓我們癱瘓的想法是錯的。我們的模型顯示，即使是 50% 的座位限制——一旦需求上升到我們需要超過 40% 座位時，我們就會提高到 50%——也只會讓出席率下降個位數百分比。而且這還沒考慮到觀眾會重新分散，改選不同日期、不同場次，以取得更好的座位可用性。

So the seat constraints are not the issue. The issue is demand on the one hand related to virus fears, but I think even more than that is the availability of movie titles. That's the thing that we need. We -- I've said on TV that -- interviews that we're a new car dealership, and we're in the business of selling new cars and Detroit stopped shipping us new cars 7 months ago. The showroom is a little bare. It's pretty hard to sell new cars when there are no showroom -- no cars on the showroom floor.

所以座位限制不是問題。問題在於需求：一方面與病毒恐懼相關，但我認為更重要的是片源供給——也就是電影片名的可用性。這才是我們需要的。我在電視訪談中說過——我們就像一家新車經銷商，我們的生意是賣新車，但底特律已經 7 個月沒有把新車運來了。展示間有點空。當展示間地板上沒有車時，要賣新車是很困難的。

Our next question comes from Jim Goss with Barrington Research.

我們的下一個問題來自 Barrington Research 的 Jim Goss。

Adam, I'm wondering. Challenging time, no doubt but...

Adam，我在想。毫無疑問是艱難的時期，但……

Oh, yes. All we got to do is raise a little money, we'll be just fine.

喔，是的。我們只要再籌一點錢，就會沒事的。

Well, do you have any thoughts or analysis -- and those films that so far have shifted from a theatrical run, such as a couple of the Disney films, in terms of their ability to recapture what they might have had if they did have a theatrical release? In terms of how that might strengthen your argument against passing up any further situations like that.

那麼，對於那些迄今從院線上映轉移的影片——例如幾部迪士尼的電影——你是否有任何想法或分析，關於它們在沒有院線上映的情況下，能否收回原本可能透過院線取得的成績？以及這是否會強化你反對未來再出現類似情況的論點？

So I do have a lot of thoughts but I think it's more appropriate for the studios to talk about the success or lack of success of their shifting titles to streaming or PVOD, but let me say this. The conversations that we're having with every major studio is that AMC, as we proved with the Universal deal, is not stuck back in 1955. We are willing to consider alternate models. We understand that the world of streaming is upon us. We believe that it optimizes our profitability and studio profitability if they can have a combination of theatrical releases and streaming that, that combo is far more lucrative for them and certainly for us than if they pick streaming only and ignore the $43 billion, $43 billion of revenues that movie theaters generated globally last year for the makers of film. And we also understand though that the combination of theatrical and streaming will be more lucrative to them but could also be more lucrative for us if we can somehow get participation in that streaming world as we did with Universal. So look, I think there's a very compelling case to be made that is in the studio's best financial interest not to choose the streaming world over the theater world but to figure out intelligently a creative path that lets them navigate towards being able to benefit from both at the same time. And AMC has clearly expressed a willingness and an eagerness to play in that arena.

我確實有很多想法，但我認為由片商來談他們把片名轉到串流或 PVOD 的成功與否更合適。不過我想說的是：我們與每一家主要片商的對話都在於，AMC——正如我們與環球的協議所證明的——並沒有停留在 1955 年。我們願意考慮替代模式。我們理解串流世界已經來臨。我們相信，若能結合院線上映與串流，對我們的獲利與片商的獲利都是最優的；這種組合對他們、當然也對我們，都遠比只選擇串流、忽視去年全球電影院為電影製作方創造的 430 億美元、430 億美元收入更有利。我們也理解，院線加串流的組合對他們更有利，但如果我們能像與環球那樣在串流世界中取得分潤，對我們也可能更有利。所以你看，我認為有一個非常有說服力的論點：對片商而言，從財務利益角度，不應該選擇串流世界而放棄影院世界；而是要以聰明且具創意的方式，找到一條能同時受益於兩者的路徑。AMC 已清楚表達我們願意、也渴望參與其中。

Okay. Along the lines of what you're suggesting, the larger the movie and the bigger the budget and the P&A, the less likely it is to be vulnerable to a streaming fate. But as you go down that continuum, you hit some smaller films that might be more susceptible to that. Do you have any sense as to where those lines might be drawn?

