NOTE 1—BASIS OF PRESENTATION

 

AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (“Holdings”), through its direct and indirect subsidiaries, including American Multi-Cinema, Inc. and its subsidiaries, (collectively with Holdings, unless the context otherwise requires, the “Company” or “AMC”), is principally involved in the theatrical exhibition business and owns, operates or has interests in theatres located in the United States and Europe. Holdings is an indirect subsidiary of Dalian Wanda Group Co., Ltd. (“Wanda”), a Chinese private conglomerate.

 

As of September 30, 2018, Wanda owned approximately 50.01% of Holdings’ outstanding common stock and 75.01% of the combined voting power of Holdings’ outstanding common stock and has the power to control Holdings’ affairs and policies, including with respect to the election of directors (and, through the election of directors, the appointment of management), entering into mergers, sales of substantially all of the Company’s assets and other extraordinary transactions.

 

Use of Estimates:  The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Significant estimates and assumptions are used for, but not limited to: (1) Impairments, (2) Income and operating taxes, (3) Fair value of acquired assets and liabilities, and (4) Gift card and exchange ticket income. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

 

 

Principles of Consolidation:  The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Holdings and all subsidiaries, as discussed above, and should be read in conjunction with the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10–K for the year ended December 31, 2017. The accompanying consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2017, which was derived from audited financial statements, and the unaudited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America for interim financial information and in accordance with the instructions to Form 10–Q. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by the accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America for complete consolidated financial statements. In the opinion of management, these interim financial statements reflect all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments) necessary for a fair statement of the Company’s financial position and results of operations. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. There are no noncontrolling (minority) interests in the Company’s consolidated subsidiaries; consequently, all of its stockholders’ equity, net earnings and total comprehensive income for the periods presented are attributable to controlling interests. Due to the seasonal nature of the Company’s business, results for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the year ending December 31, 2018. The Company manages its business under two reportable segments for its theatrical exhibition operations, U.S. markets and International markets.

 

Accumulated depreciation and amortization:  Accumulated depreciation was $1,587.4 million and $1,266.9 million at September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively, related to property. Accumulated amortization of intangible assets was $68.5 million and $55.5 million at September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively.

 

Leases:  During the nine months ended September 30, 2018, the Company modified the terms of an existing operating lease to reduce the lease term. The Company received a $35.0 million incentive from the landlord to enter into the new lease agreement. The Company has recorded amortization of the lease incentive as a reduction to rent expense on a straight-line basis over the remaining lease term which reduced rent expense by $35.0 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2018.

 

Sale and Leaseback Transaction: On June 18, 2018, the Company completed the sale and leaseback of the real estate assets associated with one theatre for proceeds, net of closing costs of $50.1 million. The gain on the sale of approximately $27.3 million has been deferred and will be amortized over the remaining lease term.

 

Presentation:  Certain reclassifications have been made to the prior period financial statements to conform to the current year presentation.

 

Other Expense (Income): The following table sets forth the components of other expense (income):

 

 

Accounting Pronouncements Recently Adopted    

 

Revenue from Contracts with Customers. The Company adopted the guidance of Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, (“ASC 606”) as of January 1, 2018 using the modified retrospective method. ASC 606 requires an entity to recognize the amount of revenue to which it expects to be entitled for the transfer of promised goods or services to customers. The Company recognized the cumulative effect of initially applying the new revenue standard as an adjustment to the opening balance of accumulated deficit. ASC 606 was applied only to contracts that were not completed at January 1, 2018. The comparative information in the prior year has not been adjusted and continues to be reported under ASC 605, Revenue Recognition, which was the accounting standard in effect for those periods. See Note 2—Revenue for the required disclosures of the nature, amount, timing, and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from contracts with customers per the guidance in ASC 606.

 

Reclassification of Certain Tax Effects. In February 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-02, Income Statement – Reporting Comprehensive Income (Topic 220): Reclassification of Certain Tax Effects from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (“ASU 2018-02”), which allows a reclassification from accumulated other comprehensive income to accumulated deficit for stranded tax effects resulting from the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed into law in December 2017. ASU 2018-02 is effective for the Company on January 1, 2019 and early adoption of the amendments is permitted, including adoption in any interim period. The Company early adopted ASU 2018-02, effective January 1, 2018, and recorded a reclassification related to the stranded tax effects that increased accumulated other comprehensive income and increased accumulated deficit by $5.0 million in the consolidated balance sheets as of January 1, 2018. See Note 8—Income Taxes for further information.

