AMC warns investors of potential bankruptcy as company looks to raise cash through sale of 15 million shares
According to AMC, the company's estimated cash and cash equivalents as of Sept. 30 is roughly $417.9 million.
AMC Theatres announced its latest effort Tuesday to raise capital as the struggling cinema chain looks to stay afloat as movie theatres across the globe continue to be slammed by the coronavirus pandemic.
According to an SEC filing, AMC has entered into a equity distribution agreement with Citigroup Global Markets and Goldman Sachs to sell up to 15 million class A shares intended for "general corporate purposes." AMC previously raised around $54.7 million through the sale of another 15 million shares as part of a similar at-the-market offering program completed in September.
The announcement comes as the company says its existing cash resources would be "largely depleted" by the end of 2020 or early 2021. According to AMC, the company's estimated cash and cash equivalents as of Sept. 30 is roughly $417.9 million.
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While AMC is looking into additional debt and equity financing, further renegotiations with landlords regarding its lease payments, potential asset sales, joint-venture or other arrangements with existing partners, and minority investments in capital stock, the company warned investors that it could potentially file for bankruptcy as a last resort.
"In the event the company determines that these sources of liquidity will not be available to it or will not allow it to meet its obligations as they become due, it would likely seek an in-court or out-of-court restructuring of its liabilities," the company said. "In the event of a future liquidation or bankruptcy proceeding, holders of the company’s common stock would likely suffer a total loss of their investment."
The company added that given the difficulty in estimating its liquidity requirements and daily cash burn rate, it will likely need "significant amounts of additional liquidity" and that there is "substantial doubt" about its ability to continue for a reasonable period of time.
FILE -This May 13, 2020 file photo shows AMC Empire 25 theatre in Times Square in New York. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced limited reopening of theaters outside the city area, allowing 25 percent capacity, or a max of 50 people per screen beginning Oct.
AMC putting the option of potential bankruptcy on the table comes on the heels of an announcement from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo that 12 of the company's theatres in the state will reopen beginning Oct. 23, subject to a limit of 25% capacity and no more than 50 people per screen, per showing.
Theatres can only open outside of New York City in counties that have COVID-19 positivity rates of less than 2% on a 14-day average and do not have any any cluster zones.
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As of Friday, 519 of AMC's U.S. theatres, or 87%, have reopened at limited seating capacity between 20% and 40%, representing approximately 80% of 2019 U.S. same-theatre revenue. In addition to New York, the remaing 13% of U.S. theatres left to reopen are primarily located in California and Maryland.
AMC has served more than 2.6 million guests as of Oct. 16 since its resumption in U.S. markets, representing a same-theatre attendance decline of approximately 85% compared to a year ago.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMC | AMC ENTERTAINMENT | 3.42 | +0.26 | +8.23% |
The movie theatre chain also released preliminary earnings results on Tuesday, in which it estimates total revenues for the three-month period ending Sept. 30 to be approximately $119.5 million compared to $1,316.8 million a year ago.
Shares of AMC plunged more than 12% on Tuesday's announcement.