好的。沿著你所說的方向，電影越大、預算越高、P&A（宣傳與發行）越大，就越不容易被推向串流的命運。但沿著那條光譜往下走，會遇到一些較小的電影，可能更容易受到影響。你是否大概知道界線可能會畫在哪裡？

No. But talking about a small movie, Universal released a movie called Kajillionaire last month. I think its theatrical run was single-digit millions. That counts in your world as a small movie. They took that movie first theatrically and then PVOD in 17 days. And we, AMC, made more money with that theatrical streaming combo -- or theatrical-PVOD combo than we would have if it had just exclusively been in theaters with a 74-day window.

沒有。不過說到小片，環球上個月推出了一部叫《Kajillionaire》的電影。我想它的院線票房是個位數百萬美元。在你們的世界裡，這算是一部小片。他們先院線上映，然後在 17 天後轉 PVOD。而我們 AMC 透過這種院線加串流的組合——或院線-PVOD 的組合——賺到的錢，比它若只在院線獨家、維持 74 天窗口期時還要多。

Maybe just one other one, and I'll take the other questions...

也許再問一個，然後我把問題留給其他人……

You'll get as many as you want, Jim. We got all that.

Jim，你想問多少都行。我們時間很多。

No. This is -- others want to ask questions. So is there any thought or capability to sell any of your theater properties and be able to exit leases in a favorable way as you do try to look at ways to raise funds?

不，這個——其他人也想提問。所以，在你們尋找籌資方式時，有沒有任何想法或能力出售部分影城資產，並以有利的方式退出租約？

Yes. Number one, we did, in the quarter, sold 9 theaters in the Baltics for $77 million at a 9.3 multiple. There's a lot more than we're going to be given credit for on Wall Street of our budgeted EBITDA, let alone the infinite multiple of our actual EBITDA. We have a number of leases of nonproductive theaters that expire every year. And very quietly, although I did tell you a couple of conference calls back this was our plan, we've probably ducked out of 40 theaters within the United States and Europe where we were losing money. And so as opposed to being behind -- so we didn't renew those theater leases we're ahead. And we will continue to have conversations with landlords about getting out of unproductive agreements.

有。第一，我們在本季以 7,700 萬美元出售了波羅的海地區的 9 家影城，交易倍數為 9.3 倍。以我們預算的 EBITDA 來看——更不用說以我們實際 EBITDA 計算的無限倍數——華爾街對我們資產價值的認可還遠遠不夠。我們每年都有一些無效益影城的租約到期。而且非常低調地——雖然我在幾次電話會議前就告訴過你們這是我們的計畫——我們可能已在美國與歐洲退出了約 40 家虧損影城。因此我們不是落後，反而是超前。我們也會持續與房東對話，爭取退出無效益的合約。

Okay. And -- but you generally would have a certain number of theaters -- leases expiring every year. So you have that choice. Are there any other issue beyond that you would look at as potential sources of funds?

好的。而且——但你通常每年都會有一定數量的影城租約到期。所以你有那個選擇。除此之外，還有沒有其他你會視為潛在資金來源的議題？

Yes. And we already have but probably not appropriate for me to quantify it on this phone call. But yes, conversations have been held with multiple of our landlords about getting out of theater leases where we think it's in our interest do so and where the landlord might have a higher and better use for the real estate.

有。而且我們已經在做了，但在這通電話上我可能不適合量化。不過是的，我們已與多位房東就退出部分影城租約進行過討論；在我們認為符合自身利益、且房東可能對該不動產有更高、更佳用途的情況下，我們會這麼做。

Our next question comes from Eric Handler with MKM Partners.

下一個問題來自 MKM Partners 的 Eric Handler。

A few questions for you on liquidity. Any chance you could update us about where you ended October in terms of cash?