Modification Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation. In May 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-09, Compensation—Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Scope of Modification Accounting (“ASU 2017-09”), which amends the scope of modification accounting for share-based payment arrangements and provides guidance on the types of changes to the terms or conditions of the share-based payment awards to which an entity would be required to apply modification accounting under ASC 718. The amendments in ASU 2017-09 should be applied prospectively to an award modified on or after the adoption date. The Company adopted ASU 2017-09 on January 1, 2018 and will apply the guidance in ASU 2017-09 to any future changes to the terms or conditions of stock-based payment awards should they occur. The Company’s adoption of ASU 2017-09 did not have an impact on its consolidated financial statements.

Improving Presentation of Net Benefit Costs. In March 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-07, Compensation – Retirement Benefits (Topic 715): Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost (“ASU 2017-07”). The guidance requires the service cost component of defined benefit pension plans and other post-retirement benefit plans to be reported in the same line item as other compensation costs arising from the services rendered by the pertinent employees while the other components of net benefit cost are required to be presented in the income statement separately from the service cost component and reported outside a subtotal of operating income. The amendments in this guidance should be applied retrospectively for the presentation of the service cost component and the other components of net benefit cost in the consolidated statements of operations. The Company adopted ASU 2017-07 effective January 1, 2018 and recorded a prior period adjustment for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017 in the consolidated statements of operations to decrease general and administrative other by $0.3 million and $0.6 million, respectively, related to the other components of net benefit cost, with a corresponding increase to other expense (income) of $0.3 million and decrease to other income of $0.6 million, respectively. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

Restricted Cash in Statement of Cash Flows. In November 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-18, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Restricted Cash (A Consensus of the FASB Emerging Issues Task Force) (“ASU 2016-18”). ASU 2016-18 requires that restricted cash be included with cash and cash equivalents when reconciling the beginning and end-of-period total amounts shown on the statement of cash flows. This guidance must be applied retrospectively to all periods presented. The Company adopted ASU 2016-18 effective January 1, 2018 and the prior period has been adjusted to conform to the current period presentation. This guidance also requires a new disclosure to reconcile the cash balances within the consolidated statement of cash flows to the consolidated balance sheets. The following table provides a reconciliation of cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash reported within the consolidated balance sheets that sum to the total of the amounts shown in the consolidated statements of cash flows:

 

 

Classification of certain cash receipts and cash payments. In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-15, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments (“ASU 2016-15”). The amendments in this update provide guidance on eight specific cash flow classification issues. The update provides specific guidance on each of the eight issues, thereby reducing the diversity in practice in how certain transactions are classified in the statement of cash flows. The Company adopted ASU 2016-15 on January 1, 2018 and made an election to continue using the “nature of the distribution approach” to classify distributions received from equity method investments. The adoption of this guidance did not have an impact on the Company’s consolidated statements of cash flows.

 

Classification and measurement of financial instruments. In January 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-01, Financial Instruments –  Overall (Subtopic 825-10): Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities (“ASU 2016-01”). ASU 2016-01 amends various aspects of the recognition, measurement, presentation, and disclosure of financial instruments. The amendments require that equity investments (except those accounted for under the equity method of accounting or those that result in consolidation of the investee) are to be measured at fair value with changes in fair value recognized in net income. However, an entity may choose to measure equity investments that do not have readily determinable fair values at cost minus impairment, if any, plus or minus changes resulting from observable price changes in orderly transactions for the identical or a similar investment of the same issuer. The Company adopted ASU 2016-01 on January 1, 2018 and recorded a decrease to accumulated other comprehensive income of $0.6 million, net of tax, related to the unrealized gains on available-for-sale securities that are equity instruments with a corresponding decrease to accumulated deficit in the consolidated balance sheets as of the beginning of the year. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

 

Stockholders’ equity disclosure.  On August 17, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted amendments to certain disclosure requirements in Securities Act Release No. 33-10532, Disclosure Update and Simplification. Disclosures are required to be provided for the current and comparative quarter and year-to-date interim periods. The amendments are effective for all filings made on or after November 5, 2018. The Company adopted this disclosure requirement during the third quarter of 2018. See Note 7 - Stockholders’ Equity for the consolidated statements of stockholders’ equity disclosure.

