Select Hollywood movies, Basketball World Cup boosts SM Prime’s profits
MANILA, Philippines – High ticket sales for select movies and live events such as the 2023 FIBA World Cup helped boost revenues of publicly listed SM Prime Holdings Corporation (SM Prime) in the first nine months of 2023.
Although revenues from cinema operations and live event tickets only contribute a small portion to SM Prime’s mall business, its top line from this business unit rose from P3.5 billion in the first nine months of 2022 to P7.65 billion in the same period. In 2023, an increase of 119%.
SM Prime Financials: Philippine Shopping Malls
| In billion PH | The first nine months of 2023 | The first nine months of 2022 | % changes |
| Revenues | P. 47.85 | P. 33.85 | 41% |
| – Rental income | p. 40.2 | P. 30.36 | 32% |
| – Cinema, ticket sales, etc | p. 7.65 | p. 3.5 | 119% |
The P7.65 billion already exceeds SM Prime’s revenue from movie and event ticket sales of P6.87 billion in the same period in 2019 or before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down movie theaters and live events.
SM has the largest ticket network in the Philippines, where people can buy tickets for concerts, sports, exhibitions, beauty contests and other live events even if they are not held at SM venues.
Comparatively, rental income from SM Prime’s mall business, which is traditionally the largest contributor to the company’s consolidated revenue, rose 32% or from P30.36 billion in the first three quarters of 2022 to P40.2 billion in 2023.
“Cinema theaters improved due to higher ticket sales from films shown during the first nine months of the year,” Sy family-led SM Prime said in a statement earlier this week, as cinema, entertainment and leisure companies fully reopened their doors to customers.
The films that performed well, which SM Prime cited in its quarterly earnings reports this year, are:
Deletedthe only Filipino film cited, was an entry into the Metro Manila Film Festival in December 2022. The film won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, and Best Cinematography at the annual Christmas Vacation Film Festival, and has received an extended run until mid-January 2023 The psychological thriller starring Nadine Lustre reportedly earned £234 million at the box office, and is now appearing on some streaming platforms such as Prime Video.
Niche markets
Movie viewing has declined dramatically over the past decade as more people turn to streaming platforms for entertainment. Most Filipinos are also no longer able to watch movies in cinemas as tickets are now sold for as little as 300 pesos or about half of the daily minimum wage for workers in the National Capital Region.
However, distributors and theater owners are finding niche markets that help bring people back to theaters.
One such market is Japanese animation films such as First slam dunk. Now showing exclusively at SM Cinema Movie City Hunter: Angel DustWhich started on Wednesday, November 8th. It will also appear The janitor On November 15 and Digimon Adventure 02: The BeginningExclusively in selected SM theaters on December 6th.
Some of these anime films have exclusive offers for fans where merchandise related to the film is sold.
Other anime films shown this year are: Demon Slayer: Tunnel to Summer, Farewell Exit; Doraemon Movie: Nobita’s Heaven’s Utopia; Shinchan Crayon Movie: Battle of the Supernatural Forces; And The bastard does not dream of his sister venturing out.
Another niche market: concert films e.g Taylor Swift: Tour for the Ages And K-pop concerts are like IU’s concerts Golden hour, Kang Daniel: My processionAnd NCT Nation: To the World in cinemas.
Although there are many Korean drama options on streaming platforms, film distributors have found that Korean films have developed a cinematic niche. Among the Korean films shown this year in cinemas is the rom-com Sweet honeydisaster film Concrete utopiaAnd the moona fantasy science fiction film about Korea’s first lunar exploration mission.
Other films in the fourth quarter expected to add to Philippine movie ticket sales in 2023 are local films Five breakups and a romance Starring Alden Richards, Julia Montes and Hollywood Wonders (shown now), and The Hunger Games: Song of Songbirds and Snakes Opening on November 15th.
SM Prime, the largest mall operator/developer in the Philippines, has 85 malls across the country, as of October 2023. It also has the largest number of movie theaters in the Philippines with 382 movie screens.
Basketball World Cup
Meanwhile, ticket sales from the 2023 FIBA World Cup and the full return of live concerts featuring local and foreign artists also contributed to SM Prime’s earnings.
SM Prime’s Mall of Asia Arena hosted most of the matches in the 2023 FIBA World Cup from August 25 to September, which was held for the first time in three countries – Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines. The Philippines hosted 52 of the 92 matches involving 32 teams.
Although the 2023 FIBA World Cup did not exceed nearly 800,000 attendance in populous China hosting the FIBA World Cup in 2019, the tournament managed to have a combined attendance of 700,665 in the three host countries, mostly in the Philippines.
The Philippines hosted 16 teams in the first two rounds, while Japan and Indonesia hosted eight teams each. The final stage of the World Cup (from the quarter-finals to the final), brought more foreign spectators to the country with the addition of four teams (two from host Japan and two from host Indonesia), which was held at the SM Mall Asia Arena Manila from September 5 to 10. .
When China hosted the 18th edition of the FIBA World Cup in 2019 in eight cities, the total number of spectators reached 794,951, with an average attendance of 8,641 per game, according to the FIBA 2019-2022 Mid-Term Activity Report.
“The Philippines has always been known as a basketball-loving nation, and it showed that at the World Cup, where they came out in droves not only to see their national team, but to cheer on their favorite NBA stars,” the Swiss-based FIBA said last September. , following the quadrennial tournament: “A new attendance record was set in the Philippines with 38,115 fans at Philippine Stadium for the Philippines’ opening match against the Dominican Republic,” the competition, which Germany won.
“Many wondered what a three-nation World Cup would look like, but Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines gave the world an unforgettable tournament. There were great matches and great stories to follow in the three host countries. The fans attended the matches and the organization did a good job,” added FIBA. “For teams, officials, media and fans alike.”
The Philippines, led by NBA star Jordan Clarkson, achieved only one victory in the 2023 FIBA World Cup, defeating China 96-75.
SM Prime’s consolidated revenue in the first nine months rose 26% from P73 billion in 2022 to P92 billion in 2023. The shopping mall business accounted for 57% of revenue, the residential business (led by SM Development Corporation) 33%, and other business sectors 10%. . Its consolidated net income rose by 37%, from P22 billion to P30 billion in the same period. – Rappler.com