我有幾個關於流動性的問題。你們能否更新一下，10 月底的現金水位大概是多少？

Eric, it's Sean. I can't update you as to where we ended October. October obviously just ended last week. But I can give you some guidance on liquidity for the remainder of Q4, which hopefully will be somewhat helpful. And I think the way to look at it's -- probably the best way to look at it is look at it in a worst-case scenario, in a worst-case scenario where the current level of attendance continues, right? So we have no new movies released and we just continue with the current level of attendance. In that scenario, our monthly cash burn during Q4 will be a little bit higher than during Q3, and the reason it will be a little bit higher is really one thing. It's the additional lease costs that we have in Q4 versus Q3 based on the current arrangements that we have with our landlords. But if you just look at -- so with that, it will be higher -- and just to quantify that, to be even more helpful there, is if you think about our cash burn in July and August, around $115 million a month, it will be closer to that number than the average that we were for the quarter and maybe around 5% to 10% higher than that. It just depends -- and this is the key point.

Eric，我是 Sean。我無法更新你 10 月底的數字。10 月顯然是上週才結束。不過我可以就第四季剩餘期間的流動性提供一些指引，希望會有幫助。我認為看待這件事——最好的方式大概是用最壞情境來看，也就是目前的觀影人次水準持續，對吧？也就是沒有新片上映，我們就維持目前的觀影人次水準。在那種情境下，我們第四季每月的現金消耗會比第三季略高，而之所以略高，主要只有一個原因：依照我們目前與房東的安排，第四季相較第三季會有額外的租賃成本。但如果你只看——所以在那之下會更高——為了更有幫助、把它量化一下：如果你回想我們 7 月與 8 月的現金消耗大約每月 1.15 億美元，那第四季會更接近那個數字，而不是我們整季的平均值，可能還會比那個數字高約 5% 到 10%。這取決於——而這是重點。

That's based on worst-case scenario, current agreements with landlords. But if you're forecasting our cash position based on that, I can tell you right now, you're going to get it wrong because, as we said in our prepared remarks, we have already raised, through the ATM equity program, $95 million that came during the month of October. We've already got additional parcel proceeds from the Baltics sale. That's about $8 million. We have been selling real estate. We've sold about $7 million of real estate during October. We plan, as Adam said, to be back in the market with the ATM process. We're in discussions with landlords, et cetera, et cetera. So I've really given you the worst-case scenario, but all these actions that we're taking will offset that worst-case scenario.

那是以最壞情境、以及與房東的現行協議為基礎。但如果你用那個來預測我們的現金部位，我現在就可以告訴你，你會算錯，因為正如我們在事先準備的發言中所說，我們已透過 ATM（按市價發行）股權計畫募得 9,500 萬美元，這筆是在 10 月進來的。我們也已從波羅的海資產出售取得額外地塊（parcel）處分款，約 800 萬美元。我們一直在出售不動產，10 月已出售約 700 萬美元的不動產。正如 Adam 所說，我們計畫回到市場上再啟動 ATM 流程。我們也在與房東討論，等等等等。所以我給你的確是最壞情境，但我們正在採取的所有這些行動都會抵銷那個最壞情境。

What Sean did not mention, that also -- that assumed that we have -- that we stay at today's level of attendance. If the Christmas movies hold, then our level of attendance should increase and our revenue should increase as well. So -- and you -- it was in the press release, we had $418 million of cash at the end of September. So obviously, we want much more than that. We need much more than that. We extend -- we have a goal of extending our financial runway deep into 2021, not early into 2021.

Sean 沒有提到的是，那也——那是假設我們——我們維持在今天的觀影人次水準。如果聖誕檔期的電影能如期上映，那我們的觀影人次水準應該會上升，我們的營收也會增加。所以——而且你——新聞稿裡有提到，我們在 9 月底的現金是 4.18 億美元。很明顯地，我們希望遠高於此。我們需要遠高於此。我們的目標是把財務跑道延長到 2021 年的更深處，而不是只延到 2021 年初。

Yes. Thanks, Adam. And that actually clarifies our internal forecast would be much better cash burn than that because we're basing it on the film slate as it currently stands and we believe will hold.

是的，謝謝你，Adam。那其實也釐清了：我們內部的預測現金消耗會比那個好得多，因為我們是以目前的片單安排、且我們相信會維持不變為基礎來做預測。

That's helpful. And then I assume that -- whatever that burn rate is, in excess of $100 million, what is your -- on average, your monthly cash interest expense of that total.

這很有幫助。那我假設——不論那個消耗率是多少、超過每月 1 億美元的部分，其中平均每月的現金利息支出大概是多少？

That's included in the numbers Sean just gave you.

