AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. on Tuesday won shareholders’ backing to sell new common stock, a financial lifeline for the movie-theater chain as it continues to lose money because of low cinema attendance, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Shareholders voted to increase the number of common shares that AMC can sell, an important tool for the company to stay afloat and potentially weather a downturn in the cinema industry that has pushed some competitors into bankruptcy. The shareholder vote also authorized a 10-for-1 reverse stock split and will likely allow AMC to convert its Ape preferred units into common shares. The Ape units closed at $1.62, down 6%, after having rallied earlier in the day, while AMC common shares fell 15% to close at $4.64. “The surest way to combat naysayers and prophets of doom is to keep our cash reserves robust, manage our balance sheet smartly, and operate our company as best we know how,” Chief Executive Adam Aron said on a conference call with shareholders yesterday. AMC’s revenue has rebounded from the worst days of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the company posted a net loss of nearly $1 billion for 2022. It had $631 million of cash on its balance sheet as of Dec. 31, down from close to $1.6 billion at the end of 2021.
