Cinema stocks jump as China's holiday box office sets revenue record

Damai Entertainment Holdings

16/02/2021 03:46

BEIJING/SINGAPORE, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Cinema stocks jumped
in Hong Kong on Tuesday as Chinese box offices set a revenue
record of over 6 billion yuan ($929.63 million) for the week
beginning Feb. 11, following a movie-going rush at the start of
Lunar New Year holiday break.
    The figure, from data compiled by online ticketing platform
Maoyan Entertainment  1896.HK , surpassed the previous week-long
record of 5.9 billion yuan set in the same holiday period in
2019, and represents a full recovery from a coronavirus-induced
slump last year. 
    To preempt the spread of the virus following a resurgence in
cases in January, local authorities have discouraged people from
travelling to their home towns for the holiday. Some authorities
such as in Shanghai even provided free movie tickets to
encourage people stay put for their holiday entertainment.
    Cinemas in Beijing opened as early as 8 am and as late as 3
am to attract younger customers, while limiting occupancy to
half of seats available to promote social distancing, reported
China's official People's Daily.
    The 6 billion yuan record reflects "robust momentum of
China's film industry", the newspaper said on social media
platform Weibo on Monday.
    Cinema stocks jumped on Tuesday as Hong Kong kicked off its
first trading day after the holiday break.
    Shares of IMAX China Holding Inc  1970.HK  soared as much as
90% in the morning session, while Alibaba Pictures Group Ltd
 1060.HK  and Maoyan Entertainment both rose by more than 20%.
    China's movie industry suffered losses in 2020 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, but box offices recovered after cinemas
reopened in June following a six-month closure, with outbreaks
contained and a travel ban eased.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2ER1HU
    ​​​​
($1 = 6.4542 Chinese yuan renminbi)

 (Reporting by Cheng Leng and Aizhu Chen; Editing by Christopher
Cushing)
 ((cheng.leng@thomsonreuters.com; +8610-5669-2129;))