那已經包含在 Sean 剛剛給你的數字裡了。

Right. And how much is that?

對。那是多少？

Well, look -- and it varies -- our monthly cash interest expense right now is -- let me just take that then -- running around $20 million a month, but that is included in the numbers.

嗯，你看——而且它會變動——我們目前每月的現金利息支出——我就直接說——大約每月 2,000 萬美元，但那已包含在那些數字裡。

Great. And the last question, the equity shelf that you filed today, do you already have a sponsor in place like you did with Goldman and Citi for the ATM deal? Or are you negotiating with others? And then secondly, along with that, why just 20 million? I mean right now, 20 million shares will get you a little over $40 million. You would probably need much more than that. Why not do a larger shelf offering?

很好。最後一個問題，你們今天申報的股權 shelf（備用發行）文件，你們是否已像 ATM 交易時與高盛和花旗那樣，先有承銷商（sponsor）到位？還是正在與其他機構洽談？第二，為什麼只有 2,000 萬股？以目前來看，2,000 萬股大概只能募到略高於 4,000 萬美元。你們可能需要更多。為什麼不做更大規模的 shelf 發行？

Eric, to avert gun-jumping concerns, we can't make any comment at all on the filing made this morning with the SEC.

Eric，為了避免觸及「gun-jumping」的疑慮，我們對今天早上向 SEC 提交的申報文件完全不能做任何評論。

Okay.

好的。

Not wanting to duck your question but being ordered by the government of the United States to duck your question.

不是想迴避你的問題，但我們被美國政府要求必須迴避你的問題。

Understood.

了解。

Thanks, Eric.

謝謝你，Eric。

Our next question comes from Alan Gould with Loop Capital.

下一個問題來自 Loop Capital 的 Alan Gould。

I've got a few questions. First, there was some trade speculation on your sale of your European theaters, not the Baltics but the bulk of the remainder of the European theaters, the Odeon chain, et cetera. Is there any comments you can make about that?

我有幾個問題。第一，市場上有一些交易方面的揣測，關於你們出售歐洲影城資產——不是波羅的海，而是歐洲影城其餘大部分、Odeon 連鎖等。你們對此有任何評論嗎？

No. We do not comment on rumors and speculation.

沒有。我們不評論傳聞與揣測。

Okay. My next one, for Sean. I believe your debt covenant waiver with the banks expires in March. Have you already started discussions there? And can you remind us what the covenant returns to after March?

好的。下一個問題給 Sean。我記得你們與銀行的債務契約豁免在 3 月到期。你們是否已經開始討論？另外能否提醒我們，3 月之後契約條款會恢復到什麼要求？

Sure, absolutely. So as you rightly say, we have a debt covenant holiday through March. Actually, the first time that we'll have to calculate our debt covenant numbers is at the end of June. So that will be up after the second quarter. And after the second quarter, the debt covenant will be calculated by taking Q2's number, multiplying it by 4. So it's annualization of Q2. So everything in terms of where we sit relative to that debt covenant will depend on the performance in Q2. The covenant is 6x secured leverage, 6x EBITDA secured leverage ratio. The amount of secured debt that we have at the moment is $3.7 billion. I will point out that the EBITDA that we use for the debt covenant calculation that's in the credit agreement is different to the EBITDA that is disclosed from financial reporting point of view. It tends to be higher. And so that's going to be our situation with the debt covenant. It's all going to be dependent on Q2 2021's performance.

當然，沒問題。正如你說的，我們的債務契約有一段到 3 月的「假期」（暫停適用）。其實我們第一次需要計算債務契約指標是在 6 月底，也就是第二季結束之後。第二季之後，債務契約會用第二季的數字乘以 4 來計算，也就是把第二季年化。因此，我們相對於該債務契約的狀況，將取決於第二季的表現。契約是 6 倍的擔保槓桿（secured leverage），也就是 6 倍 EBITDA 的擔保槓桿比率。目前我們的擔保債務金額是 37 億美元。我也要指出，用於債務契約計算的 EBITDA（在信貸協議中定義）與財務報導揭露的 EBITDA 不同，通常會更高。所以我們在債務契約方面的情況就是如此——一切都將取決於 2021 年第二季的表現。

Okay. And then, Adam, when will we know -- when will we have a better idea whether or not Warner is going to release Wonder Woman 1984 on Christmas? When would they have to start marketing it? I guess that would be our first sign of whether it's -- we know the exact date that it's going to come out.

