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United Artists Takes Hit in Second Quarter; Talks Ongoing with Investor

DENVER-Going to the movies isn't going to be as simple as it used to be, with United Artists continuing closings nationwide in a debt restructuring strategy. UA's president says he's "not at all thrilled" with second-quarter reports.

By John Rebchook | Updated on August 13, 2000

Kurt Hall, president of Denver-based United Artists Theatre Group, one of the nation’s largest owners of movie houses, for the most part gave a thumbs down to his company’s second-quarter performance. The privately held company, like virtually all of its peers, suffered in the second quarter due to a lack of blockbuster movies.

”I’m not at all thrilled with the second quarter,” Hall told GlobeSt.com. ”The second quarter started out OK, and then we got hit in the head by June. June was just a really bad film month. If you look at the releases (on operating results) from all our other competitors, they all went through the same thing.”

Revenues in the second quarter dropped by 17.3% to $138.6 million from $167.5 million a year ago. One bright spot was that in the first half of the year, cash flow or EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) decreased only 4%, thanks to improved operating margins. Second-quarter operating losses increased to $21.5 million from $3.8 million, primarily due to savings realized from closing unprofitable theaters and restructuring.

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