Milwaukee-based movie theater and hotel company The Marcus Corp. continues its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, today posting second quarter results that are drastically improved from a year ago.
“This was our strongest quarter in recent years,” said Greg Marcus, president and chief executive officer of The Marcus Corp.
For the second quarter, the company reported net earnings of $9 million, compared to a loss of $23.4 million in the second quarter last year. Its total revenue for the second quarter was $198.6 million, a 114.5% increase from $92.5 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2021.
For the first half of the year the company still has a net loss of $5.9 million, but that’s much better than its net loss of $51.5 million for the first half of 2021.
The company’s movie theater division had operating income of $16.4 million in the second quarter, up from a loss of $18.2 million a year ago, and its hotels and resorts division had operating income of $6.8 million, up from a loss of $2.2 million a year ago.
“Both our businesses contributed meaningfully to our strong results,” Marcus said. “The continued operating improvements in both our businesses and strong liquidity gave our board of directors confidence in reinstating the quarterly cash dividend (5 cents per share).”
The pandemic caused a drastic reduction in business for Marcus Corp. The swing to profitability shows its customers are returning to its movie theaters and hotels.
The Marcus Theatres division benefitted in the second quarter from the success of popular summer films such as Top Gun: Maverick, Jurassic World: Dominion and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the company said.
“The second quarter of fiscal 2022 mirrored the famous movie line ‘if you build it, he will come.’ The sensational performance of Top Gun: Maverick was among the highest grossing box office films ever released, yet the blockbuster story of the second quarter of fiscal 2022 was the increased quantity of appealing film releases that drove moviegoers of all ages to the theaters,” said Rolando Rodriguez, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Marcus Theatres. “The top five performing films in the quarter each debuted with an exclusive theatrical run that saw diverse audiences return to moviegoing, leaving no doubt about the importance of movie theaters in driving excitement and sales for films of all types.
“While film supply has not fully returned to pre-pandemic levels, the pent-up demand from moviegoers and performance of both blockbuster and niche films during the first half of 2022 affirms our continued optimism for the future,” Rodriguez said.
For the company’s hotels and resorts division, the leisure travel market continues to drive demand, the company said. Meanwhile, business travel continues to increase as corporate training events, meetings and conferences return and downtown offices reopen. Group booking activity is increasing for fiscal 2022 and into 2023, the company said.