 

Accounting Pronouncements Issued Not Yet Adopted 

 

Leases.  In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, Leases, (“ASC 842”) which requires lessees to recognize leases on-balance sheet and disclose key information about leasing arrangements. The new standard establishes a right-of-use model (“ROU”) that requires a lessee to recognize a ROU asset and lease liability on the balance sheet for all leases with a term longer than 12 months. Leases will be classified as finance or operating, with classification affecting the pattern and classification of expense recognition in the income statement. The new standard is effective for the Company on January 1, 2019, with early adoption permitted. The Company plans to adopt the guidance on January 1, 2019, using a modified retrospective transition approach with the cumulative effect recognized at the date of initial application, whereby comparative prior period financial information and disclosures will not be adjusted to reflect the new standard. In January 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-01, Leases, which permits an entity to elect an optional transition practical expedient to not evaluate under ASU 842 land easements that exist or expired before the entity’s adoption of ASC 842 and that were not previously accounted for as leases.

 

The Company expects that this standard will have a material effect on its consolidated financial statements. While the Company is continuing to assess the effect of adoption, the Company currently believes the most significant changes relate to (1) the recognition of new ROU assets and lease liabilities on its balance sheet for theatres currently subject to operating leases; (2) the derecognition of existing assets and liabilities for certain sale-leaseback transactions (those arising from build-to-suit lease arrangements for which construction is complete and the Company is leasing the constructed asset) that currently do not qualify for sale accounting and the recognition of new ROU assets and operating lease liabilities on its balance sheet; and (3) providing new disclosures about the Company’s leasing activities. On January 1, 2019, the Company expects to recognize additional operating liabilities ranging from an estimated $5 billion to $7 billion, with corresponding ROU assets of the same amount based on the present value of the remaining minimum rental payments for the Company’s existing operating leases. The Company has not finalized the effects of these expected changes from the new standard and expects that this estimated range of impact will narrow as the Company continues its assessment of the adoption of ASC 842. The Company does not expect a significant change in its leasing activity between now and adoption.

 

Financial Instruments.  In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments – Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments (“ASU 2016-13”), which provides new guidance regarding the measurement and recognition of credit impairment for certain financial assets. Such guidance will impact how the Company determines its allowance for estimated uncollectible receivables and evaluates its available-for-sale investments for impairment. ASU 2016-13 is effective for the Company in the first quarter of 2020, with early adoption permitted in the first quarter of 2019. The Company is currently evaluating the effect that ASU 2016-13 will have on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.

 

Fair Value Measurement. In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-13, Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Disclosure Framework–Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurement (“ASU 2018-13”), which eliminates, adds, and modifies certain disclosure requirements for fair value measurements as part of its disclosure framework project. Entities will no longer be required to disclose the amount of and reasons for transfers between Level 1 and Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy, but will be required to disclose the range and weighted average used to develop significant unobservable inputs for Level 3 fair value measurements. ASU 2018-13 is effective for the Company in the first quarter of 2020. Early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the effect that ASU 2018-13 will have on its fair value measurement disclosures.

 

Cloud Computing Arrangement. In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-15, Intangibles–Goodwill and Other–Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40): Customer’s Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement That Is a Service Contract (“ASU 2018-15”). ASU 2018-15 requires a customer in a cloud computing arrangement (i.e., hosting arrangement) that is a service contract to follow the internal-use software guidance in ASC 350-40 to determine which implementation, setup, and other upfront costs to capitalize as assets or expense as incurred. ASU 2018-15 is effective for the Company in the first quarter of 2020. Early adoption is permitted. Entities have the option to apply the guidance prospectively to all implementation costs incurred after the date of adoption or retrospectively in accordance with ASC 250-10-45. The Company is currently evaluating the effect that ASU 2018-15 will have on its consolidated financial statements.