Imax China Roars Into Year Of The Snake After Weak Performance In 2024

The operator of large-screen theaters said it posted a strong start to 2025 on the success of the blockbuster animated film ‘Ne Zha 2'

Key Takeaways:

• Imax China's revenue slumped 11% in the second half of last year, accelerating from a 3.1% decline in the first half, as China's box office fell 23% during the year
• The large-screen cinema operator said it recorded strong business during this year's Chinese New Year holiday on the success of animated film "Ne Zha 2"

The past year has been anything but glamourous for China's film industry, which is reflected throughout the latest annual earnings announcement from Imax China Holding Inc. (1970.HK), a provider of large screen-technology to Chinese cinemas. But a devil child named Ne Zha, the star of animated blockbuster "Ne Zha 2," has brought a glimmer of hope to both the industry and Imax China, getting the company off to a roaring start in 2025.

Whether the strong start will continue for the rest of the year remains an open question, especially since "Ne Zha" is responsible for more than half of the China box office's record start to 2025. Once that film peters out, it's quite likely the box office will return to its anemic performance that saw ticket sales tumble 23% last year to 42.5 billion yuan ($3.37 billion) as increasingly cautious consumers reined in their spending on non-essentials.

Since we're still in the holiday mood with the Chinese New Year less than a month in the past, we'll begin with the more upbeat part of Imax China's latest annual report that discusses the strong start to 2025 thanks to Ne Zha.

One of the company's two main revenue sources is helping filmmakers produce versions of their films that can be shown on Imax's signature big screens for enhanced viewing. The other comes from fees for providing and maintaining its specialized equipment to theaters.

The company installed its first screens in regular Chinese cinemas in 2011, and initially focused mostly on Hollywood blockbusters that were more suitable for such viewing. But it has gradually increased the share of local Chinese films in its mix, with that total rising from 31.4% in 2019 to 61.5% in 2023. The proportion actually fell back to 44.7% last year as China allowed 39 Hollywood films into the country, after only allowing 22 in 2023.

Luckily for Imax China, "Ne Zha 2" was one of the Chinese films it converted to the Imax format this year, not a surprising choice since the animated film is packed with special effects that lend themselves to big-screen viewing. Among other things, the film has raked in about 60% of the China box office's 20 billion yuan in ticket sales as of Feb. 16, the fastest it has ever reached that milestone.

"Led by the Mandarin-language blockbuster ‘Ne Zha 2,' Imax screens in China have broken all previous box office records for the Chinese New Year period, and have already surpassed the company's best-ever first quarter box office in China (from 2019)," Imax China said in its report. "In fact, in less than three weeks in February 2025, Imax screens in China generated more local language box office than Imax China did in the entire year of 2024."

Investors seemed to focus on this positive part of Imax China's story the day after the report, sending its shares up 2.3% on Thursday, with the shares continuing to rise in early Friday trading. The stock is up 25% over the last 52 weeks, benefitting from a broader rally for China stocks in Hong Kong dating back to last fall.

Sagging revenue, profits

Having covered the Cinderella comeback story for China's box office in early 2025, we'll turn next to the gloomier story of 2024 that takes up the bulk of Imax China's latest report. Making matters worse, the company's situation deteriorated markedly from the first to the second half of the year.

On its top line, the company's revenue in the second half of the year fell 11% year-on-year to $37 million, based on calculations using full-year data and the company's mid-year report. That marked an acceleration from the 3.1% revenue decline in the first half of the year.

Within the total revenue pie, the contribution from the company's content solutions business of converting films into the Imax format dropped nearly 40% year-on-year to $15.5 million for all 2024, making up about 20% of the total. Its technology products and services business did far better, rising 6% for the year to $64.5 million, accounting for the other 80% of the total.

The company had 809 screens in China using its Imax format at the end of last year, roughly the same as the 807 it had a year earlier. But it pointed out it was still aiming to boost that count, with its backlog of planned new screens rising to 237 by the end of last year from 206 a year earlier.

Despite the recent bump from "Ne Zha," the company acknowledged it is facing a difficult market. "The market's slow recovery from the pandemic has caused some exhibitors in Mainland China, including several of the group's exhibitor partners, to experience financial difficulties which, in certain cases, has resulted in delays in meeting payment and Imax system installation obligations to the group," it said. Still, the company appears to be managing that issue well, with its unpaid bills under control on its balance sheet.

Despite a 6.7% revenue contraction for the full year, Imax China's cost of sales actually rose about 14% in 2024, though the company didn't comment on the reasons. But the result was that its gross margin eroded to 54.3% in 2024 from 62.7% the previous year. The margin erosion accelerated in the second half of the year, causing the company's profit to fall 30% year-on-year in the second half of 2024 to $9.6 million. That marked a sharp acceleration from the 9.4% profit decline in the first half of 2024.

Despite its rally over the last year, Imax China trades at a relatively weak price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 15, well below the forward P/E of 23 for its Canadian parent Imax Corp. (IMAX.US), and also below the current P/E of 26 for Wanda Film (002739.SZ) and 30 for Bona Film (001330.SZ). Imax Corp. previously tried to privatize Imax China in 2023, but the effort ultimately failed to get the required 75% approval from independent shareholders.

Given Imax China's relatively low valuation and weak prospects, despite the strong start to 2025, we wouldn't be surprised if Imax makes another privatization bid for the company this year or next. If it does, it may offer a bigger premium than it did the first time to win over more investors.