Profits and revenue fell dramatically at IMAX during the third quarter of 2013 on a dearth of the kind of wide-screen spectacles that are the company’s bread and butter.
IMAX releases during the three-month period like “Elysium” and “Pacific Rim” could not match the box office firepower of “Iron Man 3,” “Man of Steel” and other tentpole films that hit theaters earlier in the summer.
Net income for the company was just $1.6 million or 2 cents a share, down substantially from the nearly $15 million in profits, or 23 cents a share, IMAX reported in the same quarter a year ago.
Revenues for the company hit $51.7 million, a 35.9 percent drop from the $80.7 million the company reported in the year-ago period, although better than analysts had predicted. Wall Street had projected revenues of $50.8 million.
In a statement accompanying the release, IMAX CEO Richard L. Gelfond stressed the totality of the year’s film slate, noting that many upcoming releases hold more promise than the films that closed out the summer months.
“Looking ahead, our great start to Q4, including IMAX’s strong performance on ‘Gravity’ and ‘Stalingrad,’ reminds us of the importance of assessing our portfolio of films on an annual basis, which we believe is a relatively predictable driver of box office performance over the long-term,” Gelfond said in a statement.
In addition, IMAX announced they had signed deals for 88 new theaters and 11 upgrades to existing theaters during the period. In the quarter, the company installed 28 theater systems, of which 19 were in new locations.
