MoviePass Parent Discloses Loss in First Quarter

The largely untested business model is costing the ticketing company about $21.7 million a month in losses.

Helios and Matheson Analytics, the parent of MoviePass, said Tuesday in an SEC filing that its "subscription and marketing and promotional services" business lost $98.3 million on revenue of $48.6 million in its first quarter.

Helios and Matheson owns 92 percent of MoviePass, which provides subscribers up to one movie ticket per day for $9.95 a month. The company's SEC filing suggests that MoviePass accounts for the bulk of the revenue and losses at the data firm, as its consulting sales amounted to just $839,503 during the quarter.

Total revenue at Helios and Matheson was $49.4 million in the quarter, up from just $1.4 million in the same quarter a year earlier, before it purchased the majority of MoviePass, which mostly pays full price for tickets its subscribers use.

The largely untested business model is costing MoviePass about $21.7 million a month in losses, the company revealed in a filing last week. Since then, shares of Helios and Matheson have plunged more than 65 percent and traded at 65 cents on Tuesday. Two decades ago, at the height of the internet bubble on Wall Street, shares of Helios and Matheson traded for north of $132.

Helios and Matheson also said in its filing that MoviePass has filed a copyright complaint against Sinemia, which offers a subscription service for $14.99 a month for up to three movie tickets per month. The complaint claims an infringement on a patent for a "secure targeted personal buying/selling method and system" and another for an "automatic authentication and funding method."

Sinemia has yet to respond to the complaint, according to the SEC.

Helios and Matheson also said that, while it hasn't determined a valuation for MoviePass yet, its last investment in the company valued the service at about $295.5 million. The company said it has been partially successful in lining up partnerships in the movie industry, though it was short on details.

"MoviePass has, to date, monetized marketing services with two large Hollywood studios, conducted sanctioned tests with multiple others, and has also monetized its marketing and data services with at least six other independent distributors," says the SEC filing. "For the quarter ended March 31, the company recorded $1.4 million from these new revenue streams. We believe our technology and subscriber base provides us with a unique ability to target moviegoers both geographically and based on their viewing tastes."

Tuesday's filing also heavily cites a poll conducted by NRG in partnership with The Hollywood Reporter. The poll found that 83 percent of users are "very satisfied" with the service and that they saw on average six more movies in the past six months compared with non-subscribers.