Profits at China‘s Bona Film Group rose by 58% in the second quarter of the year, hitting $8.7 million, on revenue that increased a similar 58% to $71 million.
Top performers for the company as a distributor were April’s “Insanity” and Hong Kong actioner “SPL 2” which was the top Chinese-language film of the quarter. The company enjoyed gross box office revenue of RMB2.2 billion, giving it 11% of nationwide total box office and accounting for 25% of revenue for Chinese films in the period.
Distributed theatrically after the reporting period, the Chinese remake of “Bride Wars” enjoyed a RMB150 million first week and was the top Chinese film on release last week.
The company’s movie theaters — which now number 30 complexes, with 250 screens — performed slightly ahead of the market expansion and enjoyed a 50% revenue increase to RMB29.1 million ($4.54 million) in the quarter.
On a conference call with investment analysts after the results announcement, company founder and CEO Yu Dong said that it has now completed the interior fitting out of a further four complexes in Wuxi, Sanya, Nanjing and Wuhan and has signed construction contracts for an additional 20 sites.
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The company was upbeat on production and distribution prospects. For 2016 release it has the Benny Chan-directed “Deadly Reclaim,” Dante Lam’s actioner “Operation Mekong” which goes into production next month and for 2016 Chinese New Year the third instalment in its “The Man From Macau” gambling comedy franchise. It will release Ang Lee’s “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk,” in which it is a junior partner, in November 2016. Current Korean smash hit “The Assassination” will be released next month.
In early July, Yu announced a possible move to take the group off the NASDAQ stock market in North America, and to possibly relist in in China. That, however, was before Chinese stock markets collapsed and regulators restricted new IPOs. Bona made no comment on progress of the going private move.
