China film stocks surge on record box office receipts in the mainland during the Lunar New Year holiday
- IMAX China surged as much as 88 per cent to a two-year high of HK$26.30
- Ticket sales during the first four days of the holiday hit a record US$882.7 million, increasing 34 per cent from the same period in 2019, Maoyan data showed
China film stocks surged on Tuesday on the back of record box office receipts during the Lunar New Year holiday in the world’s second largest economy.
Ticket sales during the first four days of the holiday hit a record 5.7 billion yuan (US$882.7 million), increasing 34 per cent from the same period in 2019, according to data from movie ticketing app Maoyan Entertainment.
Box office receipts for the year up to Tuesday morning have crossed 10 billion yuan, with more than 230 million tickets sold from 16.4 million showings, according to real-time box office data from Beacon, a digital promotion and distribution platform run by Alibaba Pictures.
China’s theatres have seen a surge in movie-goers over the weeklong holiday starting from February 12 as locals cannot travel overseas and are choosing to do things near their homes, such as going to the cinemas, said Louis Tse Ming-kwong, managing director of Wealthy Securities.
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“In cities like Shanghai, Beijing or Guangzhou, if they can’t go anywhere they will go to cinemas or stay at home for family gatherings. This has led to IMAX and other film-related stocks going up.”
IMAX China Holding, the provider of wide format theatre systems in Greater China, jumped by as much as 88 per cent to HK$26.30, before paring gains to close 31.1 per cent higher at HK$18.36, its highest level since January 17, 2020.
