美國電影科技集團子公司Imax中國前景光明

Gotta catch ’em all. Imax China, the Hong Kong-listed subsidiary of the US cinema technology group, is the latest company caught up in the hype about Pokémon Go. On Wednesday Legendary Entertainment, a subsidiary of Wanda Group, reportedly won the rights to make a feature film based on Pokémon character Pikachu. Shares in Imax China — for whom Wanda is a big customer — rose as much as one-tenth and closed up 4 per cent.

要把它們統統抓到。在香港上市的美國電影科技集團子公司Imax中國，是最近一家被捲入《口袋妖怪Go》(Pokémon Go)遊戲風潮的公司。週三，萬達(Wanda)集團的子公司傳奇娛樂(Legendary Entertainment)據報道已贏得相關權利，製作一部基於《口袋妖怪》角色“皮卡丘”(Pikachu)的電影。Imax中國（萬達是其大客戶）的股價一度上漲十分之一，最終收漲4%。

There was much more to the rise, however, than a monster craze. Also on Thursday, Imax China announced its first set of interim results since listing in September. This registered a turnround to net profit after losses in the prior first half, on revenues that are up a quarter. The figures suggest more upside lies ahead.

然而，除了“妖怪”風潮，該股上漲還有很多其它理由。週四，Imax中國公佈了自去年9月上市以來的第一批中期業績。繼上半年出現虧損後，淨利潤在營收增長四分之一基礎上實現扭虧爲盈。數據似乎表明未來有更多上升空間。

Superficially, the numbers were not encouraging. Imax China makes money by selling and maintaining screens, film distribution and revenue-sharing. Box office revenues rose a mere 3 per cent, within which the take per screen fell nearly one-quarter. But much of that decline was due to a tough comparison base: Fast and Furious 7 screened in the first half of 2015. Encouragingly for the full year, the box office for June 2016 was up more than a half as blockbusters including Warcraft were released.

表面上看，這些數字並不鼓舞人心。Imax中國的盈利來自出售和維護大銀幕、電影發行和收入分成。票房收入僅增加了3%，其中平均到每個銀幕的收入減少了近四分之一。但該跌幅在很大程度上是因爲基線偏高：《速度與激情7》(Fast and Furious 7)在2015年上半年上映。全年來看令人振奮的是，2016年6月的票房收入因《魔獸》(Warcraft)等大片的上映而增長逾50%。

Screen sales also sent a mixed signal. Orders for 79 new theatre systems in the first half exceeded the prior year’s total. The company revised its forecast for full-year screen installations from 100 to 115. Yet the segment was a drag, with two system upgrades depressing margins. It is the third category that looks most promising, however. An increasing proportion of the company’s installed theatres operate under revenue-sharing agreements, which cover maintenance and film distribution and enjoy higher margins. Those segments will expand with the growing network.

銀幕銷售也發出好壞不一的信號。上半年79個新影院系統的訂單數量超過了去年全年。該公司將全年的銀幕安裝訂單預測從100調整到115。然而這部分業務仍是拖累，兩次系統升級抑制了利潤率。不過第三類業務看起來最有前途。該公司安裝的影院系統有越來越高的比例是以收入分成協議的方式運作，涵蓋銀幕維護和電影發行，享有更高的利潤率。這部分業務將隨着網絡的擴大而增長。

Pikachu’s advent to the large screen may be exciting. Next to Imax China’s strong outlook, it is merely a sideshow.

皮卡丘登上大銀幕也許令人興奮。但比起Imax中國的強勁前景，這只是一個小插曲。