好的。接著，Adam，我們何時會知道——何時會更清楚華納是否會在聖誕檔期上映《神力女超人 1984》？他們什麼時候必須開始行銷？我想那會是我們判斷是否——我們知道確切上映日期的第一個跡象。

They're going to start -- look, I can tell you categorically, they want to release on schedule. Their marketing will begin sometime this month, I would guess. When will we know exactly that Wonder Woman is opening on December 19 or December 20? I think on December 19 or December 20.

他們會開始——你看，我可以明確告訴你，他們想按原定計畫上映。我猜他們的行銷會在本月某個時間開始。我們何時會確切知道《神力女超人》是在 12 月 19 日或 12 月 20 日上映？我想是在 12 月 19 日或 12 月 20 日。

Okay. And then my last question for Sean. How much higher are the fixed costs today than they were, say, pre-COVID? So if we come out of this to the other end, how much higher is -- are the fixed costs for the company? I know your rent is less. Your interest expense is more. I'm just trying to put it all together. Maybe your rent is more when you start having to pay back the deferred.

好的。最後一個問題給 Sean。相較於疫情前（例如 COVID 之前），你們現在的固定成本高了多少？也就是如果我們走出這段期間，公司的固定成本會高多少？我知道你們的租金較低、利息支出較高，我只是想把它整合起來。也許當你們開始償還先前遞延的部分時，租金反而會更高。

Look, I think in general -- so a couple of things I'll say. One is to start with our fixed cost is going to be pretty similar, but firstly, the rent is probably going to be lower based on the negotiations that we've had with landlords, right? The second thing is what I mentioned in my prepared remarks, is the actions that we are taking, looking at every single cost area that we've had -- that we have in the organization. And we do see significant benefits there. We're targeting between $300 million and $400 million of cash benefits there. Now that's cash benefits that include reducing our CapEx. So there's significant benefits on that side. Cash rent does go up but only in 2022, right, because of the PIK interest that we have in 2021.

你看，我想整體而言——我會說幾點。第一，我們的固定成本大致會相近，但首先，基於我們與房東的協商，租金可能會更低，對吧？第二，如同我在事先準備的發言中提到的，我們正在採取行動，檢視組織內每一個成本領域——我們確實看到顯著效益。我們的目標是在這方面取得 3 億到 4 億美元的現金效益。這些現金效益也包含降低資本支出（CapEx），所以那一端有顯著效益。現金租金確實會上升，但只會在 2022 年，對吧？因為我們在 2021 年有 PIK 利息。

Our next question comes from Meghan Durkin with Crédit Suisse.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞士信貸（Crédit Suisse）的 Meghan Durkin。

One for Sean. I wanted to know if you could give us a breakdown of where the cash burn is overseas versus the U.S. And is there a minimum level of cash that you need on hand to keep running the business?

有一題給 Sean。我想了解您是否可以為我們拆解一下，海外相較於美國的現金消耗（cash burn）各占多少？另外，為了維持業務運作，您手上是否需要保有某個最低現金水位？

And then I just -- one more on market shares. How are things holding up where you are open? Has Regal closing helped you take share in those areas? How is that going?

然後我還有——再一題關於市占率。你們在仍然營業的地區，情況維持得如何？Regal 關閉是否有幫助你們在那些地區取得市占？進展如何？

Meghan, it's Sean. Just talking about the split of the cash burn between domestic and international, it's pretty normal for the relative size of the business. There's nothing dramatically different there than what we're seeing on both sides of the Atlantic. And I think the second part of your question was, is there a minimum level of cash. There clearly is a minimum level of cash but it's low. And that minimum level of cash is more in Europe just because of the structure of the European organization, but we can run at pretty low levels of cash overall.

