ScreenX, 4DX audience share on the rise

Moviegoers wait to enter the IMAX screen at CGV Yongsan iPark Mall. [The Herald Business DB]
Moviegoers wait to enter the IMAX screen at CGV Yongsan iPark Mall. [The Herald Business DB]

CJ CGV posted its highest-ever quarterly operating profit, driven by a return to profitability in its domestic theater business and strong growth in premium screens including ScreenX.

The company said Friday its consolidated operating profit for the third quarter reached 73.6 billion won ($54.8 million), up 215.2% from the same period last year — the largest quarterly figure in its history.

Sales rose 18.0% year-on-year to 688.1 billion won. Pre-tax operating profit came in at 38.4 billion won, swinging to a profit and marking the best third-quarter result since 2016.

The turnaround in the domestic theater business drove the overall improvement. Domestic operating profit reached 28 billion won, returning to the black for the first time in three quarters since the fourth quarter of last year. Domestic sales climbed 32.0% year-on-year to 259 billion won.

Hollywood blockbusters including "Odyssey" and "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" performed strongly in premium formats such as IMAX, ScreenX and 4DX. The share of premium-screen audiences among total CGV domestic moviegoers expanded from 6.7% in the third quarter of 2019 to 18.1% in the third quarter of this year.

CJ 4DPLEX, the subsidiary overseeing the technology premium-screen business, also posted growth. Third-quarter sales rose 25.0% year-on-year to 42.5 billion won, while operating profit surged 157.1% to 9 billion won.

CGV said the expansion of ScreenX screens at home and abroad, along with the box-office success of "Spider-Man: Brand New Day," contributed to the earnings improvement. The film was the first Hollywood production shot in the "Shot for SCREENX" format, which extends the image across four surfaces — the front screen, both side walls and the ceiling.

CJ Olivenetworks, which handles the systems business, posted third-quarter sales of 224.2 billion won and operating profit of 16.5 billion won, up 9.7% and 9.3% respectively from a year earlier, boosted by an increase in AI-related project wins.

CJ CGV said it plans to sustain growth in domestic and overseas theater and premium-screen operations on the strength of anticipated releases next month, including "Avengers: Doomsday" and "Dune: Part Three."

"We will continue to improve profitability by expanding the global reach of technology premium screens such as ScreenX and 4DX, and by strengthening the competitiveness of our theater operations at home and abroad," said Jeong Jong-min, chief executive of CJ CGV.


quq@heraldcorp.com