IMAX Corporation (NYSE:IMAX) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Chad Beynon: And then Rich, just thinking about some of these new programming events, particularly the concerts you talked about Talking Heads, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, I guess these are global artists, but more focused on North America. Are there local language artistic opportunities, say maybe a big Chinese artist or singer, where we could see years down the road this coming into kind of the local language content? Or does that just not kind of drive the PSAs that are needed to book a window in your screens? Thanks.

Richard Gelfond: When you were asking the question, I was wondering whether you were tapping into my phone over the last couple of weeks, because the answer is yes. There are definitely local language opportunities and specifically I think there are in China, and we’re starting to think about how to address that. But I also want to remind you that a couple of quarters ago, we did an event with — a concert event with a band Indochine, which is very popular in France. And it was extremely successful in France. And I think that’s led not only French talent, but other talent around the world to look to replicate that model. And if I have to hone in, I think it’s probably a bigger opportunity for us, for local talent in local markets than it is for using Taylor Swift as a model because she’s so wildly successful as well as Beyoncé.

There aren’t a lot of models like that, but I think there are a lot of models of particular talent in a particular market that I think we will replicate.

Operator: And our next question coming from the Stephen Laszczyk with Goldman Sachs.

Stephen Laszczyk : Maybe for Rich, just a follow-up on the 120 system signings year-to-date. It sounds like some of these signings are coming in on the quicker side. I was wondering if you could maybe just talk a little bit about this expected pacing of installs for this vintage of signings on balance. Is there anything in your conversations that might suggest that they could come in a little bit quicker over the next few years than what we’ve seen historically?

Richard Gelfond: Thanks, Stephen. So I think that you are right. They have been coming in more quickly, certainly. I mean, we’re up to 120 versus 47 for all last year, and we still have two and a half months to go. And I think that’s largely the function of our performance. And we report IMAX’s performance, but obviously our exhibition partners are doing extremely well with IMAX as well because their PSAs are better based on pretty much the same investment. So their ROIs are better. And so as a result, that’s why signings are coming in more quickly. As for the second part of your question, this year I think there was a faster turn in signing to install. And I would attribute that partly to the growth in retrofits such as what I mentioned earlier about AEON in Japan and what I mentioned a moment ago about Hengdian installing six in the rest of this year going forward.

And I think that’s also a function of seeing the strong box office. This is part of speculation, but I think, a lot of the exhibitors are saying, rather than invest in new builds, because there has been a lot of — obviously there is a lot of screens, particularly in North America, and there is a lot of building going around the world. And also the high cost of capital is probably a detriment to doing new builds at the same pace. So I think they are saying, ”Well, we can increase our revenues and our profitability by signing up with IMAX and getting it going quicker, rather than a new build, which is a two to three year plan, and again, at a higher capital cost.” So I think some of those macro trends are also speeding up both the signings and the install pase.

Stephen Laszczyk: Got it. That’s helpful. And then maybe a follow-up on that for Natasha. Could you just talk a little bit more about the expected pacing of the JV equipment CapEx over the course of the next year or two, maybe on the back of Richard’s comments on the install opportunity? Thank you.