Meghan，我是 Sean。談到國內與國際之間的現金消耗分布，這與業務相對規模相當正常。就我們在大西洋兩岸所看到的情況而言，沒有什麼顯著不同。至於你問題的第二部分——是否有最低現金水位——顯然是有的，但那個水位很低。而且由於歐洲組織架構的關係，最低現金水位在歐洲會更相關一些，但整體而言我們可以在相當低的現金水位下運作。

And Meghan, yes, our market share obviously has increased given the closure of lots of other theaters. But as Sean said in his prepared remarks, we've modeled this thing extensively. And those theaters where we're open -- and half of them in the United States, they're only open weekends. Most of our theaters are only doing 1 or 2 showtimes a day, not the normal 4. So we're really pulling operating hours down, which is saving a ton of expense. It's not really much different financially for us to be open, managing tightly the way we are than closed. But the benefits are that we're still giving the sense to consumers that our theaters are open, that they can see movies when they primarily want to see them, which is weekends currently. And also, it's much less stressful on the buildings to have them open every single week than to have them closed for a couple of months on end. When you try to reopen a building after it's been completely buttoned down for months on end, there's a lot of extra expense that comes from starting back up from a dead stop.

Meghan，是的，因為許多其他戲院關閉，我們的市占率顯然有所提升。但如 Sean 在事先準備的發言中所說，我們已對此做了大量建模。我們仍在營業的戲院——在美國約有一半——目前只在週末開放。大多數戲院每天只排 1 到 2 場，而不是平常的 4 場。因此我們大幅縮短營運時數，節省了大量費用。就財務面而言，我們以目前這種嚴格控管的方式開門營業，與關閉相比其實差異不大。但好處是，我們仍能讓消費者感受到我們的戲院是開著的，他們在主要想看電影的時間（目前是週末）仍然可以看電影。此外，讓建築物每週都有開放，遠比連續關閉好幾個月對建物的壓力小得多。當你在一棟建築完全封閉數月後嘗試重新開放，從完全停擺重新啟動會產生許多額外費用。

So we think we're doing it the right way and we are benefiting in the marketplace because our share is rising.

所以我們認為我們做法正確，而且因為市占率上升，我們也正在市場上受益。

Our next question comes from Jason Bazinet with Citi.

我們的下一個問題來自花旗（Citi）的 Jason Bazinet。

I just had 2 questions. Have there been any studios that have been willing to give you, let's say, 100% of the ticket value at least until you get through this crunch period and sort of maybe cume up the difference in arrears and pay it back to the studios at some later date?

我有兩個問題。是否有任何片商願意讓你們——例如——至少在度過這段資金吃緊期間，先拿到 100% 的票房收入，之後再把差額累積起來，於日後某個時間再補付給片商？

And then my second question, is there any sort of wild card here in terms of government assistance that could sort of help you through this crunch period?

第二個問題是，在政府援助方面是否存在任何「變數」能幫助你們度過這段資金吃緊的期間？

Thanks. So on your first question, we have been able -- I have yet to find a studio that would like to graciously give us 100% of the ticket sales, but I will tell you that studios have been very flexible on payment schedules. So we've been able to hold on to money a lot longer, in some cases an incredibly a lot longer. That would be the norm, which helps our liquidity.

謝謝。關於第一個問題，我們確實能夠——我至今還沒找到有片商願意慷慨地把 100% 的票房收入都給我們——但我可以告訴你，片商在付款時程上非常有彈性。因此我們得以把資金留在手上更久，有些情況下甚至久得驚人，遠超過一般慣例，這有助於我們的流動性。

As for the -- a wild card, given that there is an election tomorrow, I don't think anybody can predict anything right now. But I do know that there has been discussion amongst certain political leaders of certain parties that if they're in power post election, they might step up their activity to support the industry. But I think it's premature to get a sense of whether that will bear any fruit for our industry or our company since nobody really knows what's going to happen tomorrow, until tomorrow comes and we may not even know tomorrow.

至於——所謂的變數，鑑於明天有選舉，我想現在沒有人能預測任何事情。但我確實知道，某些政黨的部分政治領袖之間曾討論過，如果他們在選後掌權，可能會加大支持產業的力道。不過我認為現在就判斷這是否會對我們的產業或公司帶來任何實質成果仍為時過早，因為沒有人真的知道明天會發生什麼，直到明天到來——而且我們甚至可能在明天也未必知道。

Our next question comes from Chad Beynon with Macquarie.

我們的下一個問題來自麥格理（Macquarie）的 Chad Beynon。

This is Jordan Bender on for Chad. So hopefully, we get a vaccine here and return to normal somewhat soon. Once things do start to normalize, what's the CapEx environment going to look like? Are you going to have to kind of front-load some of this maintenance CapEx into these theaters that you pushed back over the last 2 quarters?

我是代 Chad 提問的 Jordan Bender。希望我們能取得疫苗並在不久後某種程度回到正常。一旦情況開始正常化，資本支出（CapEx）的環境會是什麼樣子？你們是否需要把過去兩季延後的這些維護性資本支出，提前集中投入到這些戲院？

Thanks. So let me -- since it's sort of a -- let me hit your premise. So we are in touch with medical experts quite directly both through Harvard University School of Public Health, and I separately have had contact as recently as this past week with the former head of the FDA and members of the Boards of Directors of certain pharmaceutical companies working on vaccines. I think there is a lot of confidence that there will be a vaccine approved by the U.S. government in November or December, that inoculations will begin in December or January and that a sizable percentage of the U.S. population could be vaccinated as early as March or April. Whether those predictions pan out to be true, only time will tell. But people who are very knowledgeable in the field are telling us those are all likely scenarios.

謝謝。那我——因為這有點——我先回應你的前提。我們透過哈佛大學公共衛生學院，與醫學專家保持相當直接的聯繫；此外，我在最近一週也與前 FDA 局長，以及一些正在研發疫苗的製藥公司董事會成員保持聯絡。我認為市場對於美國政府在 11 月或 12 月核准疫苗有很高的信心，並且在 12 月或 1 月開始接種，而美國人口中相當大比例的人，最早可能在 3 月或 4 月完成接種。這些預測是否會成真，只有時間能證明。但在該領域非常專業的人士告訴我們，這些都是很可能發生的情境。

In terms of CapEx, back when we were spending $500 million a year, we said if we ever needed to turn CapEx off, we could do it on a dime, and boy did we prove that to be the case. And if you ignore projects that were committed in prior years, we haven't even spent $50 million of CapEx on maintenance this year. I think you should assume that we will continue to button down CapEx to the lowest conceivable number, potentially under $100 million, as we go forward if that's what is required to maintain the liquidity of the company. So is there any deferred maintenance that we're nervous about that's going to suddenly unleash a flood of CapEx spending? Absolutely not. It's the other way around. We're just not going to spend any money until we're out of the woods.

就資本支出而言，當我們過去每年花 5 億美元時，我們曾說如果有一天需要把 CapEx 關掉，我們可以立刻做到，而我們也確實證明了這點。如果不計入前幾年已承諾的專案，我們今年在維護方面的 CapEx 甚至不到 5,000 萬美元。我認為你們應該假設，若為了維持公司的流動性而有此需要，未來我們會持續把 CapEx 壓到可想像的最低水準，可能低於 1 億美元。所以，有沒有任何我們擔心的遞延維護，會突然引爆一波 CapEx 支出洪流？絕對沒有。反而相反。在我們脫離險境之前，我們就是不會花錢。

Okay. Perfect.

好的。完美。

Remember, as I said before, $1 of cash conserved is of equal value to AMC of an extra dollar raised.

請記住，如我之前所說，省下的 1 美元現金，對 AMC 的價值等同於額外募得的 1 美元。

So operator, I think that's the last question. Is that correct?

所以，接線員，我想這是最後一個問題了。對嗎？

Yes, sir. That is the last question. I'd like to turn the floor back over to you for any closing remarks you may have.

是的，先生。那是最後一個問題。我想把時間交還給您，請您做任何結語。

Very brief. Thank you, everybody. As we close the call, I remind you that Goldfinger and The Hunt for Red October with Sean Connery will be at AMC all weekend. And remember this: we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight on the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. Thank you for joining us today.

非常簡短。謝謝各位。在我們結束本次電話會議之際，我提醒大家，《Goldfinger》以及由 Sean Connery 主演的《The Hunt for Red October》將在 AMC 整個週末上映。並請記住這句話：我們將在海灘上戰鬥，我們將在登陸場戰鬥，我們將在田野與街道上戰鬥，我們將在山丘上戰鬥。感謝各位今天加入我們。

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's web conference. You may now disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation, and have a great day.

各位女士、先生，今天的網路會議到此結束。您現在可以掛斷電話線。感謝您的參與，祝您有美好